Nitrates

[brianf40us]

I have been doing PWC (10 gallons at a time) everyday but the nitrates seem to only have come down a little. I have been doing this for the past 4 days i have a 75gallon tank. Is it because i just cycled my tank that the nitrates are coming down so slowly. Should i do bigger water changes or just keep up the 10 gallon PWC's. I do clean all my filters out every time as well in aquarium water so i dont kill the bacteria.

The nitrates did come down but are slowly comming down.


Faust

[Innovator]

You've only been doing around 13% water changes, so as you slowly discard they also continue to rise. You can either do a larger water change, at least 25%, or continue on slowly. Either way as long as your cycle is ending and your numbers are somewhat manageable you are on the right path.

[brianf40us]

i also noticed some redish type algae growing on my base rock is this coraline algae starting to form. It is also on some of my heaters as well

[Ziggy953]

I agree with Innovator.

Scratch the algae with your thumbnail. If it is hard and crusty then it is probably coraline, if it comes right off and is slimy then it is more then likely cyanobacteria. This is a result of high nitrates and excess nutrients in your system.

[Ducaroo]

Hello, I am a newbie waiting to my tank to arrive. As I understand the nitrogen cycling process, we change 10% +/- of the old water primarily to get rid of nitrates? How effective would a fuge with plants(algae?) and a deep sand bed be in reducing the labor and nitrate levels?

[Ziggy953]

Originally Posted by Ducaroo

Hello, I am a newbie waiting to my tank to arrive. As I understand the nitrogen cycling process, we change 10% +/- of the old water primarily to get rid of nitrates? How effective would a fuge with plants(algae?) and a deep sand bed be in reducing the labor and nitrate levels?

After you system is cycled and running I believe that a Fuge is one of the best things you can add to your tank. I'm a firm believer in natural forms of filtration and you can't beat macro algae for that purpose. I have a large fuge on my system and it is packed full of macro. So in short it is a great addition to your system!

[Ducaroo]

Great! Tanks for the reply. With your large fuge and macro algae, do you still need to perform weekly water changes? Or is a large fuge not enough to handle all the nitrates?

[Ziggy953]

I do PWCs every other week with out fail. No matter how large your fuge is or how great your filtration is you still need to do PWCs. This replenishes the trace elements your water looses over time.

[austinsdad]

Brian, tell us what the nitrate history has been. What is the reading now?

[brianf40us]

My nitrates were at 40 and now at 20 with Pwc I do a water change every day sometimes every other day to lower the nitrates. My goal is 10. Is 20 Ok to work with or is that still high for a FOWLR setup. I plan on going to a reef system in a couple of months and i know the Nitrates should be low around 10.

I will be getting a HOB Refugium for Xmas i hope. Do these help with the Nitrates alot. And how do i set it up do you pack it full with live sand and those nitrate eating plants. (i forget the name of them )

I am also having a problem with Diatoms (little featherduster algae type things.) that are growing in my tank will they die once the tank establishes more.

[austinsdad]

20 is acceptable for a fish setup.

Not sure if "featherduster algae type things" are diatoms.

[Ziggy953]

Originally Posted by brianf40us

My nitrates were at 40 and now at 20 with Pwc I do a water change every day sometimes every other day to lower the nitrates. My goal is 10. Is 20 Ok to work with or is that still high for a FOWLR setup. I plan on going to a reef system in a couple of months and i know the Nitrates should be low around 10.

I will be getting a HOB Refugium for Xmas i hope. Do these help with the Nitrates alot. And how do i set it up do you pack it full with live sand and those nitrate eating plants. (i forget the name of them )

I am also having a problem with Diatoms (little featherduster algae type things.) that are growing in my tank will they die once the tank establishes more.

10-20 Nitrates is ok for a FOWLR. Your goal of 10 is better and lower then that would be great.

You should get setup instructions with a new HOB refugium. From the HOB's that I have looked at the usually have a decent amount of sand and a little bit of LR rubble and the rest is packed full of macro algae.

Diatoms is a dusty looking covering on the sand and sometimes on the rock as well as glass.

Feather dusters are actually tube worms that extend a "feather" out of the tube to filter food out of the water column. A feather duster is an ok thing to have in your tank.

I'm guessing you are talking about the brown dusty looking stuff on the sand bed??