my nitrates are quite high in my tank and have been for a while. is there any chemical additive i can put in to take them down. i know water changes help and i have been doing them but they are like off the chart high. but surprisingly everything is alivein my tank. i just cant seem to keep inverts a live.
nitrates
- Thread starter mike90
- Start date
Wet/Drys with bio-balls are usually nitrate generating machines. You may want to take out your bio-balls and put in some live rock rubble. Or if you are using any kind of mechanical filtering (ie sponges, filter floss), you may want to clean or replace them on a monthly basis. I just got one of those Korallin Bio-Denitrators, is still breaking in, but I hope I will never have to worry about nitrates again! (yes, I still do water changes).
mike90":nfnebomz said:
Deep. :lol: sorry.
Off the chart huh.
I'd like to know what people think about this. I have a ten gallon that tests off the chart too...yet the fish is fine and some mushroom coral is growing without a problem.
Mine was off the chart...but get this...I did something you can't do with ease. I did an 80% water change. I tested a few hours after the water change and the trates where still off the chart! 8O :x
Have you verified your test kit? I did and mine is fine...tests zero on my source water and just reads a minute ammount in my reef....yet it is off the chart on that damn ten gallon no matter what I do! :x
My nitrates are rather high too > 75 ppm and bubble tip anemones, Corallimorphs, leather corals, Capnella, and Pachyseris stony coral (elephant skin) have been doing well for over three years. The Capnella grows very fast and and has already many branches broken off. Can't seem to get the nitrate down, but phosphate is virtually zero. Some algae growth has killed some SPS corals.
Setup: Two 75 gallons linked with 4 1/2 in gravel bed (Jaubert system with protein skimmer). For lighting natural sunlight is used.
Setup: Two 75 gallons linked with 4 1/2 in gravel bed (Jaubert system with protein skimmer). For lighting natural sunlight is used.
fyrefysh":94pe1d9e said:
I only have a striped damsel in it, some CC, and a few pounds of rock. One of those little fission nano skimmers too.
Can't get the nitrates down.
Get this....I did an 80% water change one day and the nitrates were still off the scale! 8O If you do the math, that means the nitrates would have to have been at over 500ppm initially. I don't even see how that is possible.
The same test kit tests <5ppm on my reef, 0ppm on my source water, and 10-15ppm on a small QT I'm running for a clown fish. So the test kit is working quite well.
I think I'm reading something that isn't nitrates in that tank. I have to be, or else everything would be dead.
I even hace some mushroom coral that hitched in from my main tank and a small crab I trapped from my main tank. Both are living fine. And if the trates were at 500ppm, there is no way they would be alive.
fyrefysh":e3b20ued said:
If u replace the bioballs with coral rubble or live rock it is stilll going to be a nitrate factory. The bioballs are just a substrate for nitrifying bacteria. Live rock will be the substrate for the nitrate factory if it is in the wet/dry area with water tricklng on it. Anything that is exposed tp a wet / dry environment is going to be a nitrate factory . You would benefit if the live rock was completely submerged . You should remove the bioballs slowly , perhaps 25% at a time over a period of 4 weeks.
Mike, personally I would ditch the bioballs and add a good protein skimmer. Between the skimmer and the rock you'll have plenty of filtration.
The problem with any plastic biofilter media is that they don't offer any denitrification (unlike live rock/sand which do). A skimmer removes most of the waste before it breaks down into ammonia (destined to eventually become nitrate) and whatever little remains will be easily nitrified and denitrified by the live rock/sand ---> therefore no nitrate build-up.
Also, try to remove as much detritus from the system as you can when you do water changes. Try blasting the rockwork with a powerhead/turkey baster and syphoning up and settled detritus you see afterwards. This helps keep nitrate/phosphate levels under control as well.
HTH
The problem with any plastic biofilter media is that they don't offer any denitrification (unlike live rock/sand which do). A skimmer removes most of the waste before it breaks down into ammonia (destined to eventually become nitrate) and whatever little remains will be easily nitrified and denitrified by the live rock/sand ---> therefore no nitrate build-up.
Also, try to remove as much detritus from the system as you can when you do water changes. Try blasting the rockwork with a powerhead/turkey baster and syphoning up and settled detritus you see afterwards. This helps keep nitrate/phosphate levels under control as well.
HTH
Sponsor Reefs
We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.
Click here to sponsor $10:
