HUMMMM High nitrate!

Hi all, as you are prob aware my tanks is only 3 months old and all param have read fine
over the last 2 months ammonia & nitrite have remained 0
but my nitrate keeps going up & down ( mainly slowly up!)
two days ago my nitrate was just blow ten after doing a water change but then yesterday i added 1 leather coral and BY A BIG ACCIDENT added a carpet anemone ( which i took back to the shop today) but took my params again as i normally do twice a week and my ammonia was 0 nitrite was just 0 and the nitrate was a wopping 20!!!!! AHH now what to do??????
P.S I have no idea what Karma is and how to give it to people or why i get it! i think people might get grumpy as i have nnot been giving karma when they help me out but i really dont no what its all about:-/!

 

do you have a refugium or sump?, if so do you have any macro algae in there to eat up the Nitrates?

 

I do not have either off them but i have a fluvale 450 external filter filled with live rock rubble and a fluvale 305 with pho remover, carbon filter, bio balls.
Thanks K

 

Well, nitrates are usually caused by only a few things. What is your stock? What size tank? How often and how much are you feeding? How much rock and sand do you have? What kind of skimmer and mechanical filtration are you using? Have you tested the water that you are adding? etc

 

could be just a slight change because of the diffrent coral you been putting in and taking out. Also has anything died in your tank. How often do you feed.
To give karma push little white button next to red triangle at bottom left of post. It is just a way of saying thank you.

 

Right Well my tank is a cleair bsbch 1000 which hold 68 uk gallons.
I have about a 2 inch deep coral gravel floor,
over 40 kg off indo live rock,
i have 4 t 8 tubes for lighting (white , blues & so on)
octopus Bh - 300 dual hang on skimmer
tmc uv vector sterlizer 25w
fluval 405 external filter with bout5kg live rock rubble
fluvale 305 external filter with pho remover, carbon & bio balls
tunze stream 6045
extra flow power head
heater
I do 35 liter water change ever 2nd sunday and orig used tap water as advised by lfs but am not switching to ro water!
Stock
2 perc clowns
1 scooter blennie
2 turbo snail
3 bummble bee snails
1 sand sifting snail
1 sand siftin star
2 peppermint shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
1 boxer shrimp
1 toastal coral
and did have for 24 hour a carpet anemone tii i took it back to shop!

 

Have you tried testing the tap for nitrates? How often are you running the UV sterilizer? How much and how often are you feeding?

 

Hi, your tank will continue an ongoing, what I will call, intermittent mini cycles concluding to it's end of the total finish to the main cycle. As your tank "seasons" it will go through algae blooms, sometimes bubble, cyno bacteria outbreaks etc. Let your tank "settle in" and I would not add anything else for another 3 mos. at least. If you have not cleaned the Fluval, now is the time. Leave the rock rubble alone but rinse (in used aquarium water) the bio balls and the other media (bags collect gunk). Add double the dose of live bacteria after you service the filter and do not do another water change for 3 weeks to allow the build up of the different strains of bacteria. Your Nitrates are low in actuality. 40 is getting bad and 50-80 is too high. Don't obsess over 20 and lower. Let the tank settle in.