Nitrates. I'm Baffled....

Filled up my tank with tap 2 almost 3 (see above post) years ago but most if not all should be gone even though water changes were rare in the second year. Tap water here is good anyway ( 0 nitrates trites or ammonia no copper either. no phosphates)

 

Jake, a DSB performs best when it's not disturbed. If the DSB is stirred, then you're liberating anaerobic pockets of sand, which is not good.

You may consider a good sized water change to give you at least a head start on the issue.

 

Yeah will probably do a 25g water change in the next week. Only limited by the fact that I only have 5 5g buckets.

 

I do need a better clean-up crew though. Getting a custom one from either cleanercrews.com or reefcleaner.com( think). Probably get detritus eaters in case that's the problem. So I don't want my sandbed stirred up? ok

 

I'm not a fan of not stirring the sand bed.... My problem with it is eventually it will reach capacity and explode - which is worse than dealing with the problem in the first place. I would get some sand sifters and find another way of dealing with your nitrates (i.e. a refugium or something else to export nitrates)

 

SO I do want my sand stirred u by sand sifters?

 

Before we confuse SLF125, would it be fair to say you're not a fan of deep sand bed either? Or do you mean to stir deep ones as well?

 

Ok, lets all take a step back here... To me, without getting to far, it sounds like this whole thing is simply "old tank syndrome". As tanks age and people get comfortable maintaining them they tend to get lax. First thing you need to do is double check your test kit. API isn't the best when it comes to test kits. Second is to do a barrage of large W/Cs, I am talking at LEAST a third of the water volume. On my 180, thats maybe 6 weeks old, I was, until late, doing 55 gal W/Cs, and thats on a NEW tank. Do a few of these large W/Cs to dilute/remove the excess NO3. Then once the levels are where you want them, proceed to do, smaller, frequent changes. Many people will deny the large W/C saying it will stress the system, it will not, I, just like George Foreman Guarentee it.
This is the only way to remove such high levels, as small to medium will not cut it.
Next is to when doing the w/cs is to either blast the rocks with a turkey baster or power head to dislodge all the trapped detritus that will acculate over time, siphon this junk out as you blast it. Then if you can move a rock or two and try to get the detritus out from under there.
Also you never said what you feed, flakes at all?

Ok, unto the DSB.... If a DSB is to work, which it can and will, you need not stir it!! Stirring a DSB is not its friend!! The hydrogen sulfide isn't as much a concern as the fact that you are distrupting the anoxic/anaerobic levels that process the NO3. Sand sifters are actually the enemy because they EAT much of the fauna you need in the bed to have it work. Search sand beds and you will find my lengthy posts on this subject a few times....

Other than that, keep up the maintenance and clean your mechanical filtration often and you will be back on track shortly!!

Good luck and happy reefing, and cleaning!

 

I feed... can't remember the name..... New spectrum? Ok I have 25g ready to go and getting more buckets. May be getting 2 29g rubbermaids for sump/fuge sometime in the next month. Ok so definatly no sand stirrers.