Water changes.

Does a weekly 30% change and every other day 5% changes sound right to get my nitrates down?

 

that seems excessive to me, I don't like changing that much of my system that often.

 

10% every 3 days?

 

how high are your trates? and how old is the tank?

 

The tank is 2 years old. The nitrates are around 60 ppm

 

BMX, I have been trying to get my nitrates down from a FOWLR for 3 months now. I think someone on here had given me some good advice on water changes. If you do a 10% water change, that will bring down your trates 10%, etc.....I would do a 10% change every 3-4 days over time and understand that it will take some time to bring them down. Also, make sure to blow off detritus (sp) daily and siphon well during each change. You may also want to siphon out your sand a little section at a time with each water change and see how much gunk is in your sand. Bringing the nitrates down, will definitely take time. I went the bio pellets route and am having some success finally but it's slow process. You may want to look at Dr. Tim's products - I know many have spoken to success with these. There is also vodka and vinegar dosing but this route IMO takes very careful monitoring. Some more reading for you ;D

 

Thank you so much. How exactly does a biopellet reactor work and where would it go? Im not familiar with them at all lol I have always been recommended them but just did not really know what they are.

 

the problem with water changes, with regards to nitrates, is usually if they are high, there is a sink somewhere. So, as you reduce nitrate via a water change, more quickly replaces it and nitrates do not go down for long. You need to find the source and remove that, then water changes will have more of a permanent effect. 30% is okay, smaller are more stable, especially if you do not bother to match the parameters, but 30% is fine as long as the parameters are matched. Doing more smaller water changes, actually isn't that much less efficient than larger ones, but can be more work...

 

I'm a hang-on girl because I don't have a sump.....so, people with a sump could give you info. on where one might go. An absolute MUST is a high quality skimmer before even considering pellets. I learned that lesson the hard way when my tank crashed ...Try reading on the Dr. Tim's products as a first step. Your nitrates are not nearly as high as mine are.

 

I agree with m2434 in that you have to get at the source. In my case which is probably similar to yours, I used tap water on my FOWLR for years and did not do regular water changes and this was fine for a FO. I think the combination of using tap water and poor husbandry left me with a high nitrate problem. So, when you are switching to RO/DI and a stronger skimmer and doing regular water changes, in addition to getting detritrus (sp) out on a regular basis and perhaps vacuuming your sand in sections will go a long way to reducing your nitrates. Also, increasing your flow within the system is important as well so you catch the gunk in the water column to get skimmed out. This may be enough for you - without additional products such as pellets. Unfortunately, there is a not a "quick fix" to high nitrates - it will take time and patience......