Can't get rid of my last little bit of NO3

Well the past month or so my nitrates have been around 2 to 5 ppm. I can not seem to get them any lower then that. My tank is an 80 gallon, with a 20 gallon sump, and 20 gallon fuge. I'm a bit overstocked with fish and I do also feed my fish daily due to having a few anthias. I do 30 gallon water change about every 7 to 9 days, which I'm not to fond of doing. I do run a polyfilter in my tank at all times, have a decent skimmer setup, and would like to see that last little bit of nitrates gone!!! I have had the anthias for about a month or two now and they seem to be eating very well, I'm just afraid to stop daily feedings with them. We have had fish get thin and have lost fish due to every other or every other 2 day feeding regiments. Any advice would be awesome.

 

I personally wouldn't worry about it. That's a very low level for Nitrates. Even if you got it to zero, several hours after feeding the next time, they'll start to rise again.

 

Yeah I know but I had it to zero before I added the anthias and the daily feedings have kept it around that level. I loved doing my test and not seeing the test solution change any color.

 

what macro do you have in the fuge travis?

do you have any mangrove roots or halimeda algae
as both of these are sometimes suggested as being better at Nitrate removal than chaeto or caulerpa which are common macros in fuges

for a nitrate level of 5ppm - I reckon Purigen would polish that off for you based on my experience with this product

Steve

 

Well I have chaeto and I belive to be 3 red mangroves in my fuge. I've never heard of halimeda?

Also Purigen is new to me as well?

Yeah I would love to get the level back to 0, but its been a tough month or so battling with that low level.