high nitrates

How old is the tank? Definitely follow Coraiiline's advice. Is there a specific reason you don't run a skimmer? If not running one, are you on top of regular water changes (at least 10% every week)?

 

I do my water changes yes every week. I don't have a sump so I don't use a skimmer. I cant have a sump so lets just throw that out of the equation.

 

how old is the tank?

 

2 1/2 years old.

 

I'm sumpless too but I use a protien skimmer that hangs on the back. Its detrimental to keeping nitrates and nutrients in check. 120.00 dollar investment to keep the tank with optimal conditions is well worth it. My nitrates have been 0 for awhile now and my 36 gallon is considered overstocked and I feed my fish a few times everyday and my corals twice a week. Invest in some good testing kits like red sea. Even API liquid tests are way better than strips. You'll never get accurate readings with those.

 

What skimmer do you use?

 

I've got the coralife 65 skimmer on my 36 gallon bowfront and a coralife 125 skimmer on my 55. Both HOB skimmers. Some people knock them but I've had nothing but success with them pulling out all kinds of junk from the tanks.

 

In terms of getting your nitrates down, you have to first determine the cause. Based on what you're saying, if you use RO/DI water and regular weekly water changes, then it doesn't make sense.

If at some point, you used tap and didn't maintain such great husbandry, and without a skimmer, you can get build up in your sand bed that could be fueling your nitrates. One other quick question is how deep is the sand bed?

In order to get my nitrates down, I replaced my old sand bed and kept just a little to seed the current one. I did several smaller water changes and then a 50% water change when I removed the sand bed. I now vacuum a small section of my sand bed when I do a water change. I increased flow to limit detritus build-up and regularly blow off any within the tank with a turkey baster.

This is what I did and it did substantially reduce my nitrates but it took time. I also started with 160 nitrate reading but it was a FOWLR at that point.

HTH

 

I did my water changes yesterday and changed out all the filter floss. I will test the water again and post my results!!