MY nitrates will not go down!!!

My tank has been running for almost 3 years. I have a 55g 30lbs lr 3-4 inch sandbed ls, 20g wetdry bio balls, and a finnex skimmer. My peramenters are

ammonia - 0
salenity - 1.022
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 200
PH - 7.4
alkalinity - 200

I traded in my grouper and cleaned my tank I stired up the sand quite a bit. I ran out of test strips when I got more nitrates were through the roof. I've done several water changes, rinse the bio ball with salt water. Now I'm at a lost as to what to do.

 

well cardinal rule of taking care of old tanks, never stir the sand if it hasnt been stirred in a long time. but i suppose it doesnt matter, its time to replace you sand any way, sand deeper then a inch or two only acts like a septic tank, and like a septic tank when it gets real bad you need to dig it up and replace it. i would do this replacement slowly over a month or two, but i suppose your nitrates cant get much worse, so feel free to do it a little faster. this time when you lay down you sand use a inch or less.

also regular rinsing of your bioballs with saltwater will help keep nitrates down. the bioball rinsing is a basic suggestion for people to fix nitrates, but i think its the sand stiring that really set it off.


edit: i have been through this same problem 2 years ago when i stirred up the sand in my 4 year old tank, which is why i never do more then a inch any more

 

Ok that sounds good I want to replace the black sand with white sand anyway. How do I take the sand out with out breaking down the tank completely.

 

Does this apply to crushed coral too?

 

i would say a cup everyday. also i would watch all your parameters closely as this sand is holding some very very nasty stuff in it(dangerous to livestock).

 

The tank is empty. Thank God! So I should be able to take it all out and toss a couple of bags in?

 

its a little different with crushed coral since most owners of tanks with cc gravel vac them, its less dangerous then non-ssb in the fact that anerobic by products wont occur, but because of the empty space it can build up more waste, and cause high nitrates faster.

whats a good way to put this....

crush coral requires more regular maitence(thorough vacuuming) then sand, but i dont think it will become the huge problem that sand can become in a old tank.

so with crushed coral you may never get your nitrates very low in a averaged stocked tank, but with sand you can get very low nitrates as it traps all the waste more thoroughly then cc, but then you have the problem of what to do with the waste down the road..


my suggestions with both is to keep the bed very shallow less then a inch.

 

Thank you Sostoudt I will replace my sand bed this weekend. I hope this works because my tank has been empty almost 2 months.

 

yes i would make sure to scoop out any remaining water in the tank, as it will be very dirty from the waste trapped in the sand.


trust me once you see what is trapped in your sand you will never go deep in the display again

 

Your nitrates are high as you have bio balls and once kept a grouper which is not known by any means for being a clean fish.... I would stir the sandbed, siphon out as much detritus as you can when doing water changes and on that note start doing weekly water changes until the levels start dropping. Make sure you are using RO water as if you are using tap there is a good possibility that you will adding to the problem.

No offense sostoudt, but the sand bed thing is the exact thing I mean about people perpetuating old myths and wives tales or rumors. If you have a sand bed deeper than an inch it is NOT a ticking timebomb, it is NOT a septic tank or nutrient sink. I have seen many FANTASTIC tanks that have DSBs either in the DT or in the 'fuge.

Why do you want to change the sand? Aesthetics? Or other reason? All I can tell you is that it is going to be a cloudy murky job switching out the sand bed.... I would also wait a while and monitor the tank levels before adding fish as you will most likely start a small cycle again... Or at least strip your tank of many beneficial detritivores...

Good luck and rememeber that if you switch out the sand, either fill gallon zip locks with sand and pour the sand out on the bottom of the tank or cut a corner of the sand bag and let the air out before you put the bag in the tank, the air pockets that suck the sand out under water is what causes a BIG cloudy mess!!!

Happy reefing!