Need help with nitrate levels!!

I am currently having a hard time getting the nitrate level down in my 90g FOWLR tank that I have had set up for approx 6 years now, I have a DIY 30g long wet dry with refuge. I have done 2 20-30% water changes in last 4-5 weeks along with a 50% water change 1 day ago. During the 50% water change I took about half of my bio balls out and replaced them with new ones, also cleaned some debris out of my wet dry(with refuge). A week ago I started using chemi pure elite, but not sure I am using it right. My nitrates are still off the chart, but yet my 2 fish seem to be doing fine. Ammonia levels are 0 and so are my nitrite levels. Could it possibly be that I have a bad batch of these 5 in 1 testing strips, the ammonia test is a separate test of corse. I'm begining to wonder if my bio balls in wet dry are causing my nitrates to stay high and/or possibly debris behind my rocks. I have been reading up on my nitrate problem on this site and other sites. I have a protein skimmer but the pump for it will not work and I am in process of getting a new pump. Put protein skimmer for my 65g on this tank for couple days to see what it would do(I know this is not the right size PS), got some liquid and some foam the first couple of days but I am no longer using the PS. Any ideas or advise?? Thank you

 

Well since you only have fowlr then it's not hurting anything by having some nitrates. I'm surprised you've been setup for 6 yrs & still use strips. I personally don't care for the bio balls cause once particles pass through them then it gets trapped on the bottom of sump & it's a pain to remove. Your bb could be holding in some waste but if its gonna be anywhere, it's likely to be hiding in your rocks. I use a turkey Baster to blow out crevices & then do water change. What is in your fuge? If you have a fuge then you should have some sort of macro algae & light that should be keeping your nitrates down. What live stock is in the tank? You said only 2 fish in a 90g. im guessing big fish which have large waste & that adds up in a tank. Nitrate problems could be from a lil bit of every problem you mentioned & they just add up. It's consistent cleaning that things in check.

 

I would expect an actual rise in the value of your nitrates following the current cleaning.

Your tank is older and I bet it probably has plenty of hidden areas where detritus has collected.

Any skimmer should be of assist even if it's not rated for that tank.

Have you considered adding an Algae Turf Scrubber to your system?

Welcome to 3reef.

Also as mentioned, it would be a good idea to double check your values against another test kit.

 

An algae turf scrubber is the way to go. There is a forum dedicated to ATS setups and many of those people have since stopped using skimmers. You can do a traditional waterfall type or an upflow. Both work very well and both are very easy and cheap to make.

If you aren't the DIYer type then maybe someone near you can build one or you can buy santamonica's ATS, it is very well made. If you want to learn more just shoot me a pm and I can help you out. I just finished making mine the other day and eagerly waiting to see some results, day 5 and I have had growth since the second day.

 

I actually just started using testing strips again when I setup my new 65g tank. When I do water changes in my 90g I always stick my hand in tank behind and around rocks and wave my hand around which helps to get debris out of rocks. I have a med sized yellow tang and a black and white striped spade fish(I think, he came our of crab trap, gift from my x boyfriend while on his fishing trip). I have small amount of caulerpa racemosa in refuge and another feathery looking caulerpa growing in tank but not really by choice. I will hook back up protein skimmer.

 

Had other fish in tank several years ago and they died, just really haven't stocked tank last year or 2 but I was about to order new fish when found problem. Think getting new fish would still be okay?

 

I would get the tank in check before adding another fish just to be safe.

 

How much flow do you have in your tank? A common misconception is that a FO tank doesn't need a lot of flow. I personally would hit a FO tank with as much flow as a I my reef tank, especially if there is a lot of LR in there. If you don't have enough flow, detritus settles in the rockwork and just starts creating nitrates. You want to get that junk suspended and through your filtration.

 

IME high nitrates isn't necessarily a problem in a FO. When you say off the charts, could you expand on that? If you have a wet/dry, the bioballs are probably a part of the problem as well as you said trapped detritrus. Daniel's question regarding flow is a good one. When I kept my FO, I didn't really think about flow so adding some in addition to regular "blowing off detritrus" and hooking up the PS are all good suggestions in terms of trying to lower nitrates.

I would be interested to know what a typical FO system running a wet/dry has as a nitrate level.

 

I do not have any extra flow in the tank, the only flow I have is from water returning from my wet dry under the tank. I will add extra flow to see it this helps. The nitrate levels are as high as the test will register(I think around 100 or 200), I'm at work right now so I can not look at the test strips. I will also look into the algae turf scrubber, never heard of that before. Thanks everyone for the help! I will keep you updated.