Nitrate outbreak!!!

to my understanding micro algae DOES bring down nitrates, it feeds off of it to grow... when i make my sump it will have micro algae in it for sure....

 

tnx sir! ;D

 

I'd look into a better skimmer...Foxface's are always hungry and they produce a lot of waste. This could lead to high nitrates, with all the other fish, I'd highly suggest a better skimmer for this size of a tank. BTW what are african clownfish?

 

Correct, all zeroes. I am currently bringing my nitrates down with macro algae and frequent water changes. Seems to be working...

 

First off, you need to slow Way Down... Very hard to do.. !! LOL

I belive your nitrates will come down, when your water gets stable..
I've had my tank up 8 months.. And my nitrates will jump up some, but I tend to overfeed.. I have 3 filters, one a canaster, and I have to remember to clean my
Pre-Filters. Or nitrates will jump up.. And I mean just to 10 or 15..

I think it has to do with your bio-load and cycle.. And going to fast..

Good Luck, Larry

 

You may be overfeeding, and that could cause high nitrates. I only feed my 54g with 4 fish 2 or 3 times a week, and my nitrates are 0.

Can you give us a catalog of the livestock in your tank? A way to see if your tank has cylced is to check your parameters before the lights come on, a couple times during daylight and once afterward. Your pH and ALK should fluctuate a bit, but nitrates, phosphates and everything else (barring calcium if you have any coral) should be stable. You should really run your sump for a couple of weeks too before putting livestock in (dont' worry if it's too late for that). If you're doing a refugium, then you should load it up with some macroalgae (I would recommend chaeto, it grows very quickly, but it wont anchor which means it's cake to pull it out when it gets overbearing. Rooted algaes can be more of a pain. I would also get some red macro if you can). Make sure to put sand in your fuge too. A refugium will dramatically reduce algae bloom if done correctly, plus it is really the only filtration you need. I use a microfiber filter on the intake of my fuge for particle filtration, but besides that it is completely biological. A skimmer is a plus too, but I find you really dont need one with a nice swamp on your tank.

If you are having algae bloom and you dont have any corals that require light, then shut it off for a week or so, fish alone dont need light.


So to sum it up:
1. Just slow down with adding life to your tank right now the secret to a fantastic tank is time.
2. cut down feeding, I never feed more than once in a day
3. Consider going with a fuge, but it's up to you. I just find a DIY fuge to be way cheaper than a skimmer with bioballs and an expensive store-bought acrylic sump. all you will need is a 10-15 gallon tank, get some plexiglass strips cut at home depot and some aquarium glue (look around the forum for plans for a fuge, it's really easy)

Give it 3 days of not feeding and monitoring of your fish and then test your nitrates again.