nitrate problem

Hey All, through having my tank all my phos and nitrate test came out 0. I just got a new nitrate test(american pharm) and I did the test tonight. Oh my god it say my nitrates are at 80ppm. I only feed once a day and as much as the fish and cleaner will eat, in a blink of an eye it's gone. I use a filter with the sponge and carbon and I clean that weekly. Should I ditch the spong and just use carbon? I have about 35 or so lbs of LR and about 20 lbs tufa which is speckeld with feather dusters and coraline.

Now I noticed that I had had very little algae and no diatoms and then I did a water change and low and behold I have diatoms on my powerheads and more algae showing up (not alot but more than before). Now the question...how harmful are nitrates and how many water changes should I do to lower them. I won't be able to do one tonight as I have no water made up so thursday would be the soonest to do it as I am really sick and can barely do anything let alone set up a water change.


Any help would be great. Nothing has died the only change is my new lights.

 

First question is did you test again just to make sure you did the test right? Are you still using tap water?

 

Did something die in your tank? That is really high!!! The highest you should be is around 10ppm and that is pushing it. The reason mine is around 8-10 is because I have 3 Tridacna's that feed on nitrates!
Make sure you are doing the test correctly as AMCARRIG mentioned.
Get rid of the sponge and replace the carbon frequently and use just a little bit as less is better as long as you replace it frequently.

 

nothing has died. everything is accounted for. Do you think it's safe to remove my sponge with the amount of LR I have? I use ro water...haven't used tap since my cycling days. I am hoping I did the test wrong as I can't imagine what could have done this. When I was using the red sea test it always came out zero for nitrates. Could a skimmer cause this? I had to unplug my skimmer to replug everything to fit the new lights so it takes a few days to get it going again. My substrate is aragonite crushed coral. I am so upset over this because it's like no matter what I do I have a problem with this tank...to be honest I would never do it again if I could turn back time.

 

I wouldn't remove the sponge. Seeing as you clean it often, I doubt very much that it's the source of your nitrates. Leaving a skimmer off for a few days would not cause a huge spike in nitrates so either the nitrates have been high for a while, something has died in your tank, or the test is wrong. Test again when you have a minute. Also, test the output of your r.o. unit for nitrates. Do you clean/vaccuum your crushed coral at all?

 

I vacuum my crushed coral in small sections when I do my water changes, nothing that I can see has died, i mean if i had a nassarius snail die I wouldn't know but all livestock accounted for. I purchase my ro water at the water depot so I don't have an ro unit but I never add tap water no matter what. Now I try to be diligent with the sponge...so I clean it once a week but there have been times where I have missed it but even then my tests read zero. I will do the test tonight as soon as I get home. Now why do you suggest leaving the sponge in? and what should I do if the nitrates are still high and will it affect anything in the tank? Maybe my old tests were crap. God I hope I screwed up

 

oops I did forget to mention that my candy cane had died a week or so ago but they were removed immediatly. You know I hate this trial and error as it is so hard to fix something you don't know whats broken. aRRRR

 

Have you tested the store's water for nitrates? That's where I would start if you retest and still get a high reading.

Again, I would leave the sponge as you can use the bacteria that's on it seeing as you don't have a heck of a lot of live rock in the tank (which might be another reason why your nitrates are high).

 

how much more LR do I need? I thought that at this point the tufa would be considered LR since it seeded. I haven't checked the store water but I will do that tonight. God if there water is bad I have no idea what I will do because I can't put and ro/di unit in my apartment. The stupid building has done something to the plumbing so you can't do your own work on it. They have to shut off the water in the whole building to do any plumbing...I think it's stupid because if there is an emergency...well your not fixing it quickly. Will any of my fishies die due this problem? I have 40lbs LR and 20 lbs tufa. thanks for the help guys I am starten to get stressed, not what I needed when I am sick. I think I should do a water change tomorrow...now will vaccuming the substrate help or add to the problem?

 

Sorry....didn't realize that you added the extra rock. Sounds like you're all set there!

Vaccuming the substrate won't do any harm but I wouldn't do it any more than what you do with your regular water changes unless there's a heck of a lot of food and/or poo in there.

Have you checked with your local fish store to see if they sell r.o. water as well in case the water that you're using now is "dirty?"

Nobody/nothing in a tank will like high nitrates but some critters can live with them for a short time. No need to panic though until you retest your water! For all you know, you might just have a faulty test reading.