Nitrates yet again...

I cant figure out why my nitrates are so high. They where pushing 100. I did almost a 50% water change today, pulled all my rock coral and fish to see if something was dead. Found 3 small nerite snails and a hermit, pulled them and after letting it run they where still almost 80. Skimmer is running wide open now, carbon is less than 2 weeks old. Im at a loss. Cant figure out whats doing it. Im not overfeeding by no meens.

Anyone got any ideas?

55 gal tank btw...

Ty in advance

 

how about a rundown of what fish you have.

and your maintenance schedule.

 

and also describe
your filtration system and all the components used in it

have you had your LFS check your test results as many people have reacted to readings from suspect test kits

Steve

 

Do you use tap water, bud?

 

Here..answer these Q's for me

Do you use tapwater?

How many pounds of LR do you have?

How many fish do you have?

Is this a FOWLR or a reef?

What is your filtration system?

How long has it been setup?

 

1. Yes
2. Roughly 70-90 lbs
3. 2 Marroon Clowns 2 Damsels 2 Firefish Gobys
4. Reef
5. Single stage Cannister with Carbon
6. Been up for four and a half months now.

 

Have you tested your tap for nitrates? Maybe that's the source of your problem.

 

While your trying to figure out whats causing the issue. If nitrates start to elevate to high. I suggest using this product.

Instant Ocean Natural Nitrate Remover. It puts in a chemical that helps the end cycle of nitrogen (what removes nitrates)

I used it in my 120 to get my nitrates down from 160, to 20ppm in 3 days Added In my Sump/Fuge and Got down to 0 With chaeto.

 

Try and test your tap water for nitrates and see what results you get. You may be putting them in there yourself. Tap water is considered a very bad type of water for a reef tank.

Test your tap and post the results.

- Mag.

 

What kind of skimmer are you running?

It looks like that single stage canister filter might be your culprit!

When was the last time you really cleaned the crap out of it?

Those things will become nitrate factories when left unattended.

Also the use of tap water is certainly not helping your nitrate issue.

Lastly - how often are you feeding your fish? 1x/day? 3X/week?