nitrates...

I believe I have the start of a chronic nitrate problem. I bring my nitrates down and they seem to climb back up quickly. To the amount that I would have do atleast a 20 percent water change weekly, possibly every two weeks. So I need some help finding the root of my problem. I think it might be my bio-load.

My setup: 55 gal
Casscade 700 cannister filter, casscade 200 HOB, Seaclone 150 protien skimmer.
I have 75-80lbs of live rock, sand bed of 1.5-2 inches of argonite, and my tank cycles around 5 times an hour.

bio-load:
yellow tang, kole tang, perculla clown, fire goby, scooter blenny, dragon goby, engineer goby, green file, cleaner shrimp, and various hermit crabs and snails.
I also have 9 or so different corals.

water parameters:
nitrate 20
nitrite 0
ammonia 0
ph 8.2
calcium 400 - 420
specific gravity 1.025
phos. are high dont have exact ppm. just got test kit, haven't got exact measurement.
alk. just got test kit, haven't measured yet.


Anyway, any help is appreciated and I can also give more details about my setup if needed.

Meklo

 

I'm not a nitrate expert but it looks like you have all the good stuff. A Skimmer , lots of live rock, even a canister filter for carbon and biological filtration if needed. You say they are high? How high is that? And are you getting any indications that your nitrates are causing a problem with your tank?

With your fish load, and possible feeding habits, I don't know if you'll be able to bring them down any lower than 20 without investing in more equipment???

Jim

 

Do you have a sponge or some other filter sock that is overly dirty? Water flow might be a little low and cause dead spots in the tank. Is all food being eaten? Anything dirty needs to be cleaned. How old is this tank? If it is a new tank you might not have beneficial bacteria to take care of the nitrates.

 

Things like a bio-wheel and noodles or bio-balls will eventually make you nitrate levels go up. Those are all good until you get to nitrates/ there is where those media benefits stop! Some nitrates are beneficial especially to corals, however excess is problem. Try doing a water change again and add carbon plus a nitrate remover. Their are a few companies that sell it and can be found at local pet shops!

 

I believe my nitrates aren't as high I believed. I was using Saltwater Master test kit, but have switched (yesterday) to Marine Lab and got quite a different reading. SWM gave me a reading of 40 and marine lab gave me a reading of 10. I am leaning toward the second test because nothing in my tank seems to show any signs of stress or closing up.

Meklo

 

coral reefer, Nitrate remover? How would you suggest running that? Should i use a 2fish chamber of just have it in a nylon bag in the flow of water?

 

You might have detritus settled in your sand bed. You might consider getting a detritivore and you also might have too much settled in the filter. Also, bio-balls could be dirty. How old is the tank?

What are your feeding habits on your fish load? Running media will help a lot like mentioned by coral_reefer. If you go to the LFS, search for "media bags", get a high micron nylon bag. Lee's makes a nice one for under 3 bucks.