Nitrates

What do you have as far as flow? Maybe your getting a build up of food and waste somewhere in your tank and its causing this. Somewhere in your system there is a cause and solution to this problem. Instead of a sand sifting fish you could always go with some sand sifting snails.

ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae - Nassarius Vibex

 

Did you just set up this tank? Or did you switch filters? Either way your bacteria needs time to colonize.

 

Check your tap water's nitrate level. A lot of places have measurable amounts of nitrate in the tap water (i.e. I live in Davis, and our tap water has 15ppm), so you may just be adding in what you're trying to get rid of.

Go RO/DI if possible. 0 Nitrates always.

 

also check stored top off water for ammonia! add ammonia to your tank and you will get nitrates! something to think about

 

Well I went ahead and rinsed the sponge from the filter in RO/DI water and wow that thing was full of gunk! I only had it set up for a week, but I guess the movement of LR caused a little stir. My tank was set up for a year using a HOB filter and crappy redsea skimmer, but it was riddled with problems because I did everything the wrong/cheap way. I will do another test tomorrow and see what happens I checked my Ammonia levels and they were at 0.

 

Best advise I can give you is to get rid of your Fluval and just use your Aqua C and let your live rock do its job. You will notice a drop right away with removing the Fluval and in time it will get to 0 on its own. The Canister is trapping nitrates besides their is no need for one. I have a 46 also with a Aqua C and only about 65 LBS of LR and a HOB for carbon/ferric oxide. (Phosban)

 

Well it has been a few weeks and my nitrates are somewhere between 10 - 20ppg.. I have been cleaning out my Fluval 305 weekly and rinsing the sponges in RO water. When I did the first cleaning the sponges were really really dirty and yesterday they were dirty, but not as bad. I have also been skimming rather effectively now that the Aqua C is broken in and I am pulling a few cups of gunk a day out. Yesterday I also picked up 20 nasuris snails to add to my 4 astreas and 2 giant mexican snails.

With all that being said I have a few more questions:

How often should I be checking Nitrate levels to see if they are dwindling?

When I took my liverock out of the tank and scrubbed it in water I pulled out for a water change, could I have restarted a cycle and I am just at the tail end?

Before I really had a good filter and skimmer my tank looked horrific and the water quality was in poor shape. Could trapped decaying matter in my sand cause nitrate issues? I do see some gunk about an inch below the surface of my sand.

 

I run a Fluval canister on my tank, nitrates are at 0 and have been for over 2 months since I added it. Saying that they cause the nitrates is not the whole truth. If cleaned on a regular basis they are fine. If left unattended yes they can become a problem. To many people are to quick to blame a canister for nitrate problems.

 

I also disagree with people blaming Fluvals for Nitrate problems. I believe I have had good success running and maintaining my canister. They suck up and trap a lot of detritus that can be manually removed from your tank. As long as you properly maintain them (clean and replace the filter pads and media) you can have success using one.

BTW can you give us more info on your tank?? Like your feeding regimen and such. This will help solve your problem.

 

Have you ever considered using some Nitrate removing media like Seachem's Matrix. I have had good luck with it. Excellent Nitrate Media

I filled 2 baskets in my 304 with this stuff..