Elevated Nitrates?

[weAREtheirVOICE]

Technically, ours is a nano FOWLR atm, but we aim to convert to a reef tank. We've run into a snag w/ our water quality though, and can't seem to lower our nitrates. We switched over to a 100gal canister filter w/ UV sterilizer about 3 months ago, and that's when this became a steady issue. The bacteria took longer to take hold than we had planned on, and our levels skyrocketed. We've been doing regular water changes, minimized additives, added more live-rock, and a Goldenhead Sleeper Goby to sift through the sand. Ammonia and Nitrites have gone back down, but Nitrates are still off the charts. I was just wondering if anyone else had any advice on speeding up the process. I believe it's nearing the end of the cycle, but our fish are showing signs of Nitrate poisoning and we really need to sort this out.

 

[Donya]

You can use nitrate-binding water conditioners directly on the tank as a quick fix, best added after mixing in a cup of water to avoid any curious fish getting a big gulp of it. You should never rely on them to run a stable system of course, but I have used Amquel Plus for 1-2 weeks in situations where the fish had to remain in the tank during a cycle/recycle and WCs were insufficient to keep waste levels in check. Something like that might help deal with the nitrite poisoning issues in the very short term while the root of the problem is figured out. Have the canister filter contents been cleaned recently? If not, that would be the only thing I can come up with off the top of my head at the moment that might be contributing to the problem.

 

[fishguy2727]

What size tank is this?

This is why many will not use a canister on a marine tank, the debris they trap will turn the canister into a nitrate factory.

What filtration was on there before?
What water are you using for water changes and topping off (tap, RO, distilled, from the LFS)?

 

[weAREtheirVOICE]

We actually just cleaned the canister media, we do it monthly. We even got a "Nitrate reducing" filter pad that didn't seem to have any effect. We'll start using our Amquel again, we stopped for a bit because we thought the additives might've been contributing to the problem. We gave up on the wc products, most of them are rip-offs. We got the Goldenhead Sleeper to take care of the muck on the bottom, he's done an amazing job at it too. Much better than anything we've tried out of a bottle.

 

[weAREtheirVOICE]

It's a 29gal w/ 30-40lbs of live-rock and about 2in of substrate. We were using a hang-on filter before we switched, we wanted a refugium, but simply don't have the space or the resources. We use treated tap water that we let stand for a few days before adding to the tank, but we've been discussing switching to RO.

 

[fishguy2727]

The tap water could be a huge contributor to the problem.

IME those pads will only make a minimal difference at best (may get 5ppm down to undetectable, maybe). With a lot of nitrate stuff like that will be exhausted quickly.

Water changes (with RO or distilled water) will be the biggest help. I would do 10-20% daily until you get things under control.

 

[Donya]

Have you tested the nitrate straight out of the tap and also after mixing the salt? Might be worth checking for ammonia and nitrite too on those, since even if it's being converted straight away by the biological filtration, it could be contributing to a nutrient excess. I am a user of tap too currently for most of my tanks, but in past times I wasn't since I used to live in an area where the tap quality was pretty abysmal.

We gave up on the wc products, most of them are rip-offs.

What are "wc products"? I don't understand.

 

[weAREtheirVOICE]

I was surprised to find we can get the RO water from Wal-mart for a good price, so we'll probably start using that. I'm embarrassed to say I haven't tested it separately before adding it to the tank, but I'll go ahead and do that. And with the wc thing- I meant to type it out, but that's what I get for multitasking. I was referring to the waste control products we've tried in the past- before this became an issue. We were told to do 25-30% water changes every 2-3 days, could that have had a negative effect on the water quality? I know it's a delicate balance, I guess we just need to get the amounts and frequency of the changes just right.

 

[fishguy2727]

Check that RO water before you use it. Many times that kind of water is for drinking and is not pure, so it is not 0 TDS. You could end up with water a little better than you had before, but not 0 TDS, which is what you need.

 

[weAREtheirVOICE]

Well, turns out our test kit was bad. So we've been wasting our time and money on a problem that didn't exist. Thank you all for the good advice though!

 

[seffieuk]

How about starting a journel

 

[woody88]

What test kits are you using?

Are they in date?

 

[Lady J]

IMHE one of the best ways to determine how your tank is doing is to observe the animals. I would be very skeptical of the different readings you're getting. If possible, purchase a Salifert Test kit as they are probably the best and most accurate. I think there might be 3 different issues contributing to high nitrates (assuming they are high). Even if they are low and the test kit was wrong, you're probably going to have problems in the future. One is definitely the canister. If you're going to use that it would help to thoroughly clean it every week. Second is the sand bed. It's deep enough to trap detritus but not deep enough to become anaerobic so it's probably creating high nitrates. The third is the tap water. Sometimes someone gets lucky (say, with well water) and has naturally pure water, but that's a very small percentage of people. Simply don't use tap water because it's got all kinds of bad stuff in it for saltwater animals. Great for us humans---bad for ocean creatures. I'm really happy you're going to get RO water from WalMart. But again, test it to make sure it's as clean as you and I think it is. TDS meters are a great thing!

Hope this helps.

 

[lljdma06]

Another old post.

L