Nitrate Level Not Dropping.

[Allen]

OK, my tank has been set up for a 5 weeks now. 30 UK Gallon Tank and 15 Kilo Live rock.

Water levels seem to be behaving themselves, but the nitrate keeps moving from 20ppm to 30ppm - it never goes below 20ppm - should I be worried ?


Ammonia is 0 , Nitrite is 0, Ph is 8.1, Salinity 1.021, Temperature 24'c.

I have 8 hermits and a damsel at the moment - Im feeding little food every other day.

 

[JaminRat]

What water are you using? RO, DI distilled or regular tap water with conditioner.

 

[Allen]

Im using RO water from LFS.

I done a 30% water change this weekend and no real difference in Nitrate.

Maybe I just gotta let the live rock mature ?

 

[SkiFletch]

Without a skimmer or refugium its tough to get your nitrates down really low. 20-30ppm isnt the end of the world so I wouldn't be too concerned. Make sure you're not overfeeding and if you feed frozen, make sure you thaw it then strain it to keep nutrient waste to a minimum.

 

[Allen]

skimmer and sump going in next weekend - hopefully that will reduce it for me.

thanks for the tip reference draining frozen food.

 

[crazyelece]

Have you tested the fresh water change water? If it reads 0 then it is the bacteria in the tank. Anerobic bacteria grow at a much slower rate than Aerobic bacteria and can take some time to get to sufficient numbers to deal with the nitrates. Its always good to test your fresh water though because if it is reading 20ppm then that is as low as it will ever get.