Nitrates...ahhhhhh

[dorskh]

ok,,,no matter what i do i can not get my nitrates under 20ppm....frustrating the @#$% out of me!....i have a 24g dx nano with stock pump,purigen and chemipure in chamber 1(awaiting algone and seagel),,,a refugium with 1/4 pound of chaeto and 2 pounds live rock in chamber 2, and a maxijet 1200 in chamber 3....i do water changes every week and all my other parameters are perfect(ph 8.4, calcium 460ppm, nitrites and amonia 0, spg 1.025).....any suggestions?should i be concerned?
Kenny

 

[CutieWitBooty]

well first off what is your tank stocked with, corals, fish ect.. I don't know much about the nano cubes, but do you have bio balls int here? Do you have crushed coral insted of sand? After you answer these i could give you more info

 

[crazyelece]

check the water you are using for your water changes. Next pull out the live rock and rinse it and vacum that chamber. If that doesn't fix it maybe try a different test kit or take it to the LFS and have them test it. If not that I dunno!

 

[superman]

Try a different test kit, very likely that your test kit is bad.

 

[dorskh]

all i have in there right now is a blue damsel, cleaner shrimp, sexy shrimp, chili coral, fuzzy shrooms,star polyps, yellow gorgonian, clean up crew, and some ricordea(which are thriving)...my nitrates last week got as high as 60!!!! i did a 7 gallon water change...got them down to 15,,,seem to be stuck there

want to give props to steelhair by the way!!! he has been a huge inspiration(and dent in the paycheck!!!!!jk) to me! i really enjoy this forum!

 

[mrjames]

all i have in there right now is a blue damsel, cleaner shrimp, sexy shrimp, chili coral, fuzzy shrooms,star polyps, yellow gorgonian, clean up crew, and some ricordea(which are thriving)...my nitrates last week got as high as 60!!!! i did a 7 gallon water change...got them down to 15,,,seem to be stuck there

want to give props to steelhair by the way!!! he has been a huge inspiration(and dent in the paycheck!!!!!jk) to me! i really enjoy this forum!

hi. your nitrate levels are not that high and are definately not dangerous at that level. try when u go to do a water change to syphen the water from as close to the sand as possible, that is where nitrate lurk the most. ur emergency 50% water change was sensible. i use a something i bought from the shop, cant remember what it is called but it collects the nitrates. it looks like a massive t-bag and is rechargeable every few days by soaking it in aquilibrium for the night.you can also buy some RO water from the fish shop for cheap,this comes completely clean unlike tap water that down my way starts off from the tap at about 20ppm! do the points above and ur tank will be lovely and healthy.

good luck!

james

 

[Navarre]

DO you use RO water?

Cut back on feeding and perhaps dont rely no as much mechanical filtration. THis will definately cause your notrate to spike, with only 2lbs of liverock in the tank it will struggle to turn the nitrates to nitrogen.

 

[trekbear]

Kenny,

I see your bioload and all is not too bad. What do you feed your corals and fish and how much and how often?

sometimes what we use to feed with has higher phosphates and nitrates than a different brand or even type of food.

I do know most of the phyto products that are not (*live*) such as kents phytomax or whatever, does have higher nitrates and if you feed this to the tank several times a week then you are increasing your nitrates just by feeding. So look out for that.

HTH,
TrekBear

 

[steelhealr]

Kenny d..how old is your tank? I think the stocking is ok but if your tank is as young as I think it is, it is stocked TOO early.

I disagree with one post above...although 20ppm is not superhigh, I'm not comfortable with it at that level for a long period of time.

Also...a yellow gorgonian is not photosynthetic and should probably not be in a nano tank. The amount you have to feed it to keep it alive will most likely 'overnutrientize' your tank.

Bottom line..it is most likely either overfeeding, or, if your tank is as young as I think it is, it may be continue cycling off the lr. SH

 

[trekbear]

I Agree with SH here about the age of the tank, and feeding that Gorg...

That is why I was inquiring about the food you are using too. If your food has nitrates/phosphates in it and you add A LOT of food for the tank then you are introducing what we strive to keep out, in major doses...

DT's Phyto has never increased my nitrates or phosphates, it's why I stick with live phyto. I have never had major issues with my water quality while using it.

HTH,
TB

 

[dorskh]

Thanks for all the help...the tank is actually over a year old,,just changed rooms from my roomate who didnt care about it to me!!! i actually have about 20 lbs of live rock in there ,,,the 2 lbs is in the refugium...everything seems to be doing fine in there,,,even thriving!!! i am just paranoid!! i feed with liquid life bioplanktyon...only once a week and stick to the light dosing..it is funny that my nitrates have gotten worse since i added the refugium!!!!

 

[dorskh]

bump