Nitrates Nano Cube

[Spence]

Hi all i'm new. I,ve recently set up a nano reef after reading Steelhealr's nano cube thread and using it as a set up guide. Thing is i've got one of those tetra testing kits and it doesn't seem to measure it in the same units as every one on her use's i've done a test and i've got 25 mg/l is this bad and how do ya get rid of them thanks in advanced i've done a search but can't get it specific enough to help

 

[Donya]

From what I've read, mg/L is about the same number-wise as ppm, so I think it should be equivalent to 25ppm on most test kits. Was there another unit system you were thinking of other than ppm?

 

[Spence]

no ppm was what i was thinking of so is 25mg/l bad

 

[_daniel]

ppm and mg/L are equivalent (for our purposes).

What stock do you have? 25mg/L would be fine for a fish only/soft coral set-up. Some more sensitive corals require less than 10mg/L.

 

[Spence]

i've got 4 fish watchman goby, clownfish, a little purple one and a flame angel, also got 5 corals, sun corel, brain coral , cloved polyp one that looks like grass and another one i don't know the name of. Should i get rid of the bio balls and carbon filters or what? whats the best way to get rid of nitrates

 

[Musho3210]

the best way is to do water changes, not frequent small ones, but like a really big one. Melev has a page that talks about how he got rid of nitrates.

 

[Spence]

who's melev

 

[Musho3210]

marc... dont you know him, such a noob


just kidding, i should have been more specific

http/www.melevsreef.com/

 

[afmo]

he best way is to do water changes, not frequent small ones, but like a really big one. Melev has a page that talks about how he got rid of nitrates.

how long has the tank been set up?

Also, be careful doing a really big water change, as you don't want to re-start your cycle.

 

[Spence]

tanks been set up about 3 months now

 

[afmo]

tanks been set up about 3 months now

i notice you said in a previous post that you have bio balls for filter media. Bio balls can be nitrate traps so i think i'd try removing those and see how it does.

 

[pengy666]

 

[Spence]

my tank

just been fed.

 

[steelhealr]

25 is high in my opinion. The refugium is KEY to 0 nitrates. Did you setup the external light for a middle chamber refugium? SH

 

[Spence]

Hi steelhealr

I've just recently done a water change and it's now down to between 12.5 and 25 depending how you look at the sample. I've also just taken out the bio balls ceramic tubes and a bag of carbon so in the 2nd chamber now is a bag of carbon and a sponge and in the first chamber is 2 sponges i'm hoping to get some live rubble for 2nd chamber soon.

Another question do you have to have light in the 2nd chamber for the live rubble?

also if i want to up the flow a bit were can i stick another power head thats easy to do?

Thanks alot