How to beat 10ppm Nitrates?

[wojo]

Specs are in my signature, is the only way to do is with RDSB? My fuge is not too big, probably 12"x12" and 10" tall full of chaeto, i prue it monthly. i skim wet, cup full every two days. and i feed once or twice a day.

i know some of you have done it, thanks guys ;)

[sean48183]

Is this an sps tank or soft corals. I'm guessing with the lights it must be a sps. Do you have any hair algae in your fuge? I find chaeto can't really keep up with nitrate export. Hair algae clobbers it. To make it grow get a gutter and dump the drain water from the tank into it and let it flow into the fuge. Almost like a well lit river. Put a lamp over the size of the gutter you've got. If it's 3ft gutter use a 3ft NO bulb. Make the gutter so it is removable. Just pull out ,dump algae and start over.

[wojo]

i have softies but recently i started with 8 sps frags and they are going okay but not really growing much i am thinking its nitrates that they dont like...

interesting idea about the gutter, do you have any pictures of this in action? also, you are telling me once the hair algea grows on it, it should be removed?

thanks man

[wojo]

and i have some hair algae growing on my chaeto which i removed up until now. i assume i should stop doing that, lol

[McCrary]

Why don't you just clear out your fuge and stick in 6" of 1-2mm sand. It should be able to take care of the trates. Or plumb a 5 gallon bucket filled with 6" of sand to your system. RDSB are good at being consistent nitrate exporters and it may be worth your time to set one up (especially if you are going to start growing SPS).

[wojo]

TurboSnail8898, i think my fuge is too small in order to be converted to DSB, i am thinking about plumbing RDSB but i dont have much space in my stand...

[sean48183]

I'll try to post a picture of it later but you don't throw it out-just clean it. Clean out algae and stick back under lights. If you have ever taken readings in a tank with massive hair algae growth there will probably be no nitrates or phosphates. It also returns oxygen to the water rather abundantly.

[McCrary]

The problem with using hair algae for exporting nutrients and nitrates is that it is almost impossible to keep it solely in the fuge. Anybody who has battled bryopsis knows how difficult it can be to rid a tank of hair algae.

wojo- I don't think that a 12"x12" area is going to be too small to have an effective RDSB, it isn't going to be able to handle large amounts of nitrates, but the last 10ppm should be reduced to 0 or close to with a seeded DSB. There is a rather extensive article by Anthony Calfo discussing RDSB for nitrate control. It may provide some insight into controlling your trates.

[wojo]

TurboSnail8898, this area is in the middle of my sump (middle chamber) and the water in there is 9" deep. if i go this route i wont be able to keep my chaeto in there... would it be more apprioprate and parhaps more effective if i buy a smaller size bucket (cuz 5gal bucket will not fit in my stand at this time) perhaps 3 gallons and use it for RDSB and leave my fuge alone?

thanks

[wojo]

maybe even a container that would give me 10" of sand? i just measured and i only have space for something with 7"x7" footprint and 18" tall...

[McCrary]

You can go with a finer sand to reduce the depth that is needed to produce anaerobic bacteria. The reason that DSB's are good at removing nitrates is because in the absence of oxygen they will feed off of the nitrate. The larger the sand the deeper it will need to be to keep oxygen from reaching the anaerobic bacteria and killing them. With a 1-2mm size sand it is around 5-6". A finer sand should allow you to use 3"-4" of sand which will give you 5-6" of water for your chaeto. You can also grow chaeto in areas of the sump that house equipment. I use caulerpa in my fuge and chaeto in the area that house the return pump. The chaeto will ball up and as long as it doesn't get into the pump it will grow and continue to absorb nutrients from the tank.

[suasponte2/75]

Hate to ask the obvious, but how often do you do h2o changes? If infrequently, then that may be the simple fix.

I don't believe I've ever had any measurable nitrate readings with a good fuge set-up (just chaeto, nothing else). I also run a SSB for years w/o probs. I hate the look of a matured DSB.

The only thing I see may be contributing to your prob. (from your listing) may be your feeding regimen. I feed once every day to every other day and only enough to so they'll consume it all within 5 minutes. I also attach seaweed to a clip for the grazers (tangs) every 3rd day or so.

HTHs,

Minh

[dragonforce]

Often times the best way to beat that 10ppm mark is by feeding every other or 3rd day, in combination with 25% changes every 2 weeks and nitrate export via macro algae. I do all of these things along with carbon 24/7 and im at 0-5 ppm. Good luck!

[wojo]

just the follow up to my thread couple of weeks back.

my Nitrates are at 0 (zero) now. I accomplished reducing 10ppm to 0 by:
1. feeding less (every othe day)
2. pruning micro algae in fuge and dosing Iron.
3. skimming semi-wet, but not totally wet.

Just for those, you can do it :)