20ppm nitrates

[rireuter]

i have a 55g that has been running for about a year w/ a LOT of live rock, i'd say close to 150 lbs, the back is a solid rock wall and about 4 inches left in front that you can put stuff on the bottom. sand bottom of about 3-4" depending on area of tank. i had a crappy sea clone skimmer (the smaller one) that pulled very little skimate. got sick of it and made a DIY, http://diyproteinskimmer.blogspot.com/ used the exact same pump, sedra 9000, anyways i also replaced an over the back filter w/ a sump that trickles over a gallon of bio-balls. i have carbon and a phosphate remover on top of bio-balls getting the initial trickle. trying to get into sps corals so i got some ora tort, millepora, stag, and a surashoni frags from a friend. everything was good for the first week, then they started to look unhealthy, tested my water and noticed my nitrates are high, been doing 5g water change bout every 3 days and they seem high still, just finished DIY skimmer, didn't have a skimmer for about a week and a half, was having a crappy skimmer my prob? before i noticed prob i fed a phyto and zoo plankton every few days, have since stopped, have 4 3" wrasse in my tank, and i do have a ro system. any1 know a good way to remove the nitrates? is the a nitrate remover similar to the phos-sorb?

[medic 125]

First thing I would do, is up your water changes to 10 gallons. If I read correctly u have 20ppm Nitrates. That is not that bad. I suggest if you have the room purchase some mangrove shoots maybe 5 or 6 and float them in your sump. These will greatly reduce your nitrates, at least they took mine from a 25 or 20 ppm down to a consistent 5 ppm within 2 days. Just keep there leaves wiped off with fresh water. The rule is 1 mangrove per 10 gallons water. Take care

[therealfatman]

It is very hard to denitrify as fast as a tricle filter can turn wastes to nitrates. I would not recommend you use a trickle filter if you are going to keep corals as even with small daily water changes you almost assuredly still have excessive nitrates as long as you have a trckle filter. Even live rock rubble as a trickle filter media usually means high nitrate readings in comparison to a tank with live rock and no trickle filter. Trickle filters are great at what they do, but they do not denitrify. Trickle filters are best used with fish only or fish with live rock only. With fish high nitrates is really not a severe issue. A trickle filter will allow you to use no live rock or a smaller amount of live rock in a fish and rock tank, but there will be little growing/living on your live rock but coraline algae due to the high nitrates.

[rireuter]

i was afraid that it was the problem, thanks for the help, will be removing the balls asap, gives me more room in there anyway. also can someone point me in the direction of plans for making an acrylic skimmer with the sedra 9000, thanks once again

[tmz]

I don't think 20ppm is very high. A bigger problem may be phosphate,particularly for sps. The trickle filter will produce nitrate and by producing it it there it will lessentthe amount of processing on/in your live rock and sand where the nearby anoxic zones develop for the denitrifiers.

[mat167]

I would also either up the flow or remove some rock. With 150lbs in 55gallon, you likely have some dead spots or detritus accumulating somewhere. Also if you're looking to seriously drop NO3 quickly, I don't think 5 gallon water changes are going to cut it. I would say go up to at least 10-15 gallons until you get it under control. . . I was in the same situation as you (30 ppm) in my 90 gal. I did two 30 gallon water changes in 2 weeks, added another pump and rearranged the rock for better flow and I'm down to 5 ppm.

The poor quality/lack of a skimmer definitely didn't help your situation either.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

[ is the a nitrate remover similar to the phos-sorb?

There is no suitable nitrate binding media for seawater, but there are many ways to reduce it. i discuss them here:

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners,
Part 4: What Chemicals May Detrimentally Accumulate
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/rhf/index.php


and

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm

[mmotown]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14351007#post14351007 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by medic 125
First thing I would do, is up your water changes to 10 gallons. If I read correctly u have 20ppm Nitrates. That is not that bad. I suggest if you have the room purchase some mangrove shoots maybe 5 or 6 and float them in your sump. These will greatly reduce your nitrates, at least they took mine from a 25 or 20 ppm down to a consistent 5 ppm within 2 days. Just keep there leaves wiped off with fresh water. The rule is 1 mangrove per 10 gallons water. Take care

My nitrates are like 50ppm and I do water changes every two weeks. I do have room in my sump for some mangroves. Why would you float them and not plant them or did I miss understand you? Thanks for the input...that made my day:D

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, I'm not a huge fan of mangroves from a nutrient export perspective because the grow much more slowly than does macroalgae, but they can be useful. :)

[mmotown]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14360855#post14360855 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Randy Holmes-Farley
FWIW, I'm not a huge fan of mangroves from a nutrient export perspective because the grow much more slowly than does macroalgae, but they can be useful. :)

Randy I have decided I am going to redo my fuge. Change the lighting and see if that works. Add more chaeto as well...

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sounds good. Good luck. :)