Can't get the nitrates down

[gscottnelson]

I have been struggling for over 6 months on this, and am out of ideas. Below are the details that probably answers any questions. Any ideas, please advise!!


I have a 125g tank, 6' long.
175 lbs of live rock, good amount of coraline algeae
36"x 16" trigger systems 36 sump, with built in 10 gallon refugium
G3 protein skimmer
4 stage rodi filtration
Bulk reef supply GFO /Carbon reactor with GFO and carbon
35% water change every other week
About 2 inch sand bead, some areas deeper.
Fishes: Scopus tang, yellow tang, show size ancias angel fish, fox face, 5 clowns, 1 small powder blue tang, tomato clown
Lots of small hermits and snails
I feed nori and flake, but not more tha they can eat.

I don't know what to do. I am thinking of getting a larger sump with larger refugium.

Please help!

[Cymonous]

How many nitrates do you have? What are you using to test with? Some nitrates are ok to have in a sw tank.

[morgan175]

Do you use rodi water?

[on the spot]

Fishes: Scopus tang, yellow tang, show size ancias angel fish, fox face, 5 clowns, 1 small powder blue tang, tomato clown

I feed nori and flake, but not more than they can eat.

even with it just being what they will eat, it's still a lot of mouths to feed, and a lot of waste created.

Have you considered the various reactors you can buy or build? I'm still partial to the sulfur reactor (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-01/diy/index.php), built from common pvc parts and maxijet pump. There are build threads aplenty in the DIY and some in the chemistry forums.

[gscottnelson]

I use rodi. I figured for a 125 that would not be a heavy bioload. Nitrates run over 40 and a 40% water change gets them down to 25 but back over 40 in a week

[hobbzz]

I would start dosing vinegar, vodka, and/or sugar. I personally do vinegar only.

[on the spot]

I would start dosing vinegar, vodka, and/or sugar. I personally do vinegar only.

I'd doubt the G3 to be adequate for this, no? It's a fairly basic skimmer -

[sporto0]

40 ppm??? Is this a reef tank? & even if it is that is not an extreme nitrate level & if it is just a fish only tank, that's a low number, not a concernable issue for sure, my FOWLR reads well over 150ppm for nitrates & zero algae growth to boot, it has no ill effect on fishes or inverts, so stop beating yourself up over this, nitrates are produced as the end result of the nitrogen cycle, this is going to be a normal thing, especially for tank with mostly fishes.

[chrisfont23]

Dude, relax. I have a fully stocked 90g tank with LPS corals and fish. My nitrates are never below 40 ppm and everything is fine. Really. Low nitrates are essential for those keeping SPS corals and real sensitive stuff. A lot of folks forget to say that. Most LPS corals are essentially nitrate filters.

Seriously, don't fret it and get caught up in the absolute zero hype... it's not worth it.