high nitrates

[bobt2]

pt 2 is in the tank 2 weeks. i have not added anything yet. yesterday the nitrates read 80ppm with a new api test kit. changed about 30% of the water. today it's still at 80??? any ideas. po4 was reading about 5ppm. i,m using ro water btw. just powerheads, and a skimmer. and i have a hang on with carbon only, no pads

[bobt2]

maybe i,m panicing over nothing? i wonder if it,s still part of the cycle and some die off. i see a few snails that didn't make it. and may be more hidden? ideas?

[tspfish]

Mine did the same thing it just takes a little patience. I just did 10 percent weekly water changes but Basically you have to wait for the anaerobic bacteria in the sand and depths of the rock to start taking care of the nitrates. I added extra macro algae to help keep them down. I also noticed that you are using an ATI test kit. You might want to search the forums for information about that test kit as I notice a lot of people having issues using it. Good luck :)

[bobt2]

interesting, my ro water is 0 but my makeup in a rubbermaid can is 10.altho i threw a couple of unwanted, bad snails in that barrel

[Ptyochromis]

This is normal during a cycle. Throw some chaeto in there and consider dosing vodka/vinegar. Carbon (not entirely necessary) will also release phosphates.

[bobt2]

well, week 5, still no fish. nitrates still 50 even with a 35% change. everything looks perfect. switched to a salifert kit so the # is right. po4 is 0 with a reactor running. i am feeding kent micro vert 1x per week. any idea's or is it still normal and new

[Ptyochromis]

let your po4 go up to .04

Also carbon dosing is very effective for lowering nitrates. I dose both vinegar and vodka.

[bobt2]

why would i let the po4 come up? i,m most affraid of an algea bloom.

[Ptyochromis]

Its necessary for coral health and macro algae will have trouble growing if there is no phosphate in the water. Most macroalgae take nitrogen to phosphate at a 16-1 ratio respectively.

[Dreamscape4]

Did you monitor throughout the initial beginning of the cycle? Did you see your Nitrites go up? It's possible it is still cycling. Also your makeup in your rubbermaid being "10" is not good. You're just adding more fuel to the fire.

[SushiGirl]

You have to do bigger or more water changes to get the nitrates down. If you wait for the bacteria to handle it you'll be waiting years.

[Ptyochromis]

Weeks not years

[SushiGirl]

For nitrate reducing bacteria in a closed system?

[Ptyochromis]

Yup. The addition of carbon can accelerate the process greatly. But even without a carbon source it doesn't take years. Maybe a month or 2. It might be different if you run heavy skimming, I have never skimmed and my nitrates never go over 1ppm.

[bobt2]

the tank never really cycled. i never got any ammonia reading.nitrates maybe hit point 5 make up water is showing no nitrates. but 3 or 4 changes of 50% have not reduced the nitrates below 25ppm.[2 different kits]. i shut off the po4 reactor and that now shows .5.tank is now 5 weeks old.btw, everything looks great and i have a tiny spot of algea on 1 rock and a little growing on the hob filter output running carbon in trays. [no bags]

[Ptyochromis]

Doesn't look horrible for the age of your tank. It is still a baby. You are using RO DI water for your salt mix right?

[bobt2]

5 stage ro, no di

[Ptyochromis]

I would check the parameters of the RO output water. Most systems only remove molecules that have a molar weight of roughly 200g/mol. Nitrate has a molar weight of 62.004 g/mol and has a 1- charge while phosphate has a molar weight of 94.969 g/mol with a 3- charge. Generally the lower the charge the more likely it is to sneak through the membranes.

Just something to look into.