The battle if high nitrates continues... Even dosing Vinegar

[jbird0420]

This is probably the most frustrating part of this hobby. Trying to correct an issue high nitrates..

I have a 225g mixed reef with 40g sump/refugium. I have a heavy bio load with about 200lbs of live rock. Well established tank 8 years. No sand bed. I removed all the sand over a month ago. As well as I upgraded my pump on my skimmer. I have RO Extreme 200 Xs skimmer running a RO Vario4S dc pump.

Water parameters:
Calcium 480ppm
Alk 10
Mag?? I never check
Nitrates 80+ according to API test kit.
Phosphates 3.0

About 5 weeks ago I added a sulfur denitrator. Which does produce 0 ppm effluent according to the nitrate test kit.
I also started dosing vinegar twice/day at 55ml per dose. So a total of 110ml day. The skimmer is producing a lot of skimmate!

My fish show no signs of stress. But a couple of my sps frags have dulled out. Not dead, but very dull in color. My LPS corals have excellent polyp extension.

I have not done a water change in over a month. As I used to do water changes twice a month 30g each time.
I decided to stop water changes on the advice of other reefers saying it's not good for a large mature system to do water changes..

I'd really like to find the source of this nitrate issue and correct it. I feed one Nori sheet (for the tangs) in the am. A cube of frozen mysis in the afternoon and a cube of frozen brine shrimp in the pm.
The filter socks I own are very old but I change them out and wash them often with bleach and rinse cycle them 3x after.

So I'm looking for positive advice please and thank you?:wavehand:

JB

[Vadafallon]

I deal with high nitrates as well. Do you use sponges at all? If so do you take them out and wash them out daily? How often are you changing your socks out? Could your rock be leaching nitrates? Take a piece out and put it in RO water for a day and then test the water maybe.?

[jbird0420]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I do not use any sponges. Just filter socks. I have cheato and mangroves in the sump.
I change out the socks once I see them start to overflow. Usually once or twice a week I change out the socks.
I'm not sure about the LR leaching nitrates. If could be a possibility. I will try that and see if that is it.

Do you use a sulfur denitrator on your setup? Do you dose vinegar as well also??

I deal with high nitrates as well. Do you use sponges at all? If so do you take them out and wash them out daily? How often are you changing your socks out? Could your rock be leaching nitrates? Take a piece out and put it in RO water for a day and then test the water maybe.?

[Vadafallon]

I am about to change over systems and i plan on using a lot of Seachem Matrix and dosing bacteria. Also i have a monster skimmer i am going to be running. We shall see what happens once the new system is setup. I do not use a sulfur denitrator or dose vinegar.

[C.Eymann]

I agree on maybe adding a reactor filled with matrix or a basket in the sump, I would also try to stick to changing socks twice a week rather than once.
I know you said you have live rock, but did the rock start out as actual real live rock from the ocean or was it man made?? The latter doesn't really have as good denitrificational properties as the real stuff because of the lack of pore network, so that maybe causing the issue you are seeing if that's the case here.

[jbird0420]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

It's mostly gulf rock but some of the rock came from another source as well. As I bought the stuff from people selling off their reef tanks.

I agree on maybe adding a reactor filled with matrix or a basket in the sump, I would also try to stick to changing socks twice a week rather than once.
I know you said you have live rock, but did the rock start out as actual real live rock from the ocean or was it man made?? The latter doesn't really have as good denitrificational properties as the real stuff because of the lack of pore network, so that maybe causing the issue you are seeing if that's the case here.

[C.Eymann]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

It's mostly gulf rock but some of the rock came from another source as well. As I bought the stuff from people selling off their reef tanks.

Since it is illegal to harvest actual chunks of the reef (real live rock) in the gulf I am guessing the majority of your rock is man made, then set out in the ocean to be cultured, just like how Tampa bay saltwater does it, its nice rock, but like I mentioned it will lack the intricate deep pore structures found in the real stuff that helps support adequate denitrification.

The problem here I believe is lack of denitrificational real estate.

Like Vadafallon mentioned using things like matrix can certainly be the solution to your problem.

Here is a great thread with a wealth of information on the topic.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2526998&highlight=matrix

Hope this helps!

[jbird0420]

Thanks for information. I will look into it. :)
I was hoping that incorporating the refugium, vinegar introduction and sulfur denitrator in the past month would have done something. Lol




Since it is illegal to harvest actual chunks of the reef (real live rock) in the gulf I am guessing the majority of your rock is man made, then set out in the ocean to be cultured, just like how Tampa bay saltwater does it, its nice rock, but like I mentioned it will lack the intricate deep pore structures found in the real stuff that helps support adequate denitrification.

The problem here I believe is lack of denitrificational real estate.

Like Vadafallon mentioned using things like matrix can certainly be the solution to your problem.

Here is a great thread with a wealth of information on the topic.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2526998&highlight=matrix

Hope this helps!

[djbon]

If you are interested in DIY project, take a look at this thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2587610. Good luck :D

[bertoni]

The phosphate and nitrate levels are very high. I suspect that the feeding rate is too high for the filtration capacity of the system. You could give the denitrator and the vinegar dosing some more time, but more live rock or better skimming might help, as well.

[jbird0420]

The last pump on my skimmer was crap. I upgraded the pump a few weeks ago and this new pump pulls a lot of skimmate out.

[jbird0420]

Thanks! I'll check it out.


If you are interested in DIY project, take a look at this thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2587610. Good luck :D

[foredababy]

I would verify those numbers with another test kit to rule out lab error. If you verify these numbers my suggestion would be an algae turf scrubber. I feed my reef fairly heavy and my scrubber grows algae like crazy. Phosphates and nitrates extremely low.

[jbird0420]

Is it possible old socks over time just need to be replaced?
Could it be my live rock leaching nitrates??

I'm so frustrated over this nitrate issue! I'm losing most of my SPS coral now.
A lot of my other LPS coral are not expanding as normal. Nitrates tested over 180ppm according to the test kit. Yesterday it was at 80ppm. I did a 15% water change last week and the nitrates dropped to 40ppm and 24 hrs later it shot back up to 80ppm.

I really want to find the source of this problem. I have a bare bottom tank. No substrate. About 200 lbs of live rock, that's over 10 yrs old. I do have a heavy bioload of fish. I'm sure that is where the source of nitrates are coming from. I feed twice day brine srimp, mysis and some lettuce for the tangs to nipple on.

I have a refugium full of cheato, mangrove seeds and pods. My skimmer is Regal 200INT Protein Skimmer, it pulls some serious gunk out. I have a sulfur denitrator which I thought would help, but apparently not...

i just added 2 marine pure plates in my sump..
I've been dosing vinegar for a month now and noticed cyano algae growing all over my rocks. I just started dosing vodka a week ago with the vinegar to see if that will help.

I'm gonna stop dosing all together as it seems not to be helping at all. I never had a cyano issue till i started dosing.

[bertoni]

Live rock can't leach nitrate the way it can leach phosphate. Nitrate doesn't fit into the calcium carbonate matrix. The socks themselves shouldn't be causing problems either. I might try removing them to see whether the tank can filter the debris more effectively without them.

[MorganAtlanta]

Those numbers are crazy. +40ppm in 1000 liters in 24 hours?

Filter socks, etc., don't create nutrients. The nutrients are coming from what you put in the tank. If you have to feed that much to keep your fish alive, then you have too many fish for the system processing capabilities and your maintenance routine. I'd get rid of half of the fish biomass to see if that helps stabilize things. I'd also invest in some salt and do a bunch of water changes (like 10% daily) until I got the nitrate numbers down to 10ppm or less and phosphate to 0.7ppm or less. If you can't keep them there, I'd keep dropping fish until you can keep the numbers with a maintenance and equipment level you would be comfortable with.

Anything you add to the system is going to take time (months maybe) to settle in, so I wouldn't rely on a denitrator, or dosing or an ATS for a quick fix. I'd reduce feeding and biomass to give whichever of those you choose time to get going, then look to slowly add fish back in as the system can handle it.

[MorganAtlanta]

Since it is illegal to harvest actual chunks of the reef (real live rock) in the gulf I am guessing the majority of your rock is man made.

I wouldn't make that conjecture. Most rock isn't man made. A lot of it is mined pre-historic reef (e.g. marco), and a lot is imported dead reef rock (e.g. pukani, etc).

[moe103]

+1 on verifying the numbers with a different test kit.

[ReefsandGeeks]

I'd verify numbers with a new test kit, then after confirming take action. I've started and stopped carbon dosing a few times, and can say that with Nitrates 80+ in the tank, it can take a very long time to get them down. I'd guess 3-4 months, though there are a lot of factors involved. I've never heard that water changes are bad for a mature tank, but my tank is only 3 years old. Persaonally, I'd do a couple of large 25+% changes a few days apart until your numbers start to show up on your test scale, then continue with carbon dosing or whatever denitrification method you choose. it's not going to happen fast, so try not to get too discouraged. The water changes will give you a good boost starting out, as it will be physically removing a lot of nitrate with each change.

I'd also feed less in the meantime to help. Nitrate will go up proportionatly with how much you feed. Just because your fish can eat what you're feeding, doesn't mean they need to. If nothing else, just until you get nitrates under control. Then you can work your way back up, monitoring nitrates as you do.

[Becks]

Do you have nitrite present? Some test kits will show high nitrates when nitrites are present, my salifert kit did.

During my cycle 1ppm of nitrite made the salifert nitrate test kit indicate 100ppm of nitrates, when nitrites dropped to 0 the nitrate test kit result was 25ppm,

Nitrite and nitrate test kit was salifert

[jbird0420]

I'm using and API test kit. With the same test kit I tested my rodi water and it read 0ppm nitrates.

I need to get a nitrite test kit.

[C.Eymann]

I wouldn't make that conjecture. Most rock isn't man made. A lot of it is mined pre-historic reef (e.g. marco), and a lot is imported dead reef rock (e.g. pukani, etc).

Still, marco rock tends to have less deep internal pore structures and is overall more dense than dry pukani or real Fiji live rock. BRS made a good video on the comparison between marco, pukani, and man-made densities.

Its very common to see those with minimalistic scape, shallow sand, or BB reefs to see nitrate problems and the solution is to add matrix/siphorax to the sump or a reactor, it can take awhile to build up enough denitrifying bacteria populations to start seeing a decrease, but many have seen great success with it

Still really think this is a bacterial real estate issue, esp considering he moved from DSB to BB, could also be from the organics released leftover from when it was removed.

[jbird0420]

I did a 50% water change yesterday and the nitrates did not move. Blood red according to the test kit. I'm about F-ing over this nitrate BS!!!!

[Crusinjimbo]

I beat high nitrates with an diy algae scrubber the cost less than $100 and it only had to be touched every 10 days to export the algae to the trash. After the tank was taken down I realized I was fighting a loosing battle. My rear glass in the ML 60 cube was drilled and I installed a Herbie drain. The overflow filled from the top and drained from the top go the overflow to the sump. I never noticed Thad sludge accumulated in the lower section of the overflow and man did it smell when I flushed it. WOW. I had a septic tank in my tank. The scrubber kept the NO3 in check but my PO4 beat me down. Learn something every day!

[jbird0420]

I'm at a total loss. My overflows are clean and detritus free. No sand in the tank. The sump is clean. My cheato and mangroves are growing like crazy. My skimmer is pulling tons of crap out of the water.
I'm down to feeding a frozen cube of mysis in the am and frozen cube of brine shrimp in the pm. The food is consumed in less than 2 minutes.

I stopped dosing vinegar as it seems to not be helping..

[CHSUB]

how much water is your sulfur reactor processing and how big is it?

for a while i dosed vinegar and had a sulfur reactor with high no3. when i stopped the vinegar, no3 fell fast; and now it is ~ 1.00 ppm for about 2 years, iirc. However, during that time, po4 was unreadable with a hanna checker so i think the the tank was po4 limited. i would not expect your results to be the same with po4 @ 3.0? i would continue large WC to lower no3 and then a good sized sulfur reactor should control no3 once they are lowered.

[jbird0420]

The sulfur reactor is the standard RO canisters. It's basically a BRS dual reactor. 1st stage is LSM 2nd stage is ARM. I have it set at a drip/second. I notice it reads 0ppm effluent. But if I crank up the flow to say a few drips/sec or steady stream of effluent it reads the same nitrate reading as the display tank.

I see a lot of bacterial slime in my sump from dosing vinegar for the past 1 month. Po4 according to my API test kit reads about 3.0ppm. Which I know is high as well. I'm not using gfo. I kinda want to stay away from gfo.



how much water is your sulfur reactor processing and how big is it?

for a while i dosed vinegar and had a sulfur reactor with high no3. when i stopped the vinegar, no3 fell fast; and now it is ~ 1.00 ppm for about 2 years, iirc. However, during that time, po4 was unreadable with a hanna checker so i think the the tank was po4 limited. i would not expect your results to be the same with po4 @ 3.0? i would continue large WC to lower no3 and then a good sized sulfur reactor should control no3 once they are lowered.

[Sk8r]

Also---just a crazy question: how old is your nitrate test? Any chance your reading is off?

[CHSUB]

The sulfur reactor is the standard RO canisters. It's basically a BRS dual reactor. 1st stage is LSM 2nd stage is ARM. I have it set at a drip/second. I notice it reads 0ppm effluent. But if I crank up the flow to say a few drips/sec or steady stream of effluent it reads the same nitrate reading as the display tank.

I see a lot of bacterial slime in my sump from dosing vinegar for the past 1 month. Po4 according to my API test kit reads about 3.0ppm. Which I know is high as well. I'm not using gfo. I kinda want to stay away from gfo.

a sulfur reactor that size only capable of a drip/second is doing almost nothing to help no3, said kindly.:thumbsup:

my reactor, while much larger, produces > 2 gallons of no3 free effluent per hour, a robust steady stream.

here is a link of a good discussion about sulfur reactors..note the size of the reactors.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2591732

[jbird0420]

I was thinking it could be that. I bought it a few months back. I test my product rodi water and it reads 0ppm.

So I'm not sure if it's the kit or just my tank..


Also---just a crazy question: how old is your nitrate test? Any chance your reading is off?

[jbird0420]

Is your reactor a DIY?

For a 225g tank with 40g sump. Minus the liverock give or take it's about 200g of water. What size reactor would be suitable?

Even if it produces 0ppm effluent it's contributing to my high nitrate issue??



a sulfur reactor that size only capable of a drip/second is doing almost nothing to help no3, said kindly.:thumbsup:

my reactor, while much larger, produces > 2 gallons of no3 free effluent per hour, a robust steady stream.

here is a link of a good discussion about sulfur reactors..note the size of the reactors.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2591732

[bertoni]

Reading zero on distilled water is a good sign for the nitrate kit. It still might be off, though.

[Keelo]

I also have a nitrate problem man but you can't give up ! After reading your post I think you have a bad test kit because you said you did a 15% water change and your nitrates went from 80ppm to 40ppm and that shouldn't of had happened because nitrate removal is proportionate to the percentage of water you remove. If your tank is 200 gallons you would have to remove half of your tank water so 100 gallons to cut the nitrates in half. Try getting a better test kit that might be your only problem.


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[jbird0420]

It is so frustrated!!! As you know..lol

So yesterday I did an 80g water change. I tested the water a few hours later. Still firetruck red on the API test kit. Did 2 tests today. Again firetruck red. I did some research on the accuracy of the API test vials. According to what I've researched should be 5ml to the test vial. I used a Salifert syringe and filled the api test vial 5ml. Did another test. Firetruck red again. :headwalls::headwalls::headwalls::headwalls:

I'm gonna have to get another test kit.


I also have a nitrate problem man but you can't give up ! After reading your post I think you have a bad test kit because you said you did a 15% water change and your nitrates went from 80ppm to 40ppm and that shouldn't of had happened because nitrate removal is proportionate to the percentage of water you remove. If your tank is 200 gallons you would have to remove half of your tank water so 100 gallons to cut the nitrates in half. Try getting a better test kit that might be your only problem.


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[Keelo]

Honestly man although to me 80gallons would be almost 100% of my tank water that's not gonna cut it for you to see reductions, if I have learned anything, 50% water changes won't do anything unless you follow them up with another 50% water change. Here is what I would do since you have already tried a bunch of things that I haven't got to, mainly the vinegar dosing and denitrator. I would perform a complete 100% water change over the course of two to three days before you make the water change blast all the rocks, clean all the equipment , and get any detritus you can see. Although this is risky, it is the only way to strip the water column of nitrates. Before you do this I would advise you to listen to people that have done this for a while as I don't have the experience with such large and established system such as yours. What I'm advising might shock your tank and kill everything for all I know so please be careful ! I hope you can beat your problem .


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[jbird0420]

Thanks! I don't want to risk doing that big of a water change and kill of all my livestock. I have a huge purple tang I had over 10yrs that's my baby. Of course all the fish are my kids!:)
I'm gonna do another 80g in a week and 20% weekly water changes going forward. I just cleaned all my pumps and skimmer recently. Before I did the water change the other day I blasted the liverock with a pump. So where crap is hiding. I do not know. But I won't give up.

Also the cyano is grown like crazy. I did increase my lighting times a month ago and noticed the outbreak. I'm not sure if te cyano is due to the increased lighting, cabin dosing (which I stopped today) or the phosphates.
Honestly man although to me 80gallons would be almost 100% of my tank water that's not gonna cut it for you to see reductions, if I have learned anything, 50% water changes won't do anything unless you follow them up with another 50% water change. Here is what I would do since you have already tried a bunch of things that I haven't got to, mainly the vinegar dosing and denitrator. I would perform a complete 100% water change over the course of two to three days before you make the water change blast all the rocks, clean all the equipment , and get any detritus you can see. Although this is risky, it is the only way to strip the water column of nitrates. Before you do this I would advise you to listen to people that have done this for a while as I don't have the experience with such large and established system such as yours. What I'm advising might shock your tank and kill everything for all I know so please be careful ! I hope you can beat your problem .


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[bertoni]

I think you might want to get a nitrite reading. I also agree that getting a second opinion on the nitrate test kit might be useful.

[jbird0420]

I'm gonna get a nitrite test kit tomorrow
Thanks!
I think you might want to get a nitrite reading. I also agree that getting a second opinion on the nitrate test kit might be useful.

[jbird0420]

Thanks for all the kind help guys
I really appreciate it!:-)

[Piper27]

Get a good test kit set like salifert or something similar, I would not trust API to get accurate readings especially if you start getting your nutrients lowered. Your nutrient readings are crazy high, I would run some rowaphos or other high capacity gfo and get a larger denitrator for sure. Also using vodka and vinegar should help things not get any higher.

[CHSUB]

Is your reactor a DIY? YES

For a 225g tank with 40g sump. Minus the liverock give or take it's about 200g of water. What size reactor would be suitable? +/- 2 gallons of sulfur

Even if it produces 0ppm effluent it's contributing to my high nitrate issue??

not contributing to the problem but not solving it either. the sulfur reactor can only remove the no3 that enters it and a drip a second is about a gallon a day. you need a reactor large enough to processes the entire volume of water in about 8-12 days. ime, imo that would be about 2 gallons of sulfur in a recirculating reactor for 200g tv system. first however, as others have suggested, WCs to lower no3 and a sulfur reactor or other methods to keep it there.

also make sure make-up water and WC water is no3 free!!!!

[jbird0420]

Thanks for the info. What size reactor would be suitable for my system?

not contributing to the problem but not solving it either. the sulfur reactor can only remove the no3 that enters it and a drip a second is about a gallon a day. you need a reactor large enough to processes the entire volume of water in about 8-12 days. ime, imo that would be about 2 gallons of sulfur in a recirculating reactor for 200g tv system. first however, as others have suggested, WCs to lower no3 and a sulfur reactor or other methods to keep it there.

also make sure make-up water and WC water is no3 free!!!!

[Keelo]

Hey jbird0420 as you know I have a nitrate issue myself. A fellow reef central member that lives near me is being very kind and he is giving me some Red Sea no3 po4. Once I get it I'll post week by week status of my tanks parameters on my thread. Maybe this stuff can help you out as well it has very good reviews and it's essentially mixed carbon sources ( vinegar and vodka). Depending on how it goes on my tank it may be something you want to consider moving forward. Nevertheless best of luck to your war with nitrates!!


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[jbird0420]

Thanks Keelo!! Much appreciated!

I considered Red sea no3po4, but with my tank being a large system it would be expensive to dose that amount. My game plan is to do weekly water changes and look into either a bigger sulfur denitrator or setup a second denitrator. Best of luck brother. Pls keep us posted on your success.:thumbsup:

Hey jbird0420 as you know I have a nitrate issue myself. A fellow reef central member that lives near me is being very kind and he is giving me some Red Sea no3 po4. Once I get it I'll post week by week status of my tanks parameters on my thread. Maybe this stuff can help you out as well it has very good reviews and it's essentially mixed carbon sources ( vinegar and vodka). Depending on how it goes on my tank it may be something you want to consider moving forward. Nevertheless best of luck to your war with nitrates!!


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[Keelo]

I'll most definitely keep everyone here in RC posted. Best of look to your reef tank !


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[garygonzales]

i had the same issues as you as well.....went with nopox myself..worked well for me went from like 160 down to 5-10 now...took awhile tho but worked well...also.... there is a diy nopox you can mix yourself and save some money....

[CHSUB]

Thanks for the info. What size reactor would be suitable for my system?

imo 2.5 gallon reactor, there are many who make them for about $200. aqua cave has some.

[hkgar]

Dosing carbon is a slow process. You started with way too much. Here is the article on carbon dosing that should be read. I talks about vodka, but to substitute vinegar just multiply the vodka amounts by 8. You start with .8 ml vinegar per 25 gallons.

It can easily take 8 to 12 weeks to see any results as the amount needs to be increased gradually.

[bertoni]

I think this is the link that you wanted to post:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

It contains a very conservative schedule for dosing. Personally, I like the conservative approach, but starting with a larger dose is fine as long as the tank doesn't react badly. It's more a matter of personal risk tolerance than effectiveness.

[jbird0420]

I stopped dosing vinegar all together. I'm just gonna do water changes.

[neiltus]

Do you have nitrite present? Some test kits will show high nitrates when nitrites are present, my salifert kit did.

During my cycle 1ppm of nitrite made the salifert nitrate test kit indicate 100ppm of nitrates, when nitrites dropped to 0 the nitrate test kit result was 25ppm,

Nitrite and nitrate test kit was salifert

Read what he said, get another kit, and read this thread.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2596257

[jbird0420]

Definitely need a new kit. Just been busy.
My tank has been up and running over 8 yrs. It's way past the cycle stage.

[neiltus]

Definitely need a new kit. Just been busy.
My tank has been up and running over 8 yrs. It's way past the cycle stage.

The cycle stage is not what that thread is about, it's about testing variance in kits. Some kits can detect other 'forms' of NO3 that is bound to other molecules whereas the API kit your using can't.

[hkgar]

I think this is the link that you wanted to post:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

It contains a very conservative schedule for dosing. Personally, I like the conservative approach, but starting with a larger dose is fine as long as the tank doesn't react badly. It's more a matter of personal risk tolerance than effectiveness.
Oops copied the link but forgot to paste. Tough to get old.:thumbdown

[jbird0420]

So I purchased a salifert nitrate kit and it reads off the charts nitrates just like my api. So the API kit was not bad... Arggghh!

I purchased a bigger media reactor and upgraded my sulfur reactor to a 4L media reactor. I was told the last reactor was to small for my system. So I hope this one can handle my 225g system. Thoughts???

https://goo.gl/photos/XxfdhYEz8FGjVTfJ8

[bertoni]

I don't have enough experience with nitrate reactors to judge size, but I suspect it'll be able to do a lot.

[biecacka]

I dose vinegar/vodka mix to help control mine, in addition to an ATS and aggressive skimming. Keep us updated as your progress goes. Which reactor did you end up going with?

Corey

[jbird0420]

Sea Side Aquatics 4L. It holds a gallon full of media. I'm thinking of purchasing a second one and running sulfur in it as well. Just a thought. I want to see how this one works out first.



I dose vinegar/vodka mix to help control mine, in addition to an ATS and aggressive skimming. Keep us updated as your progress goes. Which reactor did you end up going with?

Corey

[Sk8r]

I had an intractable nitrate problem and finally got it under control with NoPoX---not a magic bullet, but nothing else had worked longterm.

[garygonzales]

I had an intractable nitrate problem and finally got it under control with NoPoX---not a magic bullet, but nothing else had worked longterm.

yep me too ...nopox keeps it all in check for me too...works great...at least for me..

[jbird0420]

I woukd love to use NoPox but with 225g tank that would get costly after awhile.

I've upgraded to 2 (2g) sulfur reactors. So far I have one in line and I'm awaiting the other in the mail along with a few gallons of sulfur.

So far reactor one has an effluent drip rate of 50/ml min and reading 0ppm after 1.5 weeks.

[hkgar]

I woukd love to use NoPox but with 225g tank that would get costly after awhile.

I've upgraded to 2 (2g) sulfur reactors. So far I have one in line and I'm awaiting the other in the mail along with a few gallons of sulfur.

So far reactor one has an effluent drip rate of 50/ml min and reading 0ppm after 1.5 weeks.

You can make your own with a mix of vodka and vinegar (approx 70% vinegar and 30% vodka) NoPox also contains methanol alcohol in order to label it as not for human consumption and avoiding the liquor control laws.

[CHSUB]

So far reactor one has an effluent drip rate of 50/ml min and reading 0ppm after 1.5 weeks.

that's good, with another gallon of sulfur and some more time you will get "some where good"...for reference my reactor is 2 gals and effluent rate is ~ 150 ml/minute.

[420CoralFarmer]

225g tank with only 200lbs of rock seems low to me. I always kept 2lbs ++ per gallon. With a high bioload, you might just need more surface area - more rocks.

I agree with the suggestion of removing fish. That should bring nearly immediate results.
I'd also hook up an old canister filter and fill it with activated carbon. Run it 24/7 and change all the media twice a week until you get the nitrates down. Expensive yes, but what's your tank worth? I don't like to run carbon all the time, but a short term duration to solve this nitrate problem would be good IMO.

[jbird0420]

I can't wait! I've been battling this issue for awhile now. Lol

that's good, with another gallon of sulfur and some more time you will get "some where good"...for reference my reactor is 2 gals and effluent rate is ~ 150 ml/minute.

[Piper27]

225g tank with only 200lbs of rock seems low to me. I always kept 2lbs ++ per gallon. With a high bioload, you might just need more surface area - more rocks.

I agree with the suggestion of removing fish. That should bring nearly immediate results.
I'd also hook up an old canister filter and fill it with activated carbon. Run it 24/7 and change all the media twice a week until you get the nitrates down. Expensive yes, but what's your tank worth? I don't like to run carbon all the time, but a short term duration to solve this nitrate problem would be good IMO.

Activated carbon isn't going to help solve a nitrate issue. And well rinsed carbon is fine to use 24/7.

Op I would certainly work on the phosphate issue as well. What are they reading at now and what test kit are you using? The po4 that high could be more harmful than nitrates under 80.

[bertoni]

I agree that carbon won't remove nitrate directly. It might reduce the organic load in the water some if it is replaced often enough.