Crazy high Nitrates... PLEASE HELP!!!

mrextc

mrextc

Member
I just got a 60 gal tank about 2 weeks ago. It has 60lbs of live rock(50 was from previous owner and 10lbs new), 60 lbs of live sand(30 from previous owner and 30 new from Caribsea live sand). This tank has a build in overflow and wet dry filter with a sump. When i started the cycle i kept using the filter media from the prevous owner along with the bio balls in the wet dry, hoping for a shorter cycle period. Right now i have about 6 hermit crabs or 7 hermit crabs(i think a few died or they could be hiding in the rock) and and 3 bluegreen chromis. and I checked the water a few times during the first week and everything was fine. I left it for a week and now my nitrates are 160. I did the test twice and made sure it was done 100% and same results.
Water parameters as of July 14th,
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
PH - 7.8
Nitrate - 160
Temp - 80
I don't think i overfeed, but i am feeding twice a day 1.5 mini cubes of mysis shrimp. The fish and hermit crabs all seem happy and seem to eat everything in the tank. I'm also adding 1 capful of purple up everyday.
I'm not sure what I'm forgetting but i hope this is enough info...i can't believe the fish are still alive. What should i do? i've read from other threads that i shouldn't do a water change while i cycle...or should i in this case?
Thanks SOO...MUCH for your comments.
 
mopar9012

mopar9012

Active Member
a 2 week cycle? Sounds like your probably not done yet... But you would see changes in your other paremeters too
 
thangbom

thangbom

Active Member
your tank is doing a mini cycle i think... it been 3 weeks set up.. the only thing you can do in these situation is dilution... do a 20 gal water change every few days ... i would do like 3 total then let it sit for a week or two.. then test agin.. see if it holds at a lower lvl ( like 20) then let it sit some more with my eye on it... to make sure it dont climb anymore.. then you do another wc till it's in parm...
YzGyz
 
rabbit_72

rabbit_72

Member
i think you should do 20% water change to every couple of days. maybe cut back on feeding, not as much. to reduce high nitrates, is water changes.
 
mrextc

mrextc

Member
could this be from a dead fish? I have 1 missing chromis. I've moved the rocks and still can't find him, so i figured the hermit crabs might eat him up....could that be why my nitrates are rocket high?
 
rabbit_72

rabbit_72

Member
your tank is 60gal how deep is your sand bed? i would think with one dead fish ammonia would have been up a little. you moved some lr to look for the fish right. i do think maybe released some toxins when lr was moved. possibly nitrate spike do water changes every couple days run carbon.cut back on feeding that will help lower nitrates as well to lower nitrates you need water changes.
 
petjunkie

petjunkie

Active Member
You are way overfeeding, I feed a half cube of mysis every two days to three fish, also rinse out those bioballs in saltwater and take out any sponges because they trap waste. Do a 15-20 gallon change every day for a few days and they should go down quickly. Also you shouldn't really have fish in there while you are cycling and don't add purple up unless you are testing for calcium and iodine, coralline will grow as your tank matures and dosing is not neccessary with regular water changes usually. I add calcium to my reefs about once a month and they stay perfect. Iodine is toxic in high amounts and causes all algeas to grow, IME.
 
mrextc

mrextc

Member
Thanks for all your feedback. well, i did a 30% water change today. Nitrates still show high, but not as high 80ppm. Could it be my test? I went to the LFS and they tested and it only showed up to be 20-40ppm when i was showing 160. I'm using the aquarium pharmaceuticals test tube kit? Do these test ever go bad?
I checked my water filter that i was using and it is showing 20ppm, so i went to the LFS and purchased 25 gallons. I didn't test it, but know they use RO water for their mix.
When i'm syphoning out water from the tank should i stir up the sand bed? I tried to clean out the waste from the hermit crabs and fish and definitely stirred up everything...maybe that's the reason for the high nitrates?
When i was looking for the missing fish, i did move some of the LR around, but that was a while ago before i actually tested this high.
Fish are still alive and seem happy...i'll try feeding them less, i read that chromis like to eat little bit a few times a day.
 
feelingfishy

feelingfishy

Member
DO YOU FEED JUST 3 CROMIS 1.5 CUBES AN DAY CUT BACK TO 1/2 CUBE EVERY OTHER DAY. THATS WHAT I FEED MY 6 FISH IN MY 55 GAL AND THEY DO JUST FINE!
 
hobbes

hobbes

Member
Originally Posted by feelingfishy
DO YOU FEED JUST 3 CROMIS 1.5 CUBES AN DAY CUT BACK TO 1/2 CUBE EVERY OTHER DAY. THATS WHAT I FEED MY 6 FISH IN MY 55 GAL AND THEY DO JUST FINE!


1/2 a cube every other day? Are you sure you are feeding them enough. I know many fish can go up to 4 days without food but that seems really low.
I have always fed my 4 fish a cube a day in my 55. IMO 1.5 is a lot though.
 
R

rattler739

Guest
I had the same problem with my 14g and found out the other day that there was a dead snail in the back of the tank (biocube) i had done everything to that tank, a LOT of waterchanges, kent denitrate, chaeto, stopped feeding, nothing worked but then i found the snail and took it out now they are going down. So i would look for something that had died and that the cleanup crew cant get to and also like everyone else said cut back on feeding. You might even stop for a few days they will be fine. What all do you have in the tank? How fast did you add it all?
 
mrextc

mrextc

Member
right now i just have 3 chromis and i think 6 hermit crabs. I think a few of the crabs have died and i have 1 missing fish. I'm feeding them only 1.5 of the mini cubes...barely any food in the water when i feed and very little goes into my filter so i figured i was okay with the feedings.
should i pull out all the rock to find these missing guys?
 
R

rattler739

Guest
be very careful when you do because that could cause your tank to go into a mini cycle if you stir up to much stuff but i would look for those and hopefully you find them but if not then they probably got eaten, which is good and means that all you should have to do (if that was the problem) is a 50% or more waterchange to get them down. Also how fast did you add all of them? because if you added them to fast that could have also made the trates go up.
 
E

essop3

Guest
You have 0 ammonia and Nitrites so you are done with your cycle.
1. The most likely thing is your chromis died.
2. I feed 1 cube a day to my 125g (5 fish)
3. You need a r/o unit or keep buying your water. Water changes don't help as much if nitrates are in the new water. All your top off water adds even more.
4. Don't stir the sand.
5. Good question above about adding fish too fast.
6. Just keep doing the water changes with R/O water. I think your on the right track with that.
 
mrextc

mrextc

Member
Well, i added the 3 chromis and 5 hermit crabs after a few days of just the tank running. It has about 50-60lbs of LR and 60lbs of LS in an 60 gal, so i didn't think that would be too much livestock. I added 5 more hermit crabs a few days later.
I don't know about these test i got...test tube kit. I just did a Nitrate test on the water i got yesterday from the LFS and it shows 20ppm. It is RO water so not sure how its so high. Maybe it something in my jugs? i did use it to move all the old water from the last owner....could they be in the water jugs?
Well, i went over budget and ordered a protein skimmer. I should have it up and running tomorrow....i've been told by a few people that it would help remove the gunk in the water. I also took the advice of the LFS and removed all the old filter media from the previous owner and cleaned out half of the bioballs from the w/d filter.
How do you add the water into your DT without stirring the LR or the sand??? is there a trick to this?
 
R

rattler739

Guest
Originally Posted by mrextc
Well, i added the 3 chromis and 5 hermit crabs after a few days of just the tank running. It has about 50-60lbs of LR and 60lbs of LS in an 60 gal, so i didn't think that would be too much livestock. I added 5 more hermit crabs a few days later.
I don't know about these test i got...test tube kit. I just did a Nitrate test on the water i got yesterday from the LFS and it shows 20ppm. It is RO water so not sure how its so high. Maybe it something in my jugs? i did use it to move all the old water from the last owner....could they be in the water jugs?
Well, i went over budget and ordered a protein skimmer. I should have it up and running tomorrow....i've been told by a few people that it would help remove the gunk in the water. I also took the advice of the LFS and removed all the old filter media from the previous owner and cleaned out half of the bioballs from the w/d filter.
How do you add the water into your DT without stirring the LR or the sand??? is there a trick to this?
very slowly.

and I would say get those bioballs out of there and put in some lr rubble because bioballs can trap trates in them. 20ppm is not really bad that should not hurt anything in your tank unless you have delicate corals or something but if it gets higher then it gets bad. you want to keep it as low as you can
 
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