Help! High nitrates and Popeye

[rooroo]

Okay, I have been fighting this problem for a while now. I have high nitrates in my 120 gallon tank, have done many water changes and now I have a longfin banner with one popeye and another with 2 popeyes. I can't figure out where my nitrates are coming from, I have nothing dead, but they keep going back up. I have had this tank for about 3 years with no problems, and a 45 gal that has never had any problems. Any ideas? Please help ASAP

 

[beth]

Tell us how you have your tank set up. Live rock, live sand, filters, etc.

 

[rooroo]

I have probably 100 pounds of live sand, 75-100 pounds of live rock, canister filter, protien skimmer and two 1800gph powerheads for circulation. I have a lionfish, clown trigger, majestic angel, 3 longfin banners, flame hawkfish, purple tile fish, a green chromis and a yellowtail damsel. I also have two huge choc chip stars, misc crabs, snails and tons of brittle stars, oh and two leathers. I did another water change today and the nitrates have dropped some. I noticed my majestic also has skin flaking off a bit. I just don't know what else to do!

 

[rooroo]

So now I have lost my majestic angel and my clown trigger. My three bannerfish are not looking so hot now either!

 

[beth]

I'm assuming that your canister filter has media in it, and that will be where the nitrate problem is coming from. What is your nitrate level, as well---do you have ammonia and/or nitrites?
Is your system new or well established? How long have you had your fish that have died or are sick? What is your water source? How do you mix your salt water?

 

[rooroo]

Cleaned the canister filter completly. Rinsed the filter that could be, replaced the one that couldn't.
This tank is somewhere between 3 and 4 years old.
There is no ammonia or nitrites just nitrates, according to the test I have it was at 20mg/l last night, when this all started, it was off the chart. I have been fighting this for two weeks.
All of my fish have been in there awhile, no new additions!
I have tested my water source and it is fine. So that not where it is coming from.

 

[beth]

What about the salt mixing? You mention that you have been doing water changes. Do you use a pump to mix the salt, and how long do you mix before introducing the water to the display? What is the salinity level of your water?
Are you using tap water? Test the water before you mix salt to see what the nitrate level is.
How big were the water changes? Have you moved things around in the tank, or done heavy cleaning? This can often result in popeye or bacterial problems due to the disruption of bacteria, debris, sand, etc. in a fish tank resulting from cleaning.
What foods are you feeding? Any chance that the food source is spoiled?

 

[rooroo]

I mix my water in 5 gallon jugs a few hours before changing. We did a water change and moved some sand back from where it got dislocated to from a powerhead that fell, however that was two weeks ago. We have done several water changes trying to get the nitrates down, with the biggest change being a 60 gallon and the smallest a 30 gallon. I am guessing that with the dead fish, I should do another change?
I have tested the RO/DI water before and after the salt was mixed and it tests 0.
Salinity is 1.022
I use Omega One Marine flakes and PE Frozen Freshwater Mysis Shrimp and Hikari Bio-Pure Brine Shrimp

 

[beth]

Ok, I can see your problem. Salt water will not mix adequately with fresh water in just a few hours. A full 24 hours is required, and 48 hours (using a pump for the mix) is preferable. You can't get an adequate salinity reading by just mixing a few hours. By adding inadequately mixed salt water to the display, salt particles, which will remain unsolved and suspended in the water column for a period of time, comes into contact with marine animals, delicate membranes. This can and does cause serious problems, including eye aliments, and can result in death of fish.
Also, it is never a good idea to make drastic water changes if it can be avoided. Major changes in the fish tank, especially ongoing, will result in fish becoming stressed full time---another opportunity for disease to happen.
What is your water source? Are you using tap, bottled, RO? Can you take a reading of your water before and after mixing the salt?

 

[steve620]

I have the same problem, I have a 65 gallon tank and my nitrates are always way high, I have Live Rock, a load of algae in my sump, protein skimmer. I changed my water (20 gallons) two weeks ago and I just did another change (20 gallons) today. I just checked it and the nitrates are still high, I only have about 8 small fish in there and they are all doing find. if I put any other fish in there they die. I also vacuum the gravel. There is nothing dead in the tank.

 

[beth]

What do you mean by "gravel"? What filters/pumps are you using? 8 fish for a 65 gal is probably enough.

 

[steve620]

Sand and im using a filter sock in the sump
And I'm using R O water

 

[beth]

You said you have a skimmer, what other equipment?? Pumps, filters? All you have is a skimmer and a sock filter in sump?

 

[steve620]

yes, i was told that I did not need a filter..

 

[beth]

So, what exactly is moving the water in your fish tank? Just the skimmer? What skimmer do you have?

 

[steve620]

I have a power head inside the tank, plus the fill from the sump it's moving the water , I have know idea what kind of skimmer I have , everything was given to me but I do have plans on getting a new skimmer. I have the skimmer in the sump.

 

[beth]

Place some power powerheads in you fish tank. You want your tank to basically simulate (to some degree) the water movement you would get in the ocean , which is a lot movement. You also want the movement throughout the tank, not just at the top. Water surface should have nice circulation as well.
You said you have algae, is this macroalgae (actual plants)?
Stop vacuuming and cultivate your sandbed with detritivores (organisms that will eat waste) and will clean the sandbed. Your live rock should already have some of these creatures such as brittleworms, brittlestars, copepods. Nassarius snails are great little sandbed detritivores and should help keep your sandbed clean. Take a look at this article for info.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-03/rs/index.php
The problem with vacuuming the sandbed is that you disrupt the biological filter in your sandbed. This results in the tank's inability to export nitrates, which is what is going on in your case.

 

[steve620]

do I need another filter besides the sock that I'm using ?Yes I have macro algae in the refugium and I have some type of plants growing on a rock which I did not put there, the fish store said it's find.

 

[beth]

Not necessarily. Your best filters are natural one--live rock, live sand, and certain marine animals.