help my nitrates are off the charts!!

[cskendrick]

I have a 125gal tank, its been setup now for about 3-4weeks, i bought it from a guy that i knew and saved most of his water. He had crushed coral for his substrate but i wanted to change it to sand, so i tooked most of his crushed coral out but left about 1/2 inch layer on the bottom so i didnt have to buy so much sand. And cover the rest up with sand. And now my nitrates are off the charts probably over 200ppm and my other tests are ok. Someone told me thats a bad idea covering up crushed coral. I was just wondering will the nitrates go down if i keep doing water changes and adding chemicals to the water or will the nitrates will always be there and be that high or do i just need to take the sand out and take all the crush coral out and then put the sand back in, thats alot of work to do that, HELP ME!!!

 

[clintjj]

that is way high I'd have someone else check it. Mine read 180 one time but it was a bad test kit. It was really 20 ppm. Also if it is that high you might want to invest in some macro algae it will help bring it down a little.

 

[3m]

what kind of sand? where did you buy it from? if your gonna go with sand go with it, if your gonna go with coral go with that, but i wouldnt mix the two. its like partial circumcision, go all the way or f'n forget it

 

[sign guy]

welcome to the boards first off do you have any live stock in the tank yet?

 

[cskendrick]

i thought about getting another test done , cause my test kit is like 3 years old. and where do i put the macro algae, thanks

 

[sign guy]

in a refugium do you have over flows?

 

[michaeltx]

I would have an LFS check or get some new tests and see exactly where they are test kits only last about a year before they will start giving you bad readings.
mike

 

[cskendrick]

oh ok thats what i thought in a refugium. and no i do not have one of them, but i do have an overflow into my wet/dry filter.

 

[sign guy]

what test kit is it?
a fuge is not that hard to biuld

 

[cskendrick]

its about 3-4 old test kit. i think its expensive to build or buy a refugium, unless you know a cheaper way,

 

[michaeltx]

there are only a few things you need to make one really
1 something to hold the water under the tank. it can be as cheap as a rubbermaid tub.
2 an overflow*unless the tank is predrilled* to get the water to tub
3 a pump to get the water from the tub back to the tank.
it takes some work to get it all setup but alittle plumbing work but thats the basics.
thats the basics I have seen everything from horse troughs to a extra 10 gallon tank used as a sump then I have seen all in one jobs that are pricey.
here is a pic of the one I had on my 100 gallon its a bit sloppy but it was my first attempt LOL
mike

 

[sign guy]

I recemend a 10 or 20 gal glass tankruber maids are cheap but you will need baffles to dirct the flow if you can

 

[michaeltx]

yeah glass tanks are better though as sign guy says or even acrylic if you can find on that fits under your tank.
mike

 

[sign guy]

hey mike when did you become a mod, congrates

 

[michaeltx]

Thanks it was around the 27 or so. there has been several new mods added all at one time.
me, hot883, 1journeyman, and murph142
and I think I am missing someone

Mike

 

[sign guy]

Id like to see acrylic51 a mod some day as well
is tomas still a mod?

 

[michaeltx]

yep he is
here is a list of mods as of right now.
1journeyman
Bang Guy
Beth
hot883
lion_crazz
MichaelTX
murph145
NM reef
ophiura
Squidd
Thomas712
and
ViPeR_930
Mike

 

[ophiura]

I would absolutely get the nitrates tested elsewhere, and throw out your old kits. They are not likely to be accurate anymore.
I would start there.
Do you have fish in the tank?
If no fish, personally, I would probably just change out all the water...go with sand or crushed coral (crushed coral needs to be siphoned...but BOTH sand and crushed coral substrate can result in high nitrates if the tank is overstocked, overfed, etc, etc). It is a lot of water, but easier, IMO, than changing out a bit at a time. This just dilutes it and takes longer to get numbers down.

 

[cskendrick]

i just have 2 damsels in there to cycle the tank they seem to be very happy and very little live rock in the tank, its mostly fake coral in the tank right now, and probably got about 1-1 1/2 inch sand bed over the crush coral. But i think i am going to get another test kit(a newer one) and see if that makes a difference. i will let you know the outcome. thanks

 

[renogaw]

first off, like others said, welcome to the boards.
second, it's not nice to cycle a tank with live animals, damsels or not. imagine your lungs burning because you are breathing in toxic fumes that's basically what you're doing to those fish.
third, make sure your wet/dry is clean. if you have dirty bio balls, you will get high nitrates. make sure your prefilter in your overflow, your filter media in your wet/dry, and the filter over your return pump are clean. also, i'd suggest you putting a skimmer into your wet/dry sump (or a HOB one) if you don't have one already.