Help!!!! Nitrate trouble!!!

samfishes

samfishes

New Member
Hi,
I hope someone can help me and my poor fishes!!!! My partner and I recently aquired a fully set up 350L tank complete with fluval 305, ~ 30 kilos live rock, live sand and 10 fish. The chap we bought it off of didnt sell it with a skimmer, so that is basically the set up we bought.
Since then we have added a fluval 405 (been running 2 days) and a v2 800l skimmer (this we only got yesterday, so has been going for ~ 24 hours). We have also exchanged a large wrasse that came with the set up for a much smaller (and not so hungery) yellow tang. Before adding the new filter and skimmer we did a nitrate test and they were way way too high
so we have added the extra equipment and did a 75 litre (~ 20-25%) water changed which did the trick and brought them right down. but next morning they had flown back up!!!! (and we have a nasty grey snot like stuff growing on some rocks which i had great fun picking off with tweezers.....nice!) We also gave the 305 a clean in the old tank water we siphoned off. PH, salinity and temp are all good, just soooooo worried about my poor fishies and we have a new inhabitant due this weekend which we'll have to delay if we cant fix it! Please help!!!
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
So this is about a 95 gallon tank. Your skimmer is going to help once it breaks in. This is a fairly large fish load for a 05 gallon tank. You may have to;
Add some more filtration to the tank.
Cut down on the bioload.
Can you tell us what the fish are that are in the tank please? You said a fairly large wrasse was gotten rid of to get a yellow tang, but what else remains in there?
 
samfishes

samfishes

New Member
We have one clown, 2 yellow tail damsels, 5 blue green chromis, one yellow tang and one dart fish (we think, he's a bit of a mystery)
 
samfishes

samfishes

New Member
Nope not really, (i dont think!) there is never any left at all, they always eat everything thats put in. We feed frozen food and occaisionally brine shimp but feed max 3 frozen blocks a day, one in the mornng, one about 4 o'clock and one in the evening. I wasnt sure if maybe, because we havent had a skimmer in there, we would need to do a bigger water change once it become established in a couple of days??
 
samfishes

samfishes

New Member
Well we are still getting used to the tests but it is so vibrantly pink i would say it is nearing 110 which is awful! :( After we did the water change it was virtually zero (very very pale pink tinge to the test) but it has shot back up again. the fish dont seem destressed at the moment but i am conscious that it will affect them over time if it is not sorted out soon
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Do you have any additional waterflow other than the Fluval and the skimmer?
You may want to try feeding less. They will always be hungry so don't let them coerce you into feeding a lot.
What kind of substrate do you have (if any)?
What type of filtration do you have in the Fluval?
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
For a fish only tank nitrates are no problem. Much more of a problem for delicate corals.
The reason and the only reason you have a nitrates build up is simply because the nitrate consumers are not keeping up with the nitrates being produced.
If you add or expand plant life like macro algaes nitrates can be 0 regardless of what else is going on in the tank.
my .02
 
samfishes

samfishes

New Member
We do have a pump as well that circulates the water at the top of the tank, 2 fluval filters, a 305 and a 405 and the skimmer but that's all. We have live sand as substrate. Inside the fluval we have the sponges, carbon and the biological media....i may have to get back to you, my other half put it together!!! I will check later on and post back tonight!
 
samfishes

samfishes

New Member
Really? All i've read so far is how dangerous they are for the fish (but im only a beginner so advice is very welcome!!!) Like i said they seem pretty happy at the moment, i just dont want them to get sick over time :( (or be unhappy fishes!) I might try cutting back on the feeding and another water change - we might have more luck keeping it down with the new equipment up and running! :)
 
fishyscientist

fishyscientist

Member
Originally Posted by beaslbob
http:///forum/post/3269786
For a fish only tank nitrates are no problem. Much more of a problem for delicate corals.
The reason and the only reason you have a nitrates build up is simply because the nitrate consumers are not keeping up with the nitrates being produced.
If you add or expand plant life like macro algaes nitrates can be 0 regardless of what else is going on in the tank.
my .02
How long does it take for the nitrates to go down with macro algae? I put cheato in my in tank fuge about 1.5 weeks ago, and actually, the nitrates went up from 10ppm to 20ppm. So, I did a big water change yesterday, and the nitrates only went down to 10ppm. I am not going to feed as often, and I did clean my protein skimmer and HOB filter, but is there some way to get the algae to consume the nitrates already in the tank?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by samfishes
http:///forum/post/3269801
Really? All i've read so far is how dangerous they are for the fish (but im only a beginner so advice is very welcome!!!) Like i said they seem pretty happy at the moment, i just dont want them to get sick over time :( (or be unhappy fishes!) I might try cutting back on the feeding and another water change - we might have more luck keeping it down with the new equipment up and running! :)
Nitrate isn't highly toxic but I wouldn't call it harmless. It's probably similar to fish like smog is to humans. If it's at low levels it's irritating but at higher levels it can become stressful.
For your tank I'd recommend a lot more waterflow. The filtration you have will not reduce Nitrate, you need something to export the Nitrate like water changes, growing and harvesting macroalgae, etc. Your live rock has the ability to convert Nitrate to Nitrogen gas but it needs to be healthy rock and that requires a lot of waterflow.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by FishyScientist
http:///forum/post/3269831
How long does it take for the nitrates to go down with macro algae? I put cheato in my in tank fuge about 1.5 weeks ago, and actually, the nitrates went up from 10ppm to 20ppm. So, I did a big water change yesterday, and the nitrates only went down to 10ppm. I am not going to feed as often, and I did clean my protein skimmer and HOB filter, but is there some way to get the algae to consume the nitrates already in the tank?
The more algae you grow and harvest then more Nitrate you will remove from the tank. Your Nitrate increase 10ppm in 1.5 weeks so if you're looking to use algae to reduce Nitrate you are going to have to grow enough algae to remove more than 10ppm every 1.5 weeks.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Hey Bang, where did the 10ppm per 1.5 weeks statistic come from? Isn't the accumulation of nitrates a variable according to each system?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3269847
Hey Bang, where did the 10ppm per 1.5 weeks statistic come from? Isn't the accumulation of nitrates a variable according to each system?
He said it was 10ppm 1.5 weeks ago and then went to 20ppm.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by FishyScientist
http:///forum/post/3269855
What do you suggest? I don't think water changes are going to help reduce it to zero. I'm afraid of adding fish or coral til I can get a handle on it!

Corals and inverts can stand Nitrate levels as long as they stay under 40...fish into the hundreds, one guy had a nitrate level steady at 800 for years and his fish were just fine with no sign of stress at all.
I have read that Xenia loves nitrates...but now you are talking coral and that takes lots of light. More than fish only lights. I think you are worried over nothing
 
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