Help!!! to much nitrate

[juanita]

Please help me. I want to keep my 90 gal tank, lr, ls, 1 coral, 11 anemonies,
2 domino damsel, 3 pajama cardinal, 1 percula clownfish, bluefin pygmy angelfish
and my yellow tank died this morning. The tank is 6 months old. I change my water
using instant ocean. I'm new at this and I would like to keep my tank.
The books I've read don't help me. :help:
Thank You in advance for all your help.

 

[ryanhayes9]

if they all died this morning i would think a chemical might have got in or something.... do you have 11 anemones or 1? and what is the nitrate reading?
do you have sand or crushed coral?
do you use ro water?

 

[juanita]

I have 11 anemonies. only 1 yellow tank died. I used saltwater master liquid test kit.
I changed the water yesterday. I do not have an ro. the nitrate level is 160 PPM (mg/l)
on the saltwater nitrate color card. I know I have to change the water again.
I just don't want to keep changing every other day. Ammonia is 0. Nitrite is 0.
High Range ph is 8.4. The book says ph should be 8.2, I figure I'm safe on the
one. (ph). The Nitrate is the only one I have problems with. I put a live clam
in because I read on the message board that this would help bring down the
Nitrate. If this is not true, then I'll take it out.
Thank You again.

 

[ryanhayes9]

live clams will help but in a 90 put in like 5 more longneck clams if u have them
you need to use ro water. the water your using could be the nitrate problem. it could have really high nitrates and ur trying to get them down but are replacing with more nitrate water.
11 anemones IMO is a lot. i have heard about a lot of them having chemical warfare??? and with the nitrates that high im amazed there still living.
do this, test the water your using for the water changes but w/o the salt mixed in. the post the results here.
btw what is te clam doing?
when i got mine one buried in the sand and i never see him while the other sits on the sand. if his mouth is open a little tapp him slightly, if he closes hes alive if not hes dead. tell me what happened here also

 

[ophiura]

What kind of anemones? Are they small, like an inch...or are they sizable (several inches each?).
Have you had your water checked by an LFS using a different test kit? That is the first thing I would do.
How often do you feed, and what do you feed?
How often do you do water changes, and how much do you change?

 

[juanita]

You were right. I tested the water I prepared and it was at 20 already. I will read up on RO's.
If you have a suggestion on which one to buy, please let me know. The clams I bought
(6) are doing great. 1 is buried and (2) have the necks out, while the rest are closed, but alive.
I've tested the water this morning and it's getting close to 80. That half of what it was.
I will keep testing the tank daily. Thank you for all your help.

 

[juanita]

Thank you for responding to my problem. I've tested the water I use and it's high in nitrate.
I'm going to read up on RO's. Thank you. Have a great day.

 

[ryanhayes9]

your welcome btw some grocery stores have water vending machines that sell ro water