high natrate all the time with out algone help

[dav9175]

[hr]
i do 5% water changes once weekley in a 90g aquarium change filters everything clean. the nitrates just keep rising if i dont use algone. i would like to try to ween away from using it so i can have more$$$$ to spend on live stock. HELP!!!!! on this setup i have two 55g marineland filters, 100g back pak p-skimmer, two maxi jet 1200 power heads and 175lbs of live rock that looks like its had better days. i have plenty of experience but i guess i must have amnesia.

 

[prk543]

try picking up some Cheato, and try increasing the size and frequency of your water changes until your nitrates drop. Try doing 20% water changes twice a week, and see how that affects your levels.
What are your levels curently?
Prk543

 

[dav9175]

i have cheto in my skimmer to try and act like a mini refugium and i use algone i dont know if you know what it is but it removes nitrate and algae green water you name it it removes it but i just want it to be stable without it they are currently at 80ppm no dead fish but corals are almost gone

 

[chrgerondavins]

sounds like you need more live rock and better circulation and filtration I replaced the bio balls with small live rocks

 

[dav9175]

i made my protein skimmer into a refugium with sand and live rock and cheato i keep it clean and i have pleanty of circulation im drawing blanks still plus i still have the 2 marineland canister filters with algone pads and filter pads which are changed routinely

 

[2cold2fish]

5% water changes is about 4 and half gallons for a 90 gallon tank. Try one or two large water changes to get nitrate levels down. Then go back to a weekly maintenance to maintain levels. Quit adding algone or whatever that is. Figure out what is causing the high nitrate levels. ie: overfeeding, dirty pumps and filters, bioballs, topoff water quality, salt mixture, crappy test kits just to name a few.
Chaeto in a skimmer? does it get any light?

 

[prk543]

I assume you use DI or RO water for your water changes?
What are your other paramiters?
Based on the information I have avilable to me, I believe that it is the size/frequency of your water changes. With your high levels, when you do a 5% water change, you are only reducing the nitrate levels by 5%. So if you are chipping 5% off of your 80ppm reading for Nitrate that only knocks it down to 76ppm, which it will probably be back up to at the end of the week. If you were to do a 20% water change, that knocks the level down to 64ppm, and if you were to do that twice a week, that would reduce the levels even more.
The only sure way to drop the levels is to dilute it with fresh salt water. (Dilution is the solution to pollution)

 

[dav9175]

the skimmer has 30w of pc light to it 24hrs a day hince a refugium i did a 15% water change a week ago and it killed my corals im in the process of getting cleaner clams and am doing the big water changes once aweek but when everything goes back to the norm it shoots right back up

 

[dav9175]

every time i do a large water chang i get my water from my second job i work at a reef shop here in texas i get ich and we treat our water so i think its from the stress of the big w/c

 

[sepulatian]

How much stock do you have in the tank?

 

[dav9175]

3 green chromis 1sleeper goby 1 maroon 1 sailfin 1lopezi 1 dragon goby 2 firefish 1 bar goby, 2 m n f swallow tail angels

 

[sepulatian]

How old is this system and what is your substrate? There are several things that you can do. You can do more frequent changes, make a deep sand bed (if you do not already have one), or add a larger refuge under the tank and keep it well stocked with macro algae.

 

[dav9175]

im about to add some crushed coral to the mix what do you mean by substrate? my wife is already fed up w/my spending on my hobbies so i did think of that bigger fuge but just dont have the $$$$$

 

[clearlakediver]

you probably wont want to hear this, but you need to do some farily drastic water changes, then afterwards you'll be able to coast for some time. I would recomend a 50% water change, daily for several days. to get under the 20ppm rule of thumb. You'll have to go from 100ppm (50%change) to 50ppm (50%waterchange) to 25% (50%water change) to 12.5ppm where your water quality will be acceptable and easi;y managed. I wouldn't fuse too much with your pet store water, infact its natrates may be contributing to your problem. I'd buy enough salt to change out rougly 150 gallons of water, and a bottle of water conditioner. After the final water change you'll want to add your calciums, planktons and what nots (I have a 90gallon also and went through something simular after a bad batch of rock sent my tank into a cycle.) All the residents of my tank came through fine. I was particularly careful of temperature and salinity matches and bought a large 40g tud from the local dollar store' so I could let the water sit and acclimate a bit.

 

[tjone752000]

Originally Posted by dav9175
http:///forum/post/2476352
im about to add some crushed coral to the mix what do you mean by substrate? my wife is already fed up w/my spending on my hobbies so i did think of that bigger fuge but just dont have the $$$$$
is the bottom of your tank all crushed coral or sand ?you don`t want crushed coral.

 

[1journeyman]

In a typical marine aquarium Nitrates slowly rise. The bacteria that naturally converts Nitrate into Hydrogen and Oxygen is only found deep in very porous live rock or in the oxygen poor regions of your deep sand bed.
As a result, Nitrates must typically be exported.
Some math to explain water changes. Most people forget to look at it like this.
If you have 100 gallons of watr at 50ppm Nitrate and you do a 5 gallon water change with 0ppm Nitrate water, your Nitrates are now 47.5ppm..
Small, weekly watr changes very, very, very slowly bring down Nitrate levels.
Doing larger water changes should not kill your corals if you are doing a few things. First, test your new water and make sure all of the parameters are good. Second, make sure the water is well aerated and well mixed (24 hours with a powerhead)
How much are you feeding the tank? How fast are Nitrates rising?
Do not run a light for the Chaeto 24 hours. Run the light opposite your display lights. Also make sure the chaeto is getting plenty of current.
DO NOT add CC. Do you currently have CC as your substrate?