High Nitrate

devaji108

devaji108

Member
The story:
Ok I bought I used 90gal reef tank about 3-4 months ago! (Full stet up fish only)
I made it into a reef =) being new to the hobby I didn’t think about checking the water levels. So when I got in home and set up I realized that the nitrates are 100prm!!
So I did a 50% h2o change with in a week or two of setting it up……the LSF told me that I will go broke trying to do h2o changes to reduce nitrates. And that yes nitrate are not the best to have they are not harm full for fish.
The bio-load:
Clown
2 yellow tail damsels…..got them to help cycle the tank….trying to catch them for store credit!
Royal gramma
Coral beauty angel
Yellow tang
Mandarin
WHAT I HAVE DONE TP REDUCE NITRATES:
Regular monthly 20% h2o changes
Marco algae =bubble caulerpa in tank
Kent nitrate reducing/absorbing balls 1 bag in over flow and 1 in bag in sump
I know this will take time but is there anything more I can do??
 
danedodger

danedodger

Member
Well here's another case where my advice is to go back to your LFS right away and SMACK the crap out of them!! It seems like there's more problems in this hobby because of ignorant LFS people giving out bad advice to people who honestly don't know better yet

1. It's too soon to have all those fish in there. The damsels usually turn into nippy boogerheads as they get larger and that mandarinfish will almost surely starve to death in your tank. At the very least I'd take them back and likely either the tang and/or coral beauty too for now.
2. Nitrates are the result of cycling a tank. Ammonia spikes first, then goes down as nitrites go up, then nitrites go up as nitrates go up. Once that happens you do a partial water change so that your readings are ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates as low as possible but at least below 20. I've never heard anyone say that water changes don't lower nitrates! All I've ever heard is exactly the opposite! I've also never heard anyone say that nitrates aren't harmful to fish! They're less toxic than ammonia or nitrites but they certainly can harm fish!! Try weekly 10-15% water changes for awhile to see if that doesn't help lower your nitrates.
3. Watch that caulerpa!! Many people like caulerpa but others have had a lot of problems with it when it goes sexual and completely clouds up a tank.
4. I'm guessing that the Kent nitrate reducing/absorbing balls are some type of resin? If so that will probably help short term but read carefully to see when you should take it out. Resins start to hurt more than help if they're left in too long.
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
I agree, you should haven't that many fish if you are just cycling or if you just cycled.
To lower nitrates:
Do water changes (more often, I'd go with 15% or so weekly). Feed less. Get more lr. Have less fish. Get better clean up crew. Check your water supply (make sure you're not using tap or well water, and if you are, test it).
Also, check your test kit and make sure it's not expired.
If your nitrates are not going down with water changes, meaning at the end of the month they are back up again, then you need to feed less, and/or have less fish and/or, get more lr.
the LSF told me that I will go broke trying to do h2o changes to reduce nitrates. And that yes nitrate are not the best to have they are not harm full for fish
In small amounts they aren't harmful, I'd say 100 was nearing harmful.
 
tim_12

tim_12

Member
Definatly get more LR. You'll need 1-2 pounds per gallon. The LR provides a surface for the nitrate processing bacteria to grow. The mandarin needs a well established tank with lots of LR to survive, unless you were lucky enough to get one that eats frozen food. But some of theose fish really need to go, at least for now. If you're going for a reef, you'll have to do weekly water changes to keep the nitrate below 20ppm. Corals won't tolerate bad water conditions.
 
zman1

zman1

Active Member
--- Ok I bought I used 90gal reef tank about 3-4 months ago! (Full stet up fish only)
I made it into a reef ----
Are you saying you bought and moved a tank that was already setup and made it a reef by adding LR. Was this at the end or beginning of the setup/move. The die off from the LR may be the reason for the high Nitrate levels. What substrate do you have and was it in the tank when you bought it?. If this is the first time you are testing, could you not be reading the results properly. If you are doing the monthly and the big 50% water changes you described. I would have to believe the nitrates would have dropped at least some. What are your Nitrite levels?
 
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