high nitrates and large % water change

[salt210]

I have decided that I will doing a 50% water change next week on my 210 to help battle high nitrates. I have been doing smaller weekly/bi-weekly changes for awhile now and they are only bringing it down by a little bit as the new water only dilutes it so much. So, this thread is to ask is there anything else that I should do to help? Now info on the tank:
210g with wet/dry that no longer has bio-balls in it and they were replaced with LR with a koralia #2 in there to keep the water circulating. I have maybe 30-35lbs of LR in the sump now with a filter sock attached to the drain hoses. There is maybe around 150-200lbs of LR in the tank. I have also started using a remote sand bed but it hasn't had time to become beneficial yet.

 

[florida joe]

What are your nitrate readings? What live stock do you have? What and how much do you feed you live stock?

 

[salt210]

there are 3 damsels, 1 lionfish(about 5-6in), and a zebra moray(2-2.5ft). I feed the lion and eel every 3 days and the damsels every other day. the damsels eat pellets and the lion and eel eat thawed table shrimp.
the nitrates are hovering between 20-30ppm

 

[salt210]

wanting to add corals, thats why I need the levels down. I think that they are high because we moved the tank about 2 months ago and it prob stirred up the CC very heavily

 

[meowzer]

Why don't you put chaeto in your wet/dry?

 

[geoj]

Sounds like you are doing well for a FOWLR
Do you have a skimmer?

 

[salt210]

there is cheato in there as well with the LR. I have had it awhile now and it hasnt grown at all it seems.
yes, there is a skimmer but with the water level varying inside the "sump" it doesnt stay constantly pulling(trying to fix this)

 

[nycbob]

nitrate of 20-30 isnt too bad. with a lionfish and eel, its going to be hard to keep nitrate low forever. what kind of corals r u thinking of getting? the hardier corals will do fine even with a bit of nitrate. as for the cheato not growing, try to get it to tumble with strong water flow along with good lighting.

 

[salt210]

there is a koralia #2 in the sump now. it did have just a maxi-jet 900 in there, so well see if that makes a difference.
as for the type of corals zoas, shrooms, xenia and anything else I can keep and also would like to keep anemones in there

 

[florida joe]

I very very rarely say this but in your case I would research my ass off on vodka dosing

 

[salt210]

what else could be done? I have started a RDSB(only a couple weeks old) and got rid of my bio-balls like was recommended. I am pretty sure that the trates are high because of the move, dont know when the last time I cleaned the substrate was before that. Guess I will see what happens after the water change. I am going to do it next week.

 

[salt210]

I can say this tho. the levels aren't rising

 

[bmkj02]

Check you test kit. I had the same problem and I did a crap load of water changes and no changes to the Nitrates. Kept reading at 50. Finally took it to my LFS and they laughed at me and told me I was at 0 on Nitrates. My test kit was bad. He said they are good for 6-9 months once you open them. Or yes it can be what you said that you stirred up the sand and now it has to cycle again. Done that too.

 

[salt210]

I have been taking samples every other week to double check.

 

[spanko]

You have mentioned twice now that you think it is related to the move. What were the nitrate levels before the move?

 

[salt210]

cant remember what they were exactly, but the tank has been moved before that as well and I never did a large change on it then to see if it helped. before the move I had the bioballs in it and less LR as well. plus never got my skimmer working correctly until recently.

 

[spanko]

Originally Posted by salt210
we moved the tank about 2 months ago and it prob stirred up the CC very heavily
CC needs to be maintained by it's nature it will trap detritus that cannot be addressed by any CUC or other means, especially with eaters in the tank like a lion and an eel.
Originally Posted by salt210
I have started a RDSB(only a couple weeks old)
Hmmmm. maybe some time to get this populated and working , er Meowzers favorite word here Patience!
Originally Posted by salt210
plus never got my skimmer working correctly until recently.
Maybe some time for this to do it's job also.
All in all I think you have what is commonly referred to as "too many changes at once and not enough time to let them all settle in and work" syndrome. I would suggest to now kick back a bit and see what happens over some time. If this is a condition that has not and is not elevating then you are not any better or worse yet.
I also think that adding the zoas, xenia, and mushrooms you talked about earlier would not be a problem at this time. For the most part they will do well in the environment you have. As for the anemone, not now.

 

[natclanwy]

I agree I would just give it some time, a nitrate reading of 30ppm really isn't that bad not ideal but not bad. With a few more weeks all of you new changes should begin to work on lowering your nitrates and remember you have a 210g tank nothing changes fast when you have that kind of volume which is one of the benifits to having large tank. Since your substrate is crushed coral I would add vaccuming the substrate to your weekly or bi-weekly maintenence if you haven't already, crushed coral is extremely high maintenence and even more so when you have messy fish like the lion and the eel.
As for the corals I think you would be safe adding some softies, you might stay clear of the higher end zoas for a little while until you see how things are going to react. Like Joe said you could research vodka dosing, but I would not start dosing for a couple more months just to see if the nitrate issue resolves itself.

 

[salt210]

I added a frag of xenia a few weeks back and it didnt make it, but the first day it was in there a puffer chomped on it.
hence the reason he is now gone

 

[ophiura]

Xenia, IMO, is not the best test subject to determine suitability of the tank for corals. It can thrive in one tank and die in another, even under the care of the same hobbyist.