High Nitrates

[besba]

Help Help. while in Fla this weekend I impulsively bought a piece of live rock with some really pretty orangey colored mushrooms on it. There was also this pincushiion looking thing. I knew my nitrates were high, but the owner of the store said I had a couple of days to bring them down, before it would die. I did a 20%water change last nite and it's still between 80 and 200. Any suggestions? Another change? I put in live sand last week. I have a foxface, regal tang and coral beauty. 55 gal tank. Wet dry system.

 

[jacksonpt]

If your nitrates are that high, I would try to figure out why before you do anything else to your tank. A few water changes can only help, but there's a bigger issue here, and it might be your wet/dry. Wait for someone else to comment on the effectiveness of the wet/dry, but I don't think they are the best choice for a saltwater tank, and it might be what is causing your nitrates to be so high. You should be shooting for <20ppm as a worst case scenario. I wouldn't add anything else to your tank until you can get them down.
Regardless though, you'll have a hard time getting your trates down from 80-200ppm in 2 days without stressing your stock, and the stress could be very hard on your tang which is ick-prone, even when healthy.

 

[bluemarlin]

How old is your setup? Do you have LS & LR and how much?
The main problem with the wet/dry is the fact that they convert ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates but do nothing with the nitrates. Thats where the water changes come in. Unless you have alot of LR & LS in the tank, you will need to do water changes to keep the nitrates down. What type of water do you use for changes? Tap? RO?

 

[besba]

I have about 1-2"'s of LS. I have about 30lbs of LR, but I don't think it's all "live" anymore because I took some of it out and cleaned it. I'm using all RO water. The Foxface seems to be nipping at the Live rock. Will he eat the mushrooms??! I'm doing a water change as I write. How tolerate are the mushrooms to high nitrates? Doesn't seem to bother the fish.

 

[steamboat1569]

You took live sand out and cleaned it?
If so you have washed away much of the beneficial bacteria, and are probably going through a full blown cycle again.
My advice: Slow down. Being impulsive will cause problems at times. We are probably all guilty of it.
If it is cycling again, the water changes will only prolong it. You really need to stablilize your tank, before putting anything else in, and just hope what you have already in the tank survives.

 

[bluemarlin]

The foxface won't eat the mushrooms. The mushrooms may be affected by the high nitrates if they are not corrected soon. Are the mushrooms opening?
You said you cleaned the LS. How did you clean it? I agree that your tank may be going through a re-cycle. Don't panic. What are your ammonia and nitrite levels?

 

[ohscc]

i think he ment the live rock yall. I have high nitrates to and have no clue why? But my tanks are fo so it doesnt' really affect them. Will high nitrates hurt LR?

 

[broomer5]

Besba,
Just curious what nitrate test kit you're using?
A range between 80 and 200 is quite a wide range.

 

[besba]

Yes, I cleaned the Live Rock! Not Sand. Anyway, I bought a kit just for nitrite and nitrate. It's called AquaLab IV, and is a stick you put in the water.(But I knew the Nitrates were high already) My nitrites are fine. The Nitrates have been high for a long time(2 mo. anyway) so that wouldn't be cycling would it? Anyway, does anyone know what the pincushion-looking thing is? Could it live?

 

[besba]

Whoops, forgot a question. Yes the mushrooms are opening. Some anyway, but not all the way. By the way, Besba's a damsel! Thanks for all the advice

 

[mr . salty]

Two thinkgs I see here...#1,Those test strips are about the least accurate way of testing water on the market.I would try another test for nitrate.Try taking a sample to your LFS and see what they test it at...Hell,Take it to a couple and compare the results...#2,You could use alot more live sand...1-2 inches is not enough to perform denitrafication...You should shoot for at least 4inches or more...Lastly the comment about wet/dry filters not being efficient bio filters is absolutly wrong...The problem is that most times they tend to be TOO effective.This will cause an overabundance of nitrates in the tank...They also will cause high nitrates if the bio media becomes dirty or clogged with waste....I also would like to know how old this tank is... young tanks typically have an unstable bio system that could be in itself the cause for these high readings...As a tank matures it's water readings level out.........#1 reccomendation,,,ADD MORE LIVE SAND!!!!

 

[mr . salty]

One more thing,,,What are you using for source water...The water itself may contain nitrates,so everytime you add for evaporation,or do a water change you could be adding nitrates...

 

[besba]

Thanks for answering. I use RO water, but it's bought(Crystal Springs). My tank is about a year and 1/2 old. I also tested my nitrates with the dry tab kit I have-same results. I'll try LFS. Any quick fixes for nitrates to save my mushrooms? Ever heard of a product called chemie-sure(sp?) I'll get more LS. In the meantime, should I take my mushrooms and sea urchin to the LFS for them to keep while I work on my nitrates?

 

[justlooking]

Do you need special lights for liverock?

 

[mr . salty]

Special lighting is not really needed for live rock,but if you really want it too thrive a good reef type lighting system can't bt beat...

 

[justlooking]

Oh great, so if special lightning isnt needed, how long per day should the lights be on with regular lights to keep the LR healthy? Im gonna go out and get some today or tommorow hopefully!

 

[joerdie]

okay let me try to remember everything. First dont clean the live rock!!! its filtering the water!! and you dont want to kill all of the bacteria. Second do you have a skimer. this will help a little. imo you need to add sand as mentioned above, take out 25% of the bio balls (to keep the trates stable), add a skimmer, and do 10 to 20% water changes every two weeks. you can also add a nitrate sponge but im not sure about the effectiveness in lowwering the trates. Here is some bad news though. all of the inverts in the tank currently may die durring this process but its the only way to achieve a lasting fix. your goal should not be to fix it quickly. but to fix it correctly. also get rid of the strips. they are crap. 80ppm of trate is not the end of the world (it is bad though) where as 200ppm of nitrate is deadly to a lot of inverts not to mention bad for the fish. to be honest when you said 80-200ppm, my jaw hit the floor. thats no where near accurate and you might as well just test the tank by sticking your finger in. i know i sound harsh and for that i apolagise (ive had a bad day) and it just mo anyway Goodluck!!!