How do I lower my nitrates?

[aiber]

Any advice would help....
What can I do to lower my nitrates.
I do 10% bi-weekly water changes...
Specs:
75 Gallon
Wet/Dry
Filters= floss /Sponge/ bio balls (about 15)
Completely Cycled on 4/29/04
125 lbs. live haiti rock
30 turbo snails (give or take)
20 hermits(give or take)
3 peppermint shrimp
1 banded coral shrimp
1 red sea sailfin tang
1 yellow tang
1 royal gramma
2 banded coral shrimp (yellow mated pair)
Ammonia 0
PH 8.4
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40
Salinity 1.022

 

[sebae0]

give it a little time, your tank is fairly new. with time your lr should naturally help lower the trates, also make sure you don't overfeed. do you have a sump or refuge? if so you could add macro algaes that will consume the trates.

 

[aiber]

Thanks...Yes, I have a sump. Do I add the macro algae to the sump? Will it need lighting?
Can you please tell me a little about the berlin set up?
Thank you

 

[beth]

Stop using floss, bio-balls and wet/dry. These are nitrate traps! Try to get your system running as naturally as possible, meaning that your sand, LR, circuation, detrivores,etc., do the filtering. They are the best filters. The natural reef system.
What about a skimmer? Do you have one?

 

[firefish3]

cleaner clams lower nitrates

 

[aiber]

Beth,
Yes, I have a skimmer....Are you describing the berlin system? If I eliminated the floss, sponge, carbon, bio-balls wouldn't my water become really cloudy? Would stuff get stuck in my submersible water pump (RIO 2500)?
Your expertise is greatly appreciated!!

 

[fishking]

clams and xenia, thats wut helped my tank reduce nitrate

 

[fishman830]

Originally posted by fishking
clams and xenia, thats wut helped my tank reduce nitrate

but clams wouldn't be recomended for a new tank

 

[fishking]

oops, silly me

 

[sebae0]

just what beth was saying is what is going to help you, let the tank filter it naturally thats basically what i was getting at but didn't take the time to elaborate. yes a protein skimmer would help alot. what kind of water do you use for your changes?

 

[smoothounds]

macros are key in overall tank health. Make some baffles and add them to your sump. Depending on the particular algae lighting requirements will vary. I have a # of different Caulerpa's and run lighting 24/7.

 

[smoothounds]

here's one of mine that I built last week for a 46 reef

 

[aiber]

sebae0,
Water Changes: I use ocean water brought into my LFS.
Water adding for evaporation: from water machine at publix (grocery store)
Where should I purchase the plants? My LFS doesn't have any.

 

[aiber]

BUMP

 

[eg_hatch]

There are plenty of online saltwater stores that sell macros(go do a search).
If youre not going to got with the Berlin style, just make sure you clean out your filter pad/sponge weekly and your bioballs monthly, and dont full on spray the bioballs with water, put them in a bucket of saltwater and swish them around slowly.
Feeding less will help later on too, I feed my tank once a day for example.
You were asking what will help with the detritus/uneaten food..
If you have a healthy sand bed, the critters in it should help with cleaning it up.

 

[aiber]

I do want to go with the Berlin style, but what do I do?...I have already removed all the filters and carbon. Is that it?

 

[sebae0]

basically provide your tank with as much live rock as you can afford and protein skim as much as you can! of course with live sand and good water flow should be okay, give it time dont rush, rome wasnt built in a day ya know.

 

[beth]

You would have to re-thing, and redo your whole system. Right now your tank is depended upon mechanical filtration. What I am saying is that the best filtration is natural. Water movement, DSB, LR, refuge, etc. These are natural filters and they work the best. Using a wet/dry, though they are very useful for some FO applications, they spell trouble, IMO, for a reef tank because they do not filter everything. Thus, you are left with waste trapped in the filter which means you end up with high nitrate.
You could work on setting up a more natural setup, then when you have that working well, pull the wet/dry out of the mix. You could even convert the wet-dry, depending on the kind it is, into a fuge of sorts.