How to keep Nitrates down? (Sump)

geckoxp

geckoxp

Member
I have a 25G sump...Euro style with a 200M sock. I am using a 200G rated ASM G2 protein skimmer and then a return pump back up to the tank.
Is there anyway to add anything to the sump to keep down nitrate levels down at all? May be a simple Q or not...I'm not sure besides doing a water change?
Of course limiting what and how much is being fed is another way of course but besides that anything else can be done at all?
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
well macro algaes and DSBs are a way to help reduce nitrate levels between waterchanges. totally depends on the size of your sump versus bioload on how effective such steps would be.
 
geckoxp

geckoxp

Member
I have to retest my levels tonight but on Saturday when I changed out my water I noticed that the Nitrate levels were on the higher side then I expected...atleast 20 or so...
right now I was wondering if anything could help out in general bringing down those levels if they continue to read on the high end. My LFS basically told me that the protein skimmer should eliminate most nitrate issues resulting in fewer water changes to maybe once every other week or month.
I am concerned that my higher nitrate levels having an effect as to why I may have ich issues in the tank then just pointing out the cause to be the addition of the sump and how that happened and the heater issue.
I have a 90G tank with a 25G sump or lets say 10-15G in the sump?
I have the following fish..
1 - Diamond Goby
1 - Yellow Tang
1 - Blue Hippo
1 - Royal Gramma
1 - firefish
2 - Percula Clown fish
1 - Six line Wrasse
1 - Flame Angel
I haven't lost one fish besides the 2nd firefish as I believed the stress of adding the sump caused his demise or a rock toppled over him unfortunately...either way he made it through the move but stayed under a rock most of the time...
I am feeding 2 cubes twice a day of mysis shrimp/ blood worms and #2 algae mix...I alternate the mysis shrimp and bloodworms every other day and feed 2 cubes of the #2 algae everyday for the tangs...along with the occasional Algae clip...maybe once every 2-3 days which I remove the next morning.
Maybe I am feeding way to much? If so what do you suggest? One thing that I never really had any advice on was what to feed and how much...
Also on a side note here the sock has been in the tank for 2-3 weeks now...how should I go about washing it out in the washer? Just like any other clothing or is there a specific method?
Sorry asking too much here.
 
salt210

salt210

Active Member
the filter sock should not be in there that long before being changed or cleaned. maybe 2-3days between.
 
saltyjewell

saltyjewell

Member
I don't have a lot advice for you as I'm jusat starting out myself but it does sound like you maybe fe3eding to much.
Your suppose to remove any uneatten food pretty quick. As for the algea/seaweed sheets they can stay in longer but I'd still be removing them before I went to bed for the night.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
You can never ask too much. A few thoughts Nitrates have no correlations to ick. Are you thinking that the high nitrates stressed the fish resulting in ick? Why would you think adding the sump stressed the fish, if anything it helped by adding more water volume? As far as feeding, you have to go by the seat of your pants. IMO it is best and more natural to feed small portions multiple times a day. Be observant and make sure all the food is eaten in a few minutes
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3135440
IMO it is best and more natural to feed small portions multiple times a day. Be observant and make sure all the food is eaten in a few minutes
agreed
I have also found that starting out slowly with micro feedings and gradually building up to the amount you want to feed over the course of many weeks is better than just feeding a lot. as you slowly increase feedings from very tiny to moderate your tank will "adjust" the populatuions of microfauna bacteria etc will grow to reach higher densities to help compensate by scavanging for the excess foods, having appropriate detritivores will help reduce nitrate appearance. fish only utelize a small amount of nutrition from food before it is passed and most of the nutrition still remains in the feces, having other organisms to re-consume the waste and digest more of the nutrition from the foods leaves, in the long run, less actual waste to be broken down through the nitrogen cycle.
 
geckoxp

geckoxp

Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3135440
You can never ask too much. A few thoughts Nitrates have no correlations to ick. Are you thinking that the high nitrates stressed the fish resulting in ick? Why would you think adding the sump stressed the fish, if anything it helped by adding more water volume? As far as feeding, you have to go by the seat of your pants. IMO it is best and more natural to feed small portions multiple times a day. Be observant and make sure all the food is eaten in a few minutes
FL...well to be blunt here...the idiot LFS (sorry I shouldnt be that harsh) had me buy a HOB filter (Emperor 400) with a HOB skimmer 1 200w heather and with no sump etc....so after a few weeks I invested in the sump and better skimmer. The sump would not fit in the bottm so I had to drain out most of the water and some rock to move the aquarium and put it down through the top...you can imagine that was a nightmare! So with the stress that added in and the temp change etc I did a number on the fish...
Either way all survived but the 1 FF....I have kept the sock in from when I put in the sump...2-3 weeks ago. I guess I should remove it and let the 90+ ibs of LR do the work? Maybe the sock is contributing to the higher nitrates?
I know that water quality can cause stress on the fish etc so I guess I was surprised to find that I had higher nitrates that I expected since the last water change which was about a week ago...The other levels were fine but the nitrates.
Thanks for all the help of course!
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
I am concerned that my higher nitrate levels having an effect as to why I may have ich issues
This was what I was referring to. Ick is not introduced into our tank by stress, stress can cause a fish to have a full blown infestation but the ick parasite had to be introduced into your tank in one of its life cycles. If you are having ick issues you need to take steps to brake its life cycle
 
geckoxp

geckoxp

Member
FL Joe -
I have addressed the Ich issue in the disease forum so I am dealing with that now....I didn't see anything for the Nitrate question I had so I put up a new one here...I may be asking too many things in one post.
I will remove the sock tonight, clean any and all sponges with the skimmer and see what happens...I am thinking about adding some LR to the sump area as I have a feeling that sock may be creating more of a problem then it solves with collecting items in it.
I may drop back by a half cube each feeding...fish are always hungry so its hard to tell when is enough....
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
If I follow, you only have fish and no inverts? If so, a nitrate level of 20ppm is not a problem at all; in fact, on the low side.
 
geckoxp

geckoxp

Member
Originally Posted by srfisher17
http:///forum/post/3135497
If I follow, you only have fish and no inverts? If so, a nitrate level of 20ppm is not a problem at all; in fact, on the low side.
Its a reef tank so yes I have some small crabs, snails and a coral banded shrimp...I haven't lost any yet and the corals seem to be doing ok. I just have some softies in the tank such as some hammer, bubble, and stars. I am looking at upgrading my lighting to a HQI setup with T5s then the Coralife 10K 260W system that I have now.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
IMO, cut back on feeding, less is better than more. See if that helps. We had to cut back on our feedings and added carbon media and it seemed to help. We do a water change every week regardless of water conditions, our LFS also told us that with a strong protein skimmer we could do less water changes, but better safe than sorry.
 
geckoxp

geckoxp

Member
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3135551
IMO, cut back on feeding, less is better than more. See if that helps. We had to cut back on our feedings and added carbon media and it seemed to help. We do a water change every week regardless of water conditions, our LFS also told us that with a strong protein skimmer we could do less water changes, but better safe than sorry.
What type of carbon media are you using without running a HOB filter? Just a bag with carbon? I was thinking and I did ask about a canister filter but gave up on that idea at the moment.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by GeckoXp
http:///forum/post/3135593
What type of carbon media are you using without running a HOB filter? Just a bag with carbon? I was thinking and I did ask about a canister filter but gave up on that idea at the moment.

We use a couple bags of Chemi-Pure Elite. Enough for our size tank. We've used it in our little 14G and 40G and are now using it in the 155G. We have it set right in the sump and honestly, I swear by it. It's fairly cheap, try it out.
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3135617
We use a couple bags of Chemi-Pure Elite. Enough for our size tank. We've used it in our little 14G and 40G and are now using it in the 155G. We have it set right in the sump and honestly, I swear by it. It's fairly cheap, try it out.
I like Chemi-Pure too and have used it in all my tanks for years. BTY: the "Elite" version just adds ferric hydroxide, a phosphate remover. It works well, but the FH is exhausted long before the Chemi-Pure. If you need a phosphate (or silicate) remover its cheaper and more efficient to run them separately.
 
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