I need help - high nitrates, unknown reason

[sugarfox03]

(Also posted in the Nano section, I apologize for the double post.)
Ok, I just checkd my nitrate level, and the test came back around 80 ppm. My nitrite is at 1.0 ppm, same with ammonia. It was fine a week ago. All corals look fine, I noticed white spots on my clown that I have had for months, and my scooter blenny died 2 days ago, he was removed the morning I found him. What on earth is going wrong with my tank?! Temp doesnt go above 80, there's no sponge, bioballs, ceramic rings. I have an AquaC Remora thats been on atleast 6 weeks now, it works great, and gets cleaned every other day. I feed once every other day. I havent used any cleaning agents in my room since the last time it spiked. I have no candles lit, nothing smelly in the room except my sheets which are 15 feet away from the tank. I'm at a loss right now. I ordered live rock rubble and chaeto a week ago, it should have been here by now (I'm getting pretty upset about it not being here.) What can I do? SG is 1.023/24. pH is 8.2, phos is almost 0. I have carbon in the back. I havent added any chemicals in weeks except the Amquel for the ammonia. Any ideas what I am doing wrong? Last weekend I took out every piece of rock I had and scrubbed them down. I cleaned most of the crud off the sand from the rocks. I cleaned all powerheads. I have too much invested in this tank to lose it. I just dont understand it? I use only RO water from the LFS (and their premixed RO+salt water.) I did a 3 gal water change this evening, with no change in water params. I appreciate any info/comments/suggestions. I'm really bummed out about this, as I am clueless as to why its happening. Thanks in advance.
-Melody

 

[beth]

How long has this tank been set up, and what is the size? Do you have well-mixed salt water prepared so you can do a water change?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by SugarFox03
(Also posted in the Nano section, I apologize for the double post.)
Ok, I just checkd my nitrate level, and the test came back around 80 ppm. My nitrite is at 1.0 ppm, same with ammonia. It was fine a week ago. All corals look fine, I noticed white spots on my clown that I have had for months, and my scooter blenny died 2 days ago, he was removed the morning I found him. What on earth is going wrong with my tank?! Temp doesnt go above 80, there's no sponge, bioballs, ceramic rings. I have an AquaC Remora thats been on atleast 6 weeks now, it works great, and gets cleaned every other day. I feed once every other day. I havent used any cleaning agents in my room since the last time it spiked. I have no candles lit, nothing smelly in the room except my sheets which are 15 feet away from the tank. I'm at a loss right now. I ordered live rock rubble and chaeto a week ago, it should have been here by now (I'm getting pretty upset about it not being here.) What can I do? SG is 1.023/24. pH is 8.2, phos is almost 0. I have carbon in the back. I havent added any chemicals in weeks except the Amquel for the ammonia. Any ideas what I am doing wrong? Last weekend I took out every piece of rock I had and scrubbed them down. I cleaned most of the crud off the sand from the rocks. I cleaned all powerheads. I have too much invested in this tank to lose it. I just dont understand it? I use only RO water from the LFS (and their premixed RO+salt water.) I did a 3 gal water change this evening, with no change in water params. I appreciate any info/comments/suggestions. I'm really bummed out about this, as I am clueless as to why its happening. Thanks in advance.
-Melody
I feel your pain Melody! How long has this tank been set up? You realy have to stay on top of water readings. When you took out all of your rock and scrubbed it...............that was not such a good idea. Your beneficial bacteria lives on your rocks. How big is this tank? I had a similar thing happen about 3 months after I set up my 55 and all was well. My nitrite spiked for unknown reasons. Turned out I had added fish too quickly and fell into the trap of all readings are good, so go ahead. I lost some fish and it took over a month for the trites to get to zero. Please post as much info as you can about your tank size and exact readings. You will want to test daily and have water ready for a change if need be. Can you move your sensitive animals for now?(coral, inverts)

 

[sugarfox03]

The tank is a 24 gal AquaPod, and it has been set up around 5 months now. I havent added any fish in a good 6-8 weeks. I had a spike a few weeks ago, I thought it was from over feeding and/or the Febreze room spray I started using. I switched to less frequent and smaller feedings and brought the Febreze to work (so I wouldnt be tempted to use it at home again.) After a few water changes, everything went down to around 20 ppm, which I know is a little high, but it was much better than it was. It was around 20 when I tested in the last time, and around 80 when I tested it just the other day. Also, when I say scrub the rocks, all I did really was dip them in fresh saltwater (from the lfs) and take a soft bristled toothbrush to get the detritus and sand off of them. I didnt do a hard core scrub down, just enough to clean them off, so when I put them back in the tank, nothing would float the bottom, covering the sand bed. I did a 5 gal water change this evening, that helped a little bit. I'm thinking of doing another one tomorrow, is this a good idea? Thanks everyone.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by SugarFox03
The tank is a 24 gal AquaPod, and it has been set up around 5 months now. I havent added any fish in a good 6-8 weeks. I had a spike a few weeks ago, I thought it was from over feeding and/or the Febreze room spray I started using. I switched to less frequent and smaller feedings and brought the Febreze to work (so I wouldnt be tempted to use it at home again.) After a few water changes, everything went down to around 20 ppm, which I know is a little high, but it was much better than it was. It was around 20 when I tested in the last time, and around 80 when I tested it just the other day. Also, when I say scrub the rocks, all I did really was dip them in fresh saltwater (from the lfs) and take a soft bristled toothbrush to get the detritus and sand off of them. I didnt do a hard core scrub down, just enough to clean them off, so when I put them back in the tank, nothing would float the bottom, covering the sand bed. I did a 5 gal water change this evening, that helped a little bit. I'm thinking of doing another one tomorrow, is this a good idea? Thanks everyone.
hey Melody, Your tank is still quite new. You should be doing at least bi-weekly 10% water changes to keep everything in check. Salt takes a VERY long time. You had an ammonia spike a few weeks ago? Keep testing, don't add anything else for at least two months, let your levels calm down. Your tank is very small, the slightest thing can set off a disaster chain. That is the advantage of a larger tank. Small changes in water are so dilluted they don't make as much of a difference.

 

[cagrn]

SugarFox,
I have a thread in the new hobbyist area because I am going through the same thing right now. My trates hit 160 the other day. I know I did the similar things look great so lets add fish, and added too many. I've done 2 good water changes, but according to the wise ones here, I need to do more.
I'll probably be changing another 10 gallons Saturday.
I think what happens to us newbies is we see that things are going well and we think we are doing it right, so we can do what we want. When they say go slow, they aren't kidding I now know I have moved way too fast. Its easy to move too quick, especially when you visit the LFS and see the new stuff.
Good luck

 

[sugarfox03]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
hey Melody, Your tank is still quite new. You should be doing at least bi-weekly 10% water changes to keep everything in check. Salt takes a VERY long time. You had an ammonia spike a few weeks ago? Keep testing, don't add anything else for at least two months, let your levels calm down. Your tank is very small, the slightest thing can set off a disaster chain. That is the advantage of a larger tank. Small changes in water are so dilluted they don't make as much of a difference.
I was doing weekly water changes until my LFS (who seemed knowledgeable until this...) told me that I was doing too many water changes, that I wasn't giving the bacteria enough time to build up. So I switched to every 2 weeks, 4-5 gallons, which they said was still too much for my tank. I take my money elsewhere now, as you can imagine. I dont plan on adding anything for a long time, I hadn't planned on adding anything anyway for awhile (getting too expensive!) I'm going to do another 5 gal water change today, as I tested the nitrates again this morning, and it was still the same.

Thanks everyone

 

[deny]

I just lost three fish today. I have a 55gal. with a lawnmower blennie and a 4spot wrasse. I added 3 green chromis last week. I did a 1/4 water change on Friday as the nitrate was at 40. Temp is 78, salinety 1.022, Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0 and PH is 8.0. Today, lost fish and everything tested exactly the same. Why did the nitrates not go down? I changed the carbon today and added some PRIME (nitrate detoxifier). How do I get the nitrates down. Should I do another water change? I have had a saltwater tank for two years now and continue to have nitrate problems. I feed only every other day and do enough so they are done eating in about 1 minute. Hubby is getting quite upset about the cost of this I only have two green chromis in the tank now. :help:
Any suggestions???

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Deny
I just lost three fish today. I have a 55gal. with a lawnmower blennie and a 4spot wrasse. I added 3 green chromis last week. I did a 1/4 water change on Friday as the nitrate was at 40. Temp is 78, salinety 1.022, Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0 and PH is 8.0. Today, lost fish and everything tested exactly the same. Why did the nitrates not go down? I changed the carbon today and added some PRIME (nitrate detoxifier). How do I get the nitrates down. Should I do another water change? I have had a saltwater tank for two years now and continue to have nitrate problems. I feed only every other day and do enough so they are done eating in about 1 minute. Hubby is getting quite upset about the cost of this I only have two green chromis in the tank now. :help:
Any suggestions???
How old are your test kits? A nitrate reading of 40 shouldn't be fatal. It is in the stress zone, but not a toxic amount. A product that works pretty well for removing ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate that I have used many times is Amquel Plus. This is not a substitute for responsible tank maintenence, but it does work well in a pinch.

 

[sugarfox03]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
How old are your test kits? A nitrate reading of 40 shouldn't be fatal. It is in the stress zone, but not a toxic amount. A product that works pretty well for removing ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate that I have used many times is Amquel Plus. This is not a substitute for responsible tank maintenence, but it does work well in a pinch.
I have that stuff now, doesn't seem to be working. I dosed the tank last night after the water change. Checked this morning, everything was still high. I'm going to redose after 3 days (I think thats what the bottle says, unless I am mixing things up.) Everything is still high. Nothing looks too stressed though, all 3 fish are eating. All corals are opening up big when the MH is on. I'm just praying I can get everything under control before it gets too bad.

 

[efishnsea]

Hey Melody
Man(Girl)lol what a perplexing problem. I'm getting some water for my tank in the morning, high tide is at 11.03am @ the A1A Bridge in Jupiter. The water has cleared up after the hurricanes. I can bring you a fresh batch of ocean water as I plan on going to Rob's store on Military Trail in the afternoon. As long as the ph is close to yours I would change most of the water, as it would not affect your fish. While its being drained we can pump it in. I have a 12v bilge pump that pumps 600g/h hooked up to my truck w/ 30'of hose. Let me know I'll be going to the bridge at 9am.
Dont worry everything is going to be okay!!!!
James

 

[sugarfox03]

I wish I had the day off tomorrow! I have work and school, I wont be home until after 7:00. I dont go to Rob's anymore, thats a whole new thread though. I really appreciate the offer though!!! I didnt think it was safe to use sea water, have you had any problems with that?

 

[velvetchs]

Are you buying RO/DI water at your lfs? If yes, have you tested THAT water for nitrates and the such? We were struggling with our nitrates for a good 2 months, could not get them below 80ppm. (All of our hermit crabs died, luckily fish survived) Turns out that the water we were buying from the lfs was high in nitrates! We bought our own RO/DI off of the auction site and now our nitrates are down to 20ppm in less than a month (with 25% water changes weekly). If you aren't overfeeding or overstocked and otherwise cannot figure out where they are coming from, check your water. Hope this helps.

 

[efishnsea]

Originally Posted by SugarFox03
I wish I had the day off tomorrow! I have work and school, I wont be home until after 7:00. I dont go to Rob's anymore, thats a whole new thread though. I really appreciate the offer though!!! I didnt think it was safe to use sea water, have you had any problems with that?
You have seen my tank, right....I have not mixed a bag of salt in a while(8 yrs). Only once when my float valve broke and took my salinity to .015, thank god it happened over a period of 15 hrs, I slowly raised it up and everyboby was happy. All of my water has come from the ocean

.
The corals we have in our tanks live in the oceans, there is stuff in sea water that we cannot even test for yet. As long as the phosphates are fine I don't see a problem with it.
Well my first water change in 1.5 years will be tomorrow. I have Salifert tests for every parameter just to make sure.. Just going to do a 30g change as I would think that should give some of the little creatures something to munch on.
I just started adding some SPS corals and think trace elements will be key in their survival which I will get from the sea water., a friend of mine changes 30 gal a month in his 120. His quote was "everything really opens up when I do a change with fresh sea water?
ps. I'll keep 20g for you if you want. Im going down to West Palm on Monday, let me know ....I'm here for you

......

 

[deny]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
How old are your test kits? A nitrate reading of 40 shouldn't be fatal. It is in the stress zone, but not a toxic amount. A product that works pretty well for removing ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate that I have used many times is Amquel Plus. This is not a substitute for responsible tank maintenence, but it does work well in a pinch.
THe test kit is at least 1yr old. I looked for an expiration date on it, but couldn't find one. I just tested again and it's down to 20. Should I do another water change?? or how soon. Maybe the kit is too old. I still have two chromis's....so far... Could the fish have died from the water change? I only did about 1/4 with RO water bought from Walmart. The salinety was 1.022 before I added to the tank..