Impossible Nitrates

[thresher9]

My reef tank has nitrates and I have tried everything to get rid of them. They are now at 80 according to my test kit and have been like this for awhile. I have done countless water changes, adding charcoal, vodka treatment, adding plants, and have searched high and low for a dead anything. I could really use some help because I am out of ideas for getting rid of them.

 

[thresher9]

ok wow I ment to say I added carbon not charcoal.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by thresher9 http:///t/391208/impossible-nitrates#post_3468194
ok wow I ment to say I added carbon not charcoal.
It is the exact same thing...activated charcoal.
Welcome to the site....I bet a pretty penny you are using API test kits. My API kit said my nitrates were 80+, I added the + since 80 was the highest the test could read and my test tube color was very dark.
I had done exactly like you...daily water changes, vodka dosing. I was going crazy and yet my shrimp was just fine...shrimp are very sensitive to high nitrates so something was off. Turned out it was my API kit. I got a Seachem multi kit, all the Seachem tests have a regent to be able to double check and see the test result is correct...my nitrates were 1.
If you don't have API kits then your test kit could be outdated, they like medicine are good for about a year. The medicine or test kit might last longer but would no longer be trust worthy.

 

[beth]

Did this happen suddenly, or gradually?

 

[thresher9]

This has happened gradually. The nitrates first showed up in late August last year and have been progressively getting worse. I also thought the test kit might be bad so I purchased a new one three months ago, but still got the same results. So far I have lost three rose bulb anemones, also a few of my corals look very sad and on the edge. The corals that look the worst are my giant green polyp duncan and finger leather coral. The strange thing is everything else is fine so far including my shrimp. Maybe they are just really tough? All other things to test for are normal or zero, except the pH is a little low at 7.8

 

[beaslbob]

IMHO your nitrate consumers have just not kept up with nitrate production.
and it can take a few months or longer for nitrates to rise to the final values.
A refugium with macros or an algae turf scrubber would correct that but it could take some time.
But when the nitrates are being fully consumed they drop to unmeasureable levels in a week or two.
my .02

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by thresher9 http:///t/391208/impossible-nitrates#post_3468263
This has happened gradually. The nitrates first showed up in late August last year and have been progressively getting worse. I also thought the test kit might be bad so I purchased a new one three months ago, but still got the same results. So far I have lost three rose bulb anemones, also a few of my corals look very sad and on the edge. The corals that look the worst are my giant green polyp duncan and finger leather coral. The strange thing is everything else is fine so far including my shrimp. Maybe they are just really tough? All other things to test for are normal or zero, except the pH is a little low at 7.8
Shrimp and anemones are the most sensitive sea critters, bad water quality spells death for them. There is no way your nitrates are 80 and have a healthy shrimp. I also thought that my test kit was bad and purchased another brand new from the store API test kit, and got the same reading. Both API kits said 2008 across the bottles.....they were both old, it was 2010.
Did you purchase a different type of test kit, or another newer one of your old kit? Was it an API kit?
Bad bulbs will also kill anemones, duncans too. Leathers shrivel and shed in cycles, it's normal. How old are your lights?

 

[mr. limpid]

Here is a great artical for you to read about nitrates. I hope this will help , from reefkeeping.com

Aquarium Chemistry: Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium

 

[thresher9]

The lights were replaced in December or January I'm not sure exactly, but they should definitely be fine. The test kit is an API one, but is different and newer than my first one. The duncan just started shriveling up two weeks ago, but it's mainly only one of its heads. It's littler head isn't as shriveled. There is only two other strange things that have happened that might have something to do with the problem. I purchased three damsels a bit ago, two domino damsels and one yellowtail damsel. About a week after, the two domino damsels disappeared, leaving the one damsel who is perfectly health. I couldn't find them anywhere. The other thing was I had bought fire and ice polyps and they would not open up no matter where I put them. They finally decided to open up a few weeks ago, five months after I got them. Maybe there really aren't any nitrates and a crab is poking the coral? I just don't understand why the anemones died. They were doing well for months, then they went down hill. It makes no sense. The coral is unhappy, but all the "moving" animals are as health as can be.