Just can't seem to get the Nitrates down

hogs

hogs

Member
I have a 72g bow and I've been doing 10g water changes every 3 days for a total of 4 changes. The tank has finished it's cycle about a week ago. I just did another change 2 hours ago and the Nitrates are still high. Nitrates are at 80 or 160 (hard to tell exactly but it's high). Ammonia and Nitrites are both at zero. Do I need to do a larger water change? Thanks.

 
rbaldino

rbaldino

Active Member
By the looks of it, yes, you're going to need to do a few more water changes to get the nitrate down. However, is there anything in the tank at the moment contributing to nitrate production? Fish? Nutrient sources?
 
miaheatlvr

miaheatlvr

Active Member
Originally Posted by Hogs
I have a 72g bow and I've been doing 10g water changes every 3 days for a total of 4 changes. The tank has finished it's cycle about a week ago. I just did another change 2 hours ago and the Nitrates are still high. Nitrates are at 80 or 160 (hard to tell exactly but it's high). Ammonia and Nitrites are both at zero. Do I need to do a larger water change? Thanks.

Whats in the tank please?
 
hogs

hogs

Member
Rena 4 stage canister and an aquaclear 500 hob. I get plenty of water flow. I have about 1.5 inches on live sand that was mixed with some crushed coral that was already in the tank. It's mostly sand though.
Originally Posted by MiaHeatLvr
What kind on substate do you have? and what kind of filtration do you have?
 
hogs

hogs

Member
Should I remove the fish? I am going on vaction from 7-1 to 7-8. I'm afraid I may kill the cycle if there is nothing there to feed it. I was going to set up a QT tank after vacation. I am going to put a sponge in my HOB filter and use some of the water from a water change. I will set up a 10g Qt.
 
miaheatlvr

miaheatlvr

Active Member
Originally Posted by Hogs
Should I remove the fish? I am going on vaction from 7-1 to 7-8. I'm afraid I may kill the cycle if there is nothing there to feed it. I was going to set up a QT tank after vacation. I am going to put a sponge in my HOB filter and use some of the water from a water change. I will set up a 10g Qt.

#1 do you have live rock?
#2 Leave the fish in. The tank already cycled.
#3 When was the last time you thouroughly cleaned your canister filter? These are NITRATE TRAPS.
#4 Check your HOB filter's Floss and carbon
#5 I wish you only had LIVE SAND, you might want to get a syphon, and LIGHTLY syphon the top layers of your LIVE SAND/Crushed Coral
 
hogs

hogs

Member
No live rock
Originally Posted by MiaHeatLvr
#1 do you have live rock?
No. I will in the future.
#2 Leave the fish in.
The tank already cycled.
#3 When was the last time you thouroughly cleaned your canister filter? These are NITRATE TRAPS.
Never. The tank has only been running for about 5 weeks.
#4 Check your HOB filter's Floss and carbon.
The HOB only has a sponge and the biomedia. The canister has sponge filters and Bio-chem zorb. I have carbon but I am not running it right now.
#5 I wish you only had LIVE SAND, you might want to get a syphon, and LIGHTLY syphon the top layers of your LIVE SAND/Crushed Coral
 
lesleybird

lesleybird

Active Member
Get a new test kit from another manufacturer or even the same manufacturer from a different batch lot number. Maybe something is wrong with the solution/test kit....could it be old? Or maybe it was exposed to heat or cold extremes that affected it's accuracy. It should have dropped a lot with 4 ten gallon water changes in a 72 gallon. Did it? Lesley
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
Well I don't have good news for you, but I think you have a problem with reusing the CC and then mixing the sand with it. CC works by trapping the waste in your tank and then you vacuum it out. LS works by having critters and bacteria in it that breaks down the waste in your tank. Both will work on their own, if you mix them than neither one will ork at all. It is like mixing water based and oil based paints.
 
hogs

hogs

Member
You can barely the the CC. Will it make that much of a difference? I should try to post a pic of it.
Originally Posted by Scotts
Well I don't have good news for you, but I think you have a problem with reusing the CC and then mixing the sand with it. CC works by trapping the waste in your tank and then you vacuum it out. LS works by having critters and bacteria in it that breaks down the waste in your tank. Both will work on their own, if you mix them than neither one will ork at all. It is like mixing water based and oil based paints.
 
miaheatlvr

miaheatlvr

Active Member
I was going to say as well to test your water from an independant source, LFS? Your trates are defiantely coming from your substrate and canister filter, When you do water changes are you using RO/DI water? Check the water you use for water changes as well... WIth such a low BIO LOAD your trates gotta be coming from somewhere.
 
hogs

hogs

Member
The test kit is brand new. I ditched my old one. I did bring the water to the LFS and tested it and everything was right on. I even tested SG with their refractometer. My swing arm was very close. I need an rodi unit but for now I am using a AFI Tap Water Purifier. I tested the water change water and everything was not out of the ordinary. I will change the water again and clean my canister at the same time. Should I change anything in it or just rinse out the sponges and media with the water change water? Thanks for everyone's help. It's amost 1 am and I have to be up at 7am for work. yawn. I need some shut eye.
Originally Posted by MiaHeatLvr
I was going to say as well to test your water from an independant source, LFS? Your trates are defiantely coming from your substrate and canister filter, When you do water changes are you using RO/DI water? Check the water you use for water changes as well... WIth such a low BIO LOAD your trates gotta be coming from somewhere.
 
hogs

hogs

Member
OK. Here's some pics of my sand and CC mixed. Do you still feel that the CC should be removed. If yes, I do have a idea in mind how it can be done WITHOUT removing any water or sand. I will take out all of the fish, dead rocks and coral and use a window screen to sift through the sand. The sand should fall through the holes in the screen but the sand should fall through (only in a perfect world will this work for me). What did you think.
Thanks!




 
rabbit_72

rabbit_72

Member
My hubby's tank was higher in nitrates, but not overly high like yours. He thought his calcium was really high though, so he did a major water change. Well, not only did his calcium go a little too low, but now his nitrates are at zero! Oh, and here his calcium was fine all along!

So... I suggest a good water change as that's the only thing that removes nitrate. (or how ever many water changes it takes, just not all at once!!) I think you will eventually see a decline in nitrates. And of course cleaning you canister and all. Not sure about your substrate...but these guys here are pretty darn smart!
 
hogs

hogs

Member
Couple of more questions. I just cleaned by Rena canister xp4 and I was reading an old post from last year. It said that it's ok to run a canister with carbon or nitro-zorb in it but don't use any of the sponges. The post read that the sponges are the nitrate problem. Should I remove the sponges and if yes, what then will filter out the debris?
Thanks, Paul.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Originally Posted by Scotts
Well I don't have good news for you, but I think you have a problem with reusing the CC and then mixing the sand with it. CC works by trapping the waste in your tank and then you vacuum it out. LS works by having critters and bacteria in it that breaks down the waste in your tank. Both will work on their own, if you mix them than neither one will ork at all. It is like mixing water based and oil based paints.
I'm sorry but this is completely incorrect.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
When you did your water test did you dilute your sample water with pure distilled or RO water?
 
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