Large water change? Will the tank re-cycle?

[threed240]

I have a 10gal aquarium with about 20lbs of live rock, 20lbs of live sand, emerald crab, 5 or so blue leg hermits,and one clown. Right now My nitrates are extremely high, due to lack of water changes. I thought that just adding water was sufficient enough, wrong. Anywho, I have been doing 10% water changes over the period of a month, with no sign of the nitrates lowering. My levels are
Nitrites=0
Nitrates=100+
PH=8.2
Temp=81.5
ALK=300
I was told by the owner of a LFS, which is highly reputable, to do at least a 75% to 85% water change to fix this issue. Will this cause my tank to go through another cycle? My sandbed is about 2 inches deep. It is live sand, but it is over 3 years old. Should I replace it? BTW I am running a Excalibur HOB skimmer, Skilter 250, and one wave maker 260gph powerhead. My lighting is a 1x28w corallife pc, and a 18"/18w corallife 10000k daylight FB.
I currently have another 10 gal tank with about 7 or 8 gal of water mixing(for water change). It has been mixing for about 2 days with another skilter 250.

 

[reefiness]

75-85% is a bit high
to lower your trates try doind 10% every day or 2 but before you do that where is your water coming from. tap? mabye its high in trates. try testing your tap water.

 

[threed240]

I do use tap, w/ a dechlorinator. I have tested it and the numbers are great. 0=Nitrates, 0=Nitrites. Their is a pic below. Its is super clear, but just has a few issues. I have spent nearly $500 in the past 2 weeks fixing it back up. I did purchase about 5lbs of LR last night that is not pictured.

 

[ryanhayes9]

i have a 10 gallon freshwater and my nitrates were 160+! i did a 100% water cahnge and everythings fine. if u run a ugf then thats proly where all the nitrates are. but mines a freshwater

 

[threed240]

No undergravel filter. Live sand would just fill it up. Also salinity level is 1.026.

 

[cindylowho]

You'll have no problem doing the 75% water change. Your bacteria base is in the live rock and sand. I just recently went from a 150-215 gal tank and did not add any of the old water into the new tank. I had no casualties.

 

[emmitt]

Ive been told by different people 75% is ok but im still a little worried to go that high. I have done 35-40% every other day for a month to get my nitrates down. If you have a refractometer and match the sg, temp and ph, 40% every day isnt a problem.
I'd do that instead of 75-85%

 

[dogstar]

If you have live stock then a large water change is fine as long as the temp, pH and salinity is the same as the old water.
If theres no livestock then really dont even have to worry about that. Change it all.
But useing treated tap water will add to more problems in the long run IMO.

 

[birdy]

I agree a huge water change really won't hurt, but I would use some RO/DI water, there is more junk in tapwater than just nitrates, Have you tested your tap for Phosphates? Or just get a TDS meter ($20) and test that.

 

[ray28576]

They are right, it won't put you into another cycle by doing that big a water change. Instead of using tap, you should use RO-DI water, or distilled water. You can get either of them at wal-mart or Krogers. Hope this helps.

 

[threed240]

Thanks guy's. I just finished the water change. I changed about75%. I left about 2" of water in there. My nitrates were at almost 200, & now there at a little over 20. I will probably invest in a RO filtration set up. I have a almost definite sale on a 75gal with a very nice cherry colored stand and matching canopy(for $225). Hopefully i'll get it by thursday. Either way my 10gal is up and going nicely. I'll post some more pics this eve.

 

[sinner's girl]

now, why were nitrates that high? big bio load? not enough filtrations or lr? over feeding?
when was the last water change. I could go three months and nitrates never got over 60.

 

[threed240]

Originally Posted by Sinner's Girl
now, why were nitrates that high? big bio load? not enough filtrations or lr? over feeding?
when was the last water change. I could go three months and nitrates never got over 60.
I have had this tank for about 3 years, and never did a water change. See, I thought that since the water evaporated so quickly that it was being replinished when I added to it. Uhh uh, so I have spent the last month fixing it up. I never let it get nasty or dirty inside, but I just thought that adding water was good enough. I only had two fish, one damsel(which has been sold back to the LFS after 3 years), and a percula clown. Both were healthy, and I was just running a skilter 250 for my circulation. I recently added a sweeping powerhead(which is great for flow, but sticks to one side or the other), a excalibur skimmer with a rio 800 power head, and a coral life light. I also added about 7 more lbs of live rock, hoping the other rocks will start a bloomin. The nitrates are high from pure neglagence, which has cost me dearly. I have spent around $500 on lights, glass top, skimmers, filter cart., LR, salt(oceanic), fish, timers, powerheads, etc. I also just purchased a 55gal setup last night. So this will never happen again. BTW the tank is doing great, my nitrates were at 20 this morn.