Need help with nitrate

morefire66

morefire66

Member
:help: :help: :help: I need some information on nitrate......
I have no problem with ph or nitire only nitrate reading is always high....Last Saturday my nitrate read .60 and i did a 25%
water change, then I waited until Sunday night to do my readings everything was good except my nitrate which read between .25-.30 please advise if i'm doing something wrong...thanks
 
lefty

lefty

Active Member
High nitrates can be a result of overfeeding and not cleaning the excess out of the tank (detritus on the substrate). Large water changes are the way to go when bringing nitrates down. :)
-lefty
 
pyro

pyro

Active Member
Don't do too large of a change - it can shock the fish easily. You said .25, .5 ect... That is not a high nitrate reading. I would only be worried if it is above the 20-40 range. It's hard to get it at zero without a fuge with macros in it or similar.
 
lefty

lefty

Active Member
The water change should be larger if your nitrates are much higher than what's considered safe and smaller if your nitrates are only a little over what they should be.
-lefty
 
pyro

pyro

Active Member
ehhhhh, the plumbing is the hard part, not the tank itself.
I am really happy I spent the extra $100 (ballpark) and added my fuge. It seems to have made my tank pretty rock stable. It added the needed 10g additional water volume to my 30, and gave me a place to put macros in that absorb nitrates and stuff. I also used "Myricle Mud" to plant my macros in - so far it seems to be working great. 3 months and all levels are good; I'm going to get my calcium and stuff tested soon to check again.
Basically what your looking at is an "overflow" of some sort. If you already have your tank up and running, your best bet is a hang on overflow - they aren't cheap ($50-100 if I remember right, not sure), but they work pretty well and dont' require getting your tank drilled. You will plumb from there down to your sump/fuge. If you look on the equipment/DIY boards, you can find information and diagrams on them all through it, just scan it. A return pump will pump water back into your tank. The amount of water your return pump pumps into your display will overflow an equal volume back down to your sump. That way, when the power goes out, you don't have to worry about a siphon loosing it's prime and flooding your floor or anything.
If you nitrates are under 1, that is awesome. Nitrates are normally much higher. Any NH3 or NO2 reading is bad. Nitrates are OK as long as they aren't high (20-40+).
 
morefire66

morefire66

Member
Thanks alot for the information Pyro, i will definately look into this....a matter of fact on my way to my part time work today i
stopped at lfs to get some information. i was told to look into a
hang on overflow because it is cheaper......but one of the workers told me i do need a bright lighting to grow the plants...
Please advise if that is needed....sorry for all the questions...
 
morefire66

morefire66

Member
Hey Pyro quick question for you...I called my lfs last night and their price for miracle mud is $100 for the bag. Do you have any
idea where I could buy it cheaper.....
 
pyro

pyro

Active Member
I had to pay $80 for mine at a LFS I know. He knocked it down to 70, which was the cheapest I've seen for it because we're friends with him.
You don't really need a bright light - I think it depends on what plants you are growing in it. My 10g fuge has a 24" flourescent tube light fromm a 20g tall (think it is 24", could be wrong)just sitting corner to corner on the top of the tank. I'm going to mount a floodlight power comapct like-thing as soon as I can figure out how to and see if there is a difference in the growth.
The mud is pricey though, and so far it has kept my water pretty good at least result wise. Haven't had it tested lately - I only have a nitrogen cycle kit, not any of the reef ones. Also, my tank has only been up about 4 months, so no long term success gauranteed. For me though the only thing I add other than food is some powder cyclop ease to help the corals grow some more. I do about a 5g water change once every month or so on my 30g.
 
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