Nitrate is high

[yellowlogi]

Nitrate is 20. how bad is this.. and what should i do to get it down. my ph is 8.3 and everything else is perfect. what will having a high nitrate do? please help if you can.. Thanks

 

[sweetdawn]

do a 10% water change do not use tapwater

 

[pbienkiewi]

how big is your tank ?
How many fish ?
how often do you feed ?
how often do you do a water change ?
how many power heads ? facing which way ?

 

[yellowlogi]

55gal 5 fish i feed then 1 time a day do water change 1 to 2 times every two weeks

 

[pbienkiewi]

what kind and how big of fish ? power heads ? how deep of a sand bed ?

 

[yellowlogi]

2 Clarkii Clown about 1 inch/ about 1/2 inch
Scooter Blenny about 1 inch
Pygmy Angel about 1 inch
Yellow Tang about 1 inch

 

[pbienkiewi]

how long has the tank been up for ? when were the fish introduced ? all at once ?
asking to see if it is a new bio load. power heads break up the water surface for gas exchange

 

[yellowlogi]

the tank is about 8 months. got the fish all at diff time except for the clown. they are about 3 weeks old

 

[sarahjane]

I have a 55 gal tank that has been running about 1 year. I have about 2 1/2 inch sand bed and around 60 lbs of live rock. I have had 0 Nitrates, 0 Nitrites, pH 8.2 and 0 Ammonia. Today I checked the parameters and I have an Nitrate at about 30. As far as fish in the tank. Maroon and gold clown, 1 inch, 3 stripe damsel- really small like 1/2 inch maybe. And I know its bad, but didn't know any better at the time I bought them- 2 1in yellow tangs. I tried to catch one of the tangs after I found out that I couldn't have two, but I didn't have any luck. Lastly I have a big leather umbrella coral, 6 or so blue leg hermits, little slug things that come out at night, and a big snail. Anyhow, back to the question, how can I get the nitrates down? Will they hurt my fish at the level they are at? Everything in the tank seems to be in excellent health...knock on wood....haha. Oh ya, I have a wet dry filter with bio balls, and two power heads in the tank. Thanks SarahJane

 

[mbowker]

Buy clams from your local seafood store. Littlenecks or cherrystones. Put them in a tub of your tank water. They will purge out the bad water and take in your water. After they all purge, put them in the tank or refugium and they will bury themselves in short order. I had nitrates that nothing got rid of. Now, THEY ARE ZERO.
Most places associated with fish sell the same "cleaner clam" for about 5.00 . I buy them 12/ 3.69