NITRATE out of control !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[weatherman]

YES...I DO frequent water changes in a 135 gallon tank. Appx. 20-30 gallons every 2 weeks, and the Nitrate is STILL reading 60-120! Unbelievable! I don't even feed the fish that much, but the Beautiful Corals are wiltering and dieing off. WHAT CAN I DO ???? I use the API test for Nitrate, which is what a lot of people use from what I hear...
I've tried buying one of these Nitrate Filters on E-Bay, the Denitrator 11, and have seen NO results in 2 weeks. I tried buying a Nitratfilter on-line but can NOT get the media 'balls' that I would like. I'm about the throw in the towel, but hate to see the beautiful corals go. I've lost about 1.3 of them and more are showing stress. PH is 8.2....Calcium is around 420. ALL the other paramenters appears to be fine......... $150 skimmer is even working beautifully...
PLEASE ANYONE...........WHAT ELSE CAN I DO???

 

[jonthefishguy]

Is your water that you make up to do the water change purified or are you using tap water. I would make up a batch of saltwater just like you normally do and test for nitrates in the NEW water BEFORE you do the water change. Also, I see you mentioned that you feed very little, like how ush is a little? A fishes stomache is about as big as its eyeball so thats all it needs. example, if one of your fish were a firefish, then maybe 2 to 3 whole adult size brine would suffice. Nitrates come from unpurified water, overfeeding,too much piss and poop which is due to overfeeding, or something decaying. Stop wasting your money on denitrifiers if you cant figure out what is causing them to begin with. Find what it is and start from there....

 

[ghettotang]

All I can say is that try to do big water changes. I would say like 40 to 50 gallon a week instead of every two weeks until you bring the nitrate down as low as possible. Also if you have a sump I would try to throw in some calcurpa or chaeto plant in there to help reduce the nitrate. Thats the only way I would think of bring the nitrate level down. Also don't use any tap water from any faucet I would try to buy some pre mix water from LFS as possible.
Good Luck and let me know how it goes.
Jay

 

[rbaldino]

Have you had someone else confirm you nitrate reading? I also suggest testing a fresh batch of saltwater to see what you're working with. Could be that you're adding nitrates as fast as you're taking them out.

 

[ninjamini]

You got an issue. Thats high to keep coral or fish for that matter. How old is this tank?
Nitrates can only come from a few places:
Food
Water
Rocks
bioballs or other media - these can become nitrate factories as they build up deturus.
#1 where do you get your water. If you are not using RO/DI water read no further. Either buy a RO/DI with a tds meter or buy it by the gallon. With a tank as large as yours you should just buy the RO/DI system.
If you are already using RO/DI water the next question is what fish do you have? We need to see that you are not way overstocked.
#2 Feed less for now. Drop in the food so that none hits the sand.
#3 It might be leaching from your rocks.
You need algae. Cheato to be exact. Set up a refuge and start it growing. It will consume nitrates and phosphates. Then you just prune it back.
You are above 60 and thats bad for the all the inhabitants of the tank. You are at dangerous levels and you need to take action.

 

[weatherman]

I hate to admit when I screw up, but many times its the best thing to do to resolve a problem.
I would bet money I overfed the fish! I have a 140 gallon reef tank (1/3 of the corals have died because of high nitrates....ALL other tests are fine) and in the tank are:
1 Regal Tang.....about 7"
1 Yellow Tang...about 3"
1 Naso Tang.....about 6"
1 FoxFace........about 5"
I had a BEAUTIFUL Coral Reef Angel AND a Flame Angel and BOTH died at about the same time....after doing fine for months. Reason....Unknown! High Nitrates? I don't know. As I said, the other tests...ammonia, nitrite, etc. read fine.
I used a lot of 'leaf' algae that comes in a packet. Maybe 1/4 of a huge piece 3 times daily PLUS frozen food. I have Brine Shrimp, Mysis Shrimp, and other things. HOW MANY OF THESE LITTLE CUBES SHOULD I FEED THESE GUYS DAILY? One? Five? I'm a little confused and fear I'm feeding to much!!!!!!!! I'm embarrassed to say how many cubes I let melt down before adding them to the tank.... How about the corals? Whats the best food for them and how much and often?
I have a beautiful tank. Halogen lights...moon lights...the whole thing. This tank was gorgeous a few months ago and was told by several fish guys to publish and show off the tank, and now it's really got me down....especially my pocket book. I have also lost a little interest in this lately because of my loss, but I have too much in it now to quit. Please advise.

 

[cmaxwell39]

As far as how much to feed, a good rule to follow is only what your fish will actually consume in three to five minutes without much of it settling on the bottom or in the rocks. Any uneaten food becomes nitrate. Also, with that fish list you will not need to feed very much of your meaty foods, all those fish are essentially herbivores. They do not need hardly any meaty foods. In the wild they survive by grazinig on algae that is growing on the reef.

 

[nigerbang]

Originally Posted by weatherman
Halogen lights

Do they even make the right spectrum for marine in Halogens??

 

[ninjamini]

Originally Posted by cmaxwell39
As far as how much to feed, a good rule to follow is only what your fish will actually consume in three to five minutes without much of it settling on the bottom or in the rocks. Any uneaten food becomes nitrate. Also, with that fish list you will not need to feed very much of your meaty foods, all those fish are essentially herbivores. They do not need hardly any meaty foods. In the wild they survive by grazinig on algae that is growing on the reef.

Dude way too much food. Thats your issue. The algae sheets should be small pieces that they will eat. Save those cubes as a 2-3 times a week treat. One cube. There is alot. Get a pellet food I like new life spectrum. We need to lower nitrates. Go to feeding 1 time per day for a week. Then retest. Get back to us.

 

[jonthefishguy]

Originally Posted by cmaxwell39
As far as how much to feed, a good rule to follow is only what your fish will actually consume in three to five minutes without much of it settling on the bottom or in the rocks. Any uneaten food becomes nitrate. Also, with that fish list you will not need to feed very much of your meaty foods, all those fish are essentially herbivores. They do not need hardly any meaty foods. In the wild they survive by grazinig on algae that is growing on the reef.
What!!!! you are no person to give feeding advice. You have just fell for the biggest marketing scheme. THE MORE YOU FEED, THE QUICKER YOU WILL BE BACK TO BUY MY PRODUCT AGAIN. A fishes stomache is about the same size of its eye ball. Thats the size they need to eat. NO MORE. Those who miss out, will remember to be the first one to get food next time. THEY ALL will graze from the rock or wall or sand.
You have given this guy the WRONG advice and it should be ignored

 

[weatherman]

Yep........
NO doubt about it. I was feeding WAY to much food. Fish were happy, corals were NOT! I lost some beautiful pieces (now skeletons) because of an overabundance of nitrate. I was simply stupid! I did NOT realize that high nitrates could affect corals. I was so worried about Nitrite and Ammonia, that I didn't even think about the Nitrates.
Make me sick to know that I screwed up and lost a lot of money on these corals because of 'over feeding' the fish. You live and learn I guess.
I'll tell you one thing though, I will bust my ass to get it back to where it was. Many water changes, less feeding (and mostly algae), and more testing. I got spoiled from a beautiful tank that I never realized that the feeding was a problem ON MY END!
By the way, the gentlemen that commented on the Halogen lights. Sorry about that, I MENT HALIDE LIGHTS....
Thanks for everyones response.
weatherman

 

[ninjamini]

Dont be hard on yourself. Its a learning experience.
To all the newbies out there...This is the reason its best to go real slow in this hobby.

 

[weatherman]

What makes it hard on myself is that I'M NOT A NEWBY AT THIS HOBBY! I've been involved with fish, reefs, corals, and etc. for quite a while! Nitrates came up on me so fast that when I found out what was going on, it was too late for many of the corals.
Live and learn everyone....AND DON'T OVER FEED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm wondering IF it would be safe to do a 1/2 tank water change? What is the maximum you should do AT ONE TIME? Any suggestions would be nice.
Thanks.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by jonthefishguy
What!!!! you are no person to give feeding advice. You have just fell for the biggest marketing scheme. THE MORE YOU FEED, THE QUICKER YOU WILL BE BACK TO BUY MY PRODUCT AGAIN. A fishes stomache is about the same size of its eye ball. Thats the size they need to eat. NO MORE. Those who miss out, will remember to be the first one to get food next time. THEY ALL will graze from the rock or wall or sand.
You have given this guy the WRONG advice and it should be ignored
There are definitely more polite ways to say this...
As for the stomach=eye thing... my Lion's stomach is definitely larger than his eye.
I firmly believe a healthy tank needs small, frequent feedings. Not all fish will graze off of the rocks and sand.

 

[ninjamini]

1/2 is too much. I would not do more than 30 percent and even that I am really uncomffy with. I prefer 15% and reserve anything else for real drastic needs. I would suggest cheato. Its a macro algae that consumes nitrates and phosphates. No it wont do it overnight but it will help over the course of a month or two.

 

[weatherman]

Thanks again for the advise. As I said, you live and learn. I guess even those that have been in this hobby for a while learn new things all the time.
Nitrates were the LEAST of my problems....at least I thought....

 

[dragonladylea]

Are you running a fuge? if so get some cherrystone clams (about 6-8) and throw them in the fuge, these will really bring your nitrates down.