nitrate question

[kumiko]

i know there are too many of these questions, but they seem to be specific to everyone's tanks, so...
all of my levels are perfect except for nitrates, which are pretty much off the chart. i have a 29g with a 4" sand bed and about 25 lbs of live rock. i have three chromis, an orange diamond goby, and snails, hermits, etc. i feed once a day. i have a prizm skimmer and a fluval canister filter.
i'm assuming that the canister filter is contributing to the nitrates, but i've tried to run the tank without it on, and it just starts to get cloudy, etc. should i run it but without carbon?
the water changes don't seem to be helping at all. should i be doing them more frequently, maybe taking out more water?
everything else seems to be doing very well. when i first set up the tank i had the normal diatom bloom, but now i haven't had any algae in about three months (and i would think i would with such high nitrates.)
any suggestions would be helpful!

 

[puff(er) daddy]

What's off the chart? Mine is a 140ppm. Water changes should be preformed frequently when tryiing to lower your nitrates. What your water source? When having this problem carbon and filter floss or pads should be rinsed and changed regularly. It's a lot of things you need to do to combat this problem we have. You should do a search you'll get more than enough info. on this never ending story.

 

[scruz]

get rid of the canister filter as part of the set-up.i have a 65 g. with 2 powerheads and a skimmer-period. the canister could be retuning nutrients to your system as they break down in it.

 

[kumiko]

i've been doing about a 20 percent water change every week, using distilled water which i test for ammonia and nitrates. and when i do that, i clean out my fluval and skimmer (including rinsing the carbon).
the test kit i have at home reads in mg/L, and it's at the highest, which is 100. i've also tested it at work with an aquarium pharmaceuticals kit i believe, and it was also at the highest there.
i guess i will try not running the fluval again. what do i do if it starts to get cloudy, etc? just leave it and hope that it will eventually go away?