nitrate question

[farmerbob]

nitrates have always been high in my 10 gallon tank. I'm wondering if maybe I've got too much of a bio-load in the tank. Here's the specs on my tank:
Environment:
1 - 10 gallon
2 - 20 pounds indopacific black aragonite
3 - 8 pounds of LR
4 - a good sized wad of that sawtooth blade plant stuff
5 - Penguin mini-biowheel filter, minus the biowheel
6 - small "reptile" submersible filter operating as a canister
powerhead filled with SeaChem DeNitrate
Biology:
2 fish: Firefish and some kind of damsel
3 crabs: Emerald, Sally LF, and a baby fiddler crab
plus hitchhiker crabs and two polyps
Please note that the nitrates aren't a problem until the De-Nitrate exhausts, but I hate having to depend on De-nitrate to keep my levels stable.
So, my questions are:
1) Do I have too many critters in my tank?
2) As the tank matures. will the nitrates stabilize, or will I
forever depend on water changes and De-Nitrate?
3) In the professional opinions of others, what is the best way to
control nitrates in small tanks?

 

[bang guy]

Your bio-load is fine. You have no Nitrate removal mechanism at all in there other than de-nitrate. They won't stabilize, just slowly build up.
Frequent water changes are your best mechinism in a nano IMO.

 

[goose]

Is there any other remedy to removing Nitrate other then frequent water changes? I do a 25% water change and within two days the Nitrate level is really high again. After a two week period of water changes, I don't think I can afford to do this any longer!
I also tried Calerapa (sic?) as a means of removal and that started a whole new problem that I just finally got rid of. Now the Green algae is everywhere and running out of control.
I have a 55 gallon tank with a Penguin dual Bio Wheel and a Millenium 2000 filter. 100# of LR and 60# of LS. 2 Blue Damsals and about 5 red legged crabs. I'm pretty sure I'm not overloading the tank.......but then again......I don't know any more. Everything I thought I was doing right is wrong. Tank is over 1 year old. Please help!

 

[broomer5]

Two small fish in a 10 gallon tank is overloading it - providing your ammonia and nitrite levels are zero.
As Bang Guy mentioned - without some form of nitrate reduction - they will continue to build.
How high is the nitrate level ?
What's your feeding routine ?

 

[goose]

I have a 55 gallon tank......not a 10 gallon.
My Nitrate test I use shows the highest level possible within two days. So I'm gonna guess 50-100/??
My feeding routine is to drop in a few flakes in the morning and let the fish eat all they can. I then remove the unwanted pieces after about 5 minutes. I also feed them about 30 minutes before the light goes off at night. However I don't remove the unwanted pieces so the crabs can clean up the rest.
I thought that after a few water changes in the first week that the nitrate level would level off back to normal. However, it has not happened.
I'm gonna get a few Mexican turbo snails to clean up the algae I got now.........but my nitrate is still the problem.

 

[the claw]

You need more live rock for a 55. I have over a 100 pounds. You could also use the bio-wheel in your penguin to help. You need some form of biofiltration. Your feeding routine doesn't sound that bad, but maybe put in fewer flakes so that you don't have to worry about removing any. Your bioload could be twice higher than that with a 55. You will never get your nitrates to stabilize without some type of biofiltration. Water changes will only delay the inevitable.

 

[beaslbob]

farmerbob and goose: waterchanges will never bring nitrAtes to 0.0 even with no bioload. the best you can do with a bioload is to get a saw tooth there nitrates jump down after a water changes the ramp up until the next water change.
the best short term and long term method of lowering nitrAtes is by using plant life. Basically you both need more. I had a 20g with only a baby molly for bioload that went from 160PPM ++ nitrates to 0.0 in three weeks after I added plant life. Sure you still have to watch over feeding and light but both of you need more plants.

 

[goose]

I tried plants to lower nitrates. I bought several bunches of Calerapa which needs Nitrates to grow. The FS owner told me to clip it back once a week which I did. However the nitrates never went down. So I let it grow more...........figuring more Calerapa would eat more Nitrates right??!!?? WRONG! Result was Nitrates were still high.......and then I had one big mess of Calerapa. I had to pull it almost all out and throw it away. The over growth of Calerapa killed my two brittle stars, peppermint shrimp and all my emerald and porcelain crabs. Also lost all my fish except those 2 damsal fish and my scarlet legged crabs.
As for my biowheel..........they are on the filter and running. Ammonia and Nitrites are at zero. My goal was to put coral in there.........but right now my tank looks more like a swamp then an ocean. I'm about ready to give this hobby up.

 

[beaslbob]

first of all veryfy your test kit by having your LFS test your water. I once thought I had pegged my nitrAtes but the kit was reading too high. So instead of 160ppm+++ I only had 40 ppm.
Second, Plants will bring the nitrates down. But after months (or a year) of running it may take several months. this is the reason I always recommend adding plants as the first thing.
Finally, you do still have to make sure you are not over feeding. Any uneaten food becomes plant food. The bacteria in the tank may be keeping ammonia and nitrItes in check, but the uneaten food is still producing nitrAtes.
I am sorry for your loss but I have never heard of caulpera killing starfish and crabs. In my case it is the opposite. the crabs are eating the caulpera.
Whatever you do once you get the nitrates down (if they are not already) the caulpera growth rate will slow down. The fact they are fast growing indicates there is lotsa nitrate present.
p.s. If you don't think plants will get nitrAtes down take a gallon of so of your water and put it in a jar with some of your plants. Keep it lit and monitor your nitrates. Also in that jar just replace the water that evaporates. that way you have no bioload and just the plant action. If nitrAtes do not come down that way, it definately is your test kit.

 

[125intx]

You can also test your tap water for Nitrates. My tap water starts out at 40ppm and bottled water (RO) was 0ppm. So at best case for me using tap water is 40ppm. I installed a refuguim two weeks ago to bring my nitrates down. My nitrates were pegged at 160ppm. I tested it last night and it still had not changed. But it should take it awhile to start helping the nitrates.
Good Luck!

 

[goose]

Thanks for the help guys......
I'm going to take a sample of water in to the LFS and see what it reads. As for the tap water, I suspected that as well and started to use bottled water and no results from the change so I went back to using tap water........due to it being cheaper for me.
I know I can get through this, but it is frustrating to say the least. I've been battling this nitrate problem now for almost a year!