Nitrate Reduction

[salty rick]

I am sure that everyone continually fights high nitrate levels. I combat mine with water changes and have had some sucess with SeaChem's Nitrate Reducer. Does anyone out there have any other sucessful ways of keeping nitrate levels low in a reef tank?
Thanks

 

[nm reef]

Yup....zero nitrate in a 55 reef for 4-5 months now...basically with 100 lbs LR...5" DSB...and a 35 gal refugium that has assorted types of caulpera...not a trace of nitrate in a long time........

 

[vkesu]

NM Reef, do you do water changes still?

 

[burnnspy]

Actually a properly setup reef tank has no nitrates.
My 29gal has never had nitrates in 2 yrs and yes I do small weekly water changes mostly for essentail trace element replacement.
Check out my Reef Basics page for information for the novice reef keeper: www.spyreef.homestead.com/home.html
BurnNspy

 

[kris walker]

Hey Salty Rick, welcome to the board!
As mentioned above, ways to reduce nitrates naturally include use of liverock, a deep sand bed, a refugium filled with macroalgae, and water changes (not necessarily in that order). If not sure how a DSB or refugium are setup, try doing a swf.com search for the info. It has been discussed/debated a lot.
Another way of tackling the problem is at the source end--nutrient supply to the tank. Overfeeding is a major contributor to high nitrates. Just make sure most of what you are feeding to your fish actually gets ingested by your fish. Also, if your fish are fat, they could stand to not be fed as much. Fatter fish excrete more, and produce more nitrates in the end.
Good luck,
sam

 

[chevron tang]

You could have such high nitrates due to excess nutrients (overfeeding, leaving on lights for too long, etc.). Your tank is obviously not being able to keep up with the load of nutrients being put in.