Nitrate rise

[tsdid]

i was wandering if anyone had this kind of reaction. I have had my tank up for about 8 months. I use RODI water, and i had a 40 gallon with 40lbs of live sand and 30lbs of live rock, I also had 2 clowns 2 pajamas, 5 hermits, serpent star, 4 snails. for about 5 months I had 0 nitrates. Then 3 weeks ago i added a scooter blenny, the next week I added 25 more lbs of live rock, and the week after that I added an anemone. And the nitrate levels went up to 15 at peak, I just did a 20% water change this morning and there probably around 10 now. I have had caulerpa in since early on in the tanks life, which helped with the trates. but now im just trying to figure out what the cause is. I realize i have added a fish, but with just 5 fish i dont think my bioload should be to much. Anyone have any thoughts? I have a wetdry/sump as filtration.

 

[miaheatlvr]

Do you regularly clean your bio balls or whatever media you have? These accumulate nitrates and must be constantly maintained ALSO you can lightly syphon your live sand tops, you will see how much blackwater you pull out while doing this, not to deep, just the tops.. p.s 15ppm trates is not bad at all.. mine hover around that constatly no matter what i do.. Hows you lighting? also keep an eye on that caulerpa, Me personally would have went with the CHAETO, much more stable macro-algae.

 

[dogstar]

Its possible that the new LR was saturated with nitrates from the tank it was kept in...just a thought.

 

[tsdid]

I just changed my lights, the caulerpa seems to be doing fine, I havnt cleaned the bio balls since i have had them. The one think that I was thinking is that more ammonia and nitrites can be broken down faster since, i have added more live rock, but that doesnt make sense since the ammonia and nitrites were always at 0

 

[tsdid]

would 1 scooter and a anemone cause a rise? Also i started feeding phytoplankton 3 times a week, and oyster eggs for the anemone, would that do anything to the trates. I know 15 isnt horrable but i like it at 0 so there are no worries for inverts and corals, I dont have corals yet but will soon. I just like to know whats going on in the tank as well.

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by tsdid
would 1 scooter and a anemone cause a rise? Also i started feeding phytoplankton 3 times a week, and oyster eggs for the anemone, would that do anything to the trates. I know 15 isnt horrable but i like it at 0 so there are no worries for inverts and corals, I dont have corals yet but will soon. I just like to know whats going on in the tank as well.
Scooter blennie and anemone have a small bio-load, BUT I think putting PHYTO and Oyster eggs in your tank is definately not helping and those foods are primarly used for filter feeding and are useless for anemones, Anemones need meaty whole piece foods, LIKE chopped clam, silverslides, krill, squid. My anemone likes all of these foods. Do NOT dose your tank with PHYTO or OYSTER eggs if you do not have corals that will consume these foods.

 

[tsdid]

My anemone is eating mysis shrimp and i spray him gently with the oyster eggs. The phyto is for the sponges and feather dusters on the live rock. Maybe im feeding the tank to much phyto, ill tray cutting back on that a little.
This is another topic but doesn anyone have any good ways to build up your copepod population. My scooter diminished the population, he does eat mysis but i want to make sure I have pods in there as well. Does anyone know of any locations to buy pods online. I would like to get them from this site but i dont have room to add 79 dollors worth of stuff.

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by tsdid
My anemone is eating mysis shrimp and i spray him gently with the oyster eggs. The phyto is for the sponges and feather dusters on the live rock. Maybe im feeding the tank to much phyto, ill tray cutting back on that a little.
This is another topic but doesn anyone have any good ways to build up your copepod population. My scooter diminished the population, he does eat mysis but i want to make sure I have pods in there as well. Does anyone know of any locations to buy pods online. I would like to get them from this site but i dont have room to add 79 dollors worth of stuff.
Do a search on the big A uction site for pods! and you really need a FUGE to keep and populate a healthy pod supply. You might want to try one of those in tank or hang on fuges, this might be your only option.. Until you want to convert your SUMP/WET DRY to a fuge.

 

[tsdid]

I was just reading on on saltwater.about.com, about nitrates etc. They mentioned cleaning the bioballs, and said if this is done it should be done slowly, just 1/4 at a time, they say the tank can crash if you do them all. Now in that article are they not takeing into account live rock? I have 55Lbs of rock and 40 of sand. If i cleaned the balls I would have enought bacteria to stablilize the tank right. Or is it good to take it slow?

 

[tsdid]

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