Nitrate rise

[oneradtek]

i just transfered my 55 gallon reef to its new home, a 75 gallon tank. This transfer was done about a week and a half ago. i used new aragonite and kept all of my live rock with an addition of about 30 lbs cured LR. I transferred all of my water plus some water that was used in my buddies tank to make up the water needed for the transfer. My buddies water is pretty good and they are very anal about their quality so im sure the rise didnt come form that. I tested my nitrite and there was nothing there. my nitrate was about 5-10 ppm maybe even a little higher. i dont know what is going on here, maybe a little cycle? i dont know why it would do that though. Has anyone heard of nitrate climbs after a tank swap? my 2 HOB filters should be good for now, but i am building my 29 gallon sump as i type. That should be up by next monday. As for now i am just going to keep doing water changes. I am using RO/DI water too. I was not using RO/DI in the previous tank however, but im pretty sure my nitrates were okay about a month ago prior to the swap.
Any ideas?

 

[bruner54]

idk if its normal but if you continue the water changes you will be ok.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by oneradtek
http:///forum/post/2735139
i just transfered my 55 gallon reef to its new home, a 75 gallon tank. This transfer was done about a week and a half ago. i used new aragonite and kept all of my live rock with an addition of about 30 lbs cured LR. I transferred all of my water plus some water that was used in my buddies tank to make up the water needed for the transfer. My buddies water is pretty good and they are very anal about their quality so im sure the rise didnt come form that. I tested my nitrite and there was nothing there. my nitrate was about 5-10 ppm maybe even a little higher. i dont know what is going on here, maybe a little cycle? i dont know why it would do that though. Has anyone heard of nitrate climbs after a tank swap? my 2 HOB filters should be good for now, but i am building my 29 gallon sump as i type. That should be up by next monday. As for now i am just going to keep doing water changes. I am using RO/DI water too. I was not using RO/DI in the previous tank however, but im pretty sure my nitrates were okay about a month ago prior to the swap.
Any ideas?
If the new tank is fish only; nitrates of 10 are nothing to worry about. Fish aren't bothered my nitrates like inverts are. 30# of LR in a 75 will not reduce nitrates, nor will power filters. But, if you don't have inverts in the new tank, nitrates can be many times what you have now and you don't need to worry. IMO, nitrates harming fish is one of the biggest mis-conceptions on this forum.

 

[oneradtek]

thanx for the info, but you need to re-read my original post haha.
it stated i have an ADITIONAL 30 lbs to my LR i had in my previous tank. Thats about 90 now total. and i do have a reef tank, hence the issue, but i think i have it under control for now. thanx all!

 

[kjr_trig]

You can certainly have some die off from a transfer of 30 lbs of LR that could cause a small spike, 10ppm of trates is certainly small, a few water changes and you should be fine. When I moved from S. Carolina and gave my tank there to a friend, we had a much bigger spike than that. Wish I was on this board then, I would have done the move much differently

.

 

[oneradtek]

yea i must say this board is very nice/helpful because people will actually answer your questions! haha -- isn't really that user friendly.

 

[paxrom]

It is possible that the denitrifying bacteria that you have in your LR need some time to establish their numbers in the new tank.
Air has more oxygen than water. When you take the rocks out of the water for the transfer, the rising oxygen level from the rocks being exposed to air kills the denitrifying bacteria because they are anaerobic bacteria.This explains the nitrate rise.
The exposure to air for short time, however, does not kill your nitrifying bacteria because these bacteria loves oxygen. This explains why you do not see a rise in ammonia or nitrite.
I'll say give it time and everything will be back to normal, when the denitrifying bacteria grow back in healthy quantities.
Same thing applies to your live sand if you disturb it. It'll take time to develop a denitrifying population.