Nitrate Spiking!

[coatej01]

My 55 gal has been up and running about 3-4 months now. After 1 month the levels spiked, I did the water changes and the levels have been fine until this week. I do a 10 gal water change every week. But this week I noticed that my nitrate spiked even more than when going through the first cycle. Why is this? I tested my tap water and it tested negative for no nitrates, my salt is nitrate free, and I dechlorinate my water before adding. What could cause this nitrate spike?
I am going to do around a 40% water change tonight. I also noticed my more delicate corals are not as "thriving" as normal.
Any comments/suggestions.

 

[oniel21]

Could be a lot of things. Looking at past posts, I am wondering what your current stock is. How much live rock do you have, how is your flow, what kind of filtration do you have. Give us a timeline of your tanks history.

 

[lion_crazz]

A stocklist and how much you feed would certainly help us answer this. How high have your nitrates gone up?
As for your corals, they might not be looking so great because you are using tap water, along with the fact that your nitrates are spiking.

 

[coatej01]

Originally Posted by oniel21
Could be a lot of things. Looking at past posts, I am wondering what your current stock is. How much live rock do you have, how is your flow, what kind of filtration do you have. Give us a timeline of your tanks history.

55 gallon with aprox. 75-80lbs live rock.
1 baby hippo tank (not even a inch long)
1 purple tang (2 inch long)
1 fox face (1 inch long)
1 damsel
1 pj cardinal
1 black cardinal
1 Mandarin and 1 Lawnmower Blennie
2 Shrimp
I have a wet dry vac., protein skimmer, and UV Sterilizer
My bf feeds flake food in the AM, whatever they can consume in 2-3 minutes, he says 2 pinches.
I feed mysis (1 dime size chunk), frozen vitamin gel things (1), and always keep romaine lettuce and seaweed on a clip.
History:
Aug 1st tank was put together...
2 weeks later added damsels
End of August all levels spiked (Ammonia slightly, nitrate, and nitrite)
1 week later, levels perfect
Mid September added 1 fish probably every week
Every Sunday I check the levels and do a 10 gallon water change
( The only reason I checked the levels yesterday was b/c my coral didn't look so good, not dying, just not out as much as normal)
My nitrate spike was huge, the first spike was only like 1 or 2, but this one was complete red (the bottom of the chart, don't know the number without looking at the card)

 

[coatej01]

Just found out numbers...
My first nitrate spike while my tank was cycling was under 10
My nirate last night was probably around 50 ppm

 

[mie]

RO/DI water is the only way to go! tap is pretty bad depending on where you live some is worse than others. I think weekly water changes are a bit much i do 15% every other week, this of course is highly debatable some people have sucsess doing other means of maintenance

 

[earlybird]

If I had to guess it's b/c of how quickly you are adding the fish and your nitrifying bacteria can't keep up with the ever increasing bioload. Try feeding less and doing a series of larger water changes back to back days or increase the frequency of your regular water changes until your levels are where you want them.

 

[coatej01]

Originally Posted by mie
RO/DI water is the only way to go! tap is pretty bad depending on where you live some is worse than others. I think weekly water changes are a bit much i do 15% every other week, this of course is highly debatable some people have sucsess doing other means of maintenance

RO/Di water?? What's that?

 

[coatej01]

Originally Posted by earlybird
If I had to guess it's b/c of how quickly you are adding the fish and your nitrifying bacteria can't keep up with the ever increasing bioload. Try feeding less and doing a series of larger water changes back to back days or increase the frequency of your regular water changes until your levels are where you want them.

So maybe do a 30-40% water change tonight and maybe 10-20% every other day until levels are good? Too much or not enough?

 

[coatej01]

Oh...Don't know if this matters, I have 2 T5's as my lighting.

 

[earlybird]

In layman terms. RO is reverse osmosis. Filterd to remove almost everything from the water. Add the DI and you've got deionized water further reducing the water of trace elements that was missed in the RO process.
I can't speak for your tap water but mine has a lot of nitrates and phosphates. If your water source has nitrates then water changes will work but only to the point at which your water contains. Kinda spinning your wheels IMO.

 

[oniel21]

RO/DI is certainly the way to go. Units go for $150-$230, big investment but IMO a necessity. If you don't want to spend the money on a unit, you can usually buy RO water from your LFS. You should also be monitoring your levels every other day in a young tank.
I think Earlybird is right, your system cannot keep up with the fast pace that you're going. Slow down a bit! Your tank needs time to mature. As it is, I think you're tank is overstocked.
Nitrates are high, but you still have time to control it. Do a 40% change now, then 10% every other day until it is under control. Cut back on the feeding! Someone on hear once said that a fishes stomach is about the size of their eye. You won't starve them! All the uneaten food will add trates to your system.
Don't take offense to this cause I'm just trying to help. My advice to you is to slow down a bit. I would lose a fish or two. Read up as much as you can and always ask questions here. There are a lot of experienced folks on here! Make sure that you monitor you calcium and ALK levels for your corals, and get some Cheato for your sump. Good Luck.