nitrates at 40-80 please help!

[skipperdz]

i am having nitrate problem
i have a 55g with 4vhos, bought a remora c skimmer a week ago (hope that helps)and 2 1200 maxijets running
what i have in the tank are: maroon clown, eibli angel, fairy wrasse, hawaiian blue puffer. 4 emerald crabs, 10 turbos, 5 hermits, CBS, LTA, 6 nasserious snails, and a peppermint shrimp.
all parameters are great, except my trates which is b/t 40-80 ppm, and none of my inverts seem affected yet, have had the problem for about 2 months and only lose an occasional snail.
have had the tank up and running since early march and this problem started in june.dont know why either, since everything else is at 0.
anyway to fix this...please help

 

[huskychasrs]

What substrate are you using? What kind of filtration are you running and finally ask yourself a serious question...Are you an Overfeeder?
Leftover food could be the culprit?
Good luck!
Oh yeah what kind of water are you using?

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by skipperdz
i am having nitrate problem
i have a 55g with 4vhos, bought a remora c skimmer a week ago (hope that helps)and 2 1200 maxijets running
what i have in the tank are: maroon clown, eibli angel, fairy wrasse, hawaiian blue puffer. 4 emerald crabs, 10 turbos, 5 hermits, CBS, LTA, 6 nasserious snails, and a peppermint shrimp.
all parameters are great, except my trates which is b/t 40-80 ppm, and none of my inverts seem affected yet, have had the problem for about 2 months and only lose an occasional snail.
have had the tank up and running since early march and this problem started in june.dont know why either, since everything else is at 0.
anyway to fix this...please help
Constant water changes, feed less,, clean all filters and LIGHTY syphon LS....

 

[skipperdz]

ls is the substrate,not super fine but fine. i could be an overfeeder. thats stopping for sure. ill do once a day or every other day. im using bottled distilled for top offs, and mixing for new water. running a wet/dry with dentalfloss filter and a remora c protien skimmer.
i do syphon once in a while, but ill do a bit more of that.

 

[huskychasrs]

I recall reading a post about not using distilled water not too long ago it may be in one of the RO/DI threads.
For gee whiz I would run a nitrate check on your distilled water.

 

[skipperdz]

i use the same distilled for my freshwater tanks, and there isnt a nitrate problem with that tank

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by skipperdz
i use the same distilled for my freshwater tanks, and there isnt a nitrate problem with that tank
Distilled water is the most pure water you can have, people just dont use it because it is so expensive.

 

[skipperdz]

the only thing i can think of is that my diamond goby is dead somewhere. i pulled out all the rocks and he's no where to be seen. but all my other perameters are perfect. its so strange that ammonia nitrite, ph are all 0.

 

[huskychasrs]

Distilled water and copper content I knew I read it recently took me a little bit to find it. I can't confirm nor deny.
RO/DI water thread

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by huskychasrs
Distilled water and copper content I knew I read it recently took me a little bit to find it. I can't confirm nor deny.
RO/DI water thread
Distilled water is water that has virtually all of its impurities removed through distillation. Distillation involves boiling the water and re-condensing the steam into a clean container, leaving most contaminants behind.

 

[skipperdz]

i guess ill have the lfs test it tomorrow and check it out...this whole situation just blows my mind