Nitrates bad. corals not so well either.

[garychef1]

I am having a little bit of a nitate crisis right now and i think it is worse for my corals. My nitrates are 75-100. I have been running purigen since i started the tank. I have been replacing and regenerating like the bottle says. It was working great in the beginning and now it is not. I really trust the Seachem brand and i found that they have 2 other nitrate filter medias. The first is matrix and the second is de-nitrate. Do these work? I have heard that Matrix is OK but i have not heard anything about de-nitrate. I have been doing 50% water changes every week and a half for a month now but have not seen any results. I am currently running purigen and a poly pad. Should i just keep doing what i am doing until i get better results? Any help is greatly appreciated. In case anyone wants to know i have a 55 reef with a dozen or so corals in it.

 

[dude23455]

I dont know anything about the nitrate removing media's. However I think it would be best if you could pinpoint the cause of nitrates in your system and remedy that problem. If we eliminate the source of the nitrates then that will be a much better longterm fix than just removing the nitrates from the system.
First off: What kind of filter are you using? (wet dry, berlin, canister)
Are you using a skimmer?
How many fish do you have and how large are they?
Do you have any macro algae( ie chaeto, caulerpa, etc)?
once we get the answers to these questions we can figure out why you have a nitrate a problem to begin with.

 

[nereef]

do you have crushed coral?

 

[garychef1]

i have a pro clear aquatics wet dry approved for up to 100 gallons. I am using the skimmer it came with. I have 5 fish that are all less then 3 inches each and fit in a 55 gallon. I do not have any refugium plants. And i really can't find the source of the problem. I am going to feed a little less and i guess i should keep up with the water changes.

 

[garychef1]

Originally Posted by NEreef
do you have crushed coral?
i do not have crushed coral. I have about 2 inches of LS and 40-50 lbs of LR.

 

[jamparty]

Originally Posted by Garychef1
i have a pro clear aquatics wet dry approved for up to 100 gallons. I am using the skimmer it came with. I have 5 fish that are all less then 3 inches each and fit in a 55 gallon. I do not have any refugium plants. And i really can't find the source of the problem. I am going to feed a little less and i guess i should keep up with the water changes.
getting a refugium with macro algae would help severely with your nitrates problem.
if you can't get a refugium soon i would suggest going to target and buying two shower soap holders (many ppl on here do it) and stuff chaeto in them and place them in the tank.
good luck

 

[sudc]

I agree that you need to find the root of the problem. Doesn't sound like you have too many fish so most likely you are overfeeding without knowing it. Almost all of us do! How much flow do you have? Also, like most, you might not have quite enough and too much food is settling and turning into nitrates. The more it stays in the water column, the more likely it ends up in your skimmer instead of your sandbed.
I would cut your feedings in half. I guarantee that your fish will still be fine with half the food and it will definitely help your nitrates.
Also, a water change every week and a half isn't going to help alot with high nitrates. If you really want to get them down pretty fast, try doing 25-40% water changes every other day. After 2 weeks, you should be under 10-20 again, which is at least reasonably good.
I'd ditch the purigen, media and all the other crap. Good flow, proper stocking, proper feedings and water changes will work much better (and cheaper) than all that stuff.

 

[wattsupdoc]

Agreed, Also, how often do you clean the wet/dry? Does it have bio balls? Could be the primary source of your trates. Keep it clean and you'll probably see a difference.

 

[hogs]

Just don't clean all of the bio balls at the same time.
Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
Agreed, Also, how often do you clean the wet/dry? Does it have bio balls? Could be the primary source of your trates. Keep it clean and you'll probably see a difference.

 

[nereef]

there has to be something leeching trates into the water column if those large water changes aren't doing it. i agree the bioballs are a good place to start. i would also rinse any foam sleeves, bags, prefilter sponges, etc.

 

[garychef1]

probly bio balls. I havent cleaned them in a while.

 

[garychef1]

bio balls have been cleaned, water has been changed a lot, and nitrates are still a bit high. I few more water changes should fix it up. Can someone tell me de-nitrate is any good? It sounds too good to be true. There is also that matrix stuff which i have heard is good at maintaining nitrates when they are below 20 ppm. But this de-nitrate stuff says it will remove nitrates from the water.