Nitrates off the charts! Help please!

florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
I never understand why when hobbyists are starting up a new tank want to do a water change to get rid of nitrates. You need nitrates at a fairly high level to initiate bio dinitrification IMO the establishment of dinitrification through anaerobic bacteria is an important step in achieving overall filtration
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Joe, The only reason I suggested water changes was because he used old sand (with new)....and it sounded like there was a lot of "gunk" in it.....
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
I am assuming he is running a filter with some kind of filter material that should eliminate Gunk in the water column
 
M

mhayes462

Guest
I didn't know if nitrates should be THAT high. Where a normal tank is 20 or below, mine is 160+. I was wondering if i should do something about it now before it goes on another month and i have to start over anyway. I guess it doesn't matter since there is no livestock though. I was told to just leave it until the cycle is done and then clean it and do a water change. Yes, I do have a filter. I modded the stock filter so that I could put poly-filter filter pad in it, and I change it daily right now.
Mike Hayes
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Get a cheap gravel vacuum and vacuum as well as you can. Do it a few times. You made a slight error in using the existing sand without first giving it a good rinse after moving the tank, but not to worry here as you don't have any critters to speak of in there and you have time to correct this. If you are running the stock filter pad you will need to clean that sucker daily, or keep purchasing new ones (very expensive) because as they clog up they restrict water flow and that is not what you want. After a week or so test again. You are looking for a reading of zero on ammonia and nitrites. When your tank reaches that point you may start to notice the nitrates also falling some. Relax and take your time with this.
As for the bio balls they have their place but do require consistent maintenance for the life of the tank. You good opportunity right now to remove them if you feel you won't keep up with the maintenance.
 
M

mhayes462

Guest
Gutted the stock filter so that I could just insert poly-filter into the casing. So I'm good there. I'm wanting to add a media basket with filter on top rack, purigen on 2nd, and chemi-pure elite on the bottom, and a protein skimmer all in the second chamber. Should I do it now or wait?
Mike Hayes
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Get the materials and wait for the bio-filtration to stabilize IMO. Keep the stock casing filled with new poly filter material changing it every day. You want the bio-filter to populate in the display on the hard surfaces there, not in the filter media that you will be changing out all the time. Are you getting the InTank media basket?
 
M

mhayes462

Guest
I'm building one but it will be just like the one they have. Since its a small tank I was thinking of maybe starting over with new sand and water and scrubbing my lr rock. That way I can thoroughly clean the tank and go ahead and set up the filtration I'll be using in the long run. Any opinion on that?
Mike Hayes
 
M

mhayes462

Guest
Because of the fact that I dont know how long it sat uncared for and what could be in the sand and rock as a result of that. Also because I don't want to use the bio balls as I have read nothing but bad stuff about them. I want to switch to a media basket and a skimmer and my understanding(correct me if I'm wrong) is that if I take them out of my stabilized tank it would wreck the whole set up anyway.
Mike Hayes
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Your tank is not stabilized now. Take the balls out and do the gravel vacuuming and such. This would save you some time and money. However if you want do the whole new thing that would work now too. Not helping you much am I?
Here if this were me I would work with what you have right now and get it into shape.
JMO
 
M

mhayes462

Guest
Spanko, thanks for the help man. I've gotten great help from some people, but you've taken your time to continuously answer my questions. I appreciate that as this is getting pretty confusing for me. Lol. So if I do the basket and skimmer in chamber 2, what then would my good bacteria grow on that I need since I won't have the bioballs for that purpose.
Mike Hayes
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
live rock.imo i dont care you can have ten filters and all kinds of equiptment but nothing replaces natural rock.the more you mess with the tank the more problems you will have.make a plan.take the bio balls out .add what ever equiptment you want and let the tank go.i mean get the cycle started and leave it for a month.tank maturity is no joke.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Yes, the nitrifying bacteria grow on the hard surfaces in the tank. Read here glass, sand, rocks, etc. etc. So they grow in the bioballs. The only concern there is the bioballs also will act as a filter trapping detritus and will need to be cleaned of it, just like filter pads or any other material. Most folks consider this a chore without the equal benefit so they ditch the balls and put in some other media to help like floss, pads, chemipure elite, purigen, etc. etc. Those medias can be taken out, thrown away and replaced on a regular basis and more importantly IMO allow the bulk of the bacteria to reside in other places undisturbed.
In my 20 biocube I have my heater in chamber 1, I built a drip tray that hangs on the wall where the water overflows from chamber 1 to 2 with a piece of Pura filtration pad and polyester fiber on it, my Chemi Pure elite and Purigen sitting in the bottom of chamber 2 and the Aquatic Life Mini skimmer, and in chamber 3 the return pump and my ATO floats.
Like this
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Just a word on the “balls from hell”. I have had bio balls as part of my filtration system for over 10 years. In that time I have cleaned them a total of two times and really did not need to clean them THAT OFTEN. Now as my good friends would surly agree in this hobby as well as other instances, where you place your balls are very important. In my system before water passes over and through the bio balls it is filtered by passing through foam filters in each of my overflow boxes. The water then passes through blue/white filter media in a drip box in my sump. There is no matter to build up on the bio balls other than nitrifying bacteria. And even if there was a buildup I do not understand how that build up would cause a spike in nitrates. Does the decomposition prose stop during this build up and then all of a sudden the buildup decides it’s time to decompose and introduces high amounts of nutrients into the water that ultimately result in nitrates ???????
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Joe it is my understanding that the increase in available detritus accumulated on the subject balls also increases the biofiltration bacteria on the balls and generates nitrates in an increased volume. Exactly what the balls are supposed to facilitate.
Now you on the other hand, in keeping your balls clean and tidy do not allow the increase in available detritus, the increase in bacteria to convert it, and the end point of increased production of nitrates.
Well done sir,,,,,,,,,,,,,well done!
 
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