Nitrates over 180 and tank is Thriving

crazy4coral

crazy4coral

Member
Ok I have one really messed up mind boggling thing going on with my tank. I have a master saltwater test kit and my nitrites read 0, my ammonias read 0, my ph is 8.2 but this is the thing... my nitrates read 180 or over which is the highest reading on the chart. Now I know that Nitrates tend to settle on the top 3 inches of the tank water, so I've taken reading from the top AND the bottom of the tank and they all come out to the same thing.. but this is the weird thing, my tank is thriving, I have all sorts of soft corals with 2 perculas and a blue chromis.. my tank size is a 28 gal bow front filled with live sand and rock that have awesome amounts of growth from all sorts of plants sponges and creatures.. Is this possible?
But when I added some things about 2 months earlier, everything new ended up dying, but everything I had prior was still thriving.. so what can I do to add some more inverts? and is it possible that my nitrates can be that high?
 
sfoister

sfoister

Member
It has increased slowly over time and everything you own has adapted, I would not add anything new until those nitrates come down. Do a 5-10 gallon water change weekly until they drop. The only way to remove nitrates is by water changes. Do those and you'll be gtg.
Trates are dangerous but not nearly as bad as ammonia.
 
maingo

maingo

Member
It has been said by many people that you are really ok up to 200 but things would be much better around 20.
 
aw2x3

aw2x3

Active Member
As others have said, your fish have adapted to the increasing level of nitrates, but they wont stay that way for long.
Eventually, they'll get nitrate poisoning and it's a horrible way for a fish to die. Some symptoms include brain swelling, intestinal swelling, etc.
I'd start water changes, immediately and continue them every day/every other day, until the nitrates have become tolerable.
 
rbaldino

rbaldino

Active Member
Frequent water changes will help. You could also try Seachem's DeNitrate, which is a filter media for removing nitrates.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by sfoister
The only way to remove nitrates is by water changes.
this is not true. the fastest way for sure, but definatly not the only way. using anaerobic zones (DSB, lots of LR) as well as lots of algaes will reduce nitrate levels.
 
aztec reef

aztec reef

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
this is not true. the fastest way for sure, but definatly not the only way. using anaerobic zones (DSB, lots of LR) as well as lots of algaes will reduce nitrate levels.

true!! that's the best way to get rid of acumulating nitrates in the long run
 
thereefkeeper

thereefkeeper

Member
Just watch yourself if you add new fish / animals to the tank. The fish in the tank have adapted, but the new fish can go into shock with that level of trats in the water. :thinking:
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
has anyone double checked your trate level, or how old is your test kit? just seems really really high.
 
sfoister

sfoister

Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
this is not true. the fastest way for sure, but definatly not the only way. using anaerobic zones (DSB, lots of LR) as well as lots of algaes will reduce nitrate levels.
Of course of course...
But... with trate levels approaching 200 I'm not going to advise someone to go get a handful of macroalgae.
Allow me to rephrase.
The only way to reduce trate levels when they reach an excess amount is by water changes. Yes there are chemicals that do it also but.. why bother when water changes are easy enough?
 
rbaldino

rbaldino

Active Member
Originally Posted by sfoister
Of course of course...
But... with trate levels approaching 200 I'm not going to advise someone to go get a handful of macroalgae.
Allow me to rephrase.
The only way to reduce trate levels when they reach an excess amount is by water changes. Yes there are chemicals that do it also but.. why bother when water changes are easy enough?
Doing repeated water changes frequently enough to significantly reduce nitrates from that high a level could get very expensive. If he sticks with his normal water change regimen or increases it only slightly, he's unlikely to lower nitrates significantly. Remember, nitrates continue to be generated in the tank; that's how it got that high in the first place.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
sfoister, Rbaldino we are all pretty much on the same page, just looking form different angles, hows this sound, he should
A} determine if his test kit is valid
B} try to discern the cause of his nitrates
C} do at least one larger than normal water change to signifigantly reduce the nitrate concentration
D} try and take appropriate measures to reduce nitrate acumulation, be it adding chaeto, more live rock, feed less, increase water change ritual(either amount or frequency) depending on the cause and overall situation. or fine tune his other maintinace to accomodate the problem.
maybe this person just isnt keeping up on maintinace, we dont know.
 
rbaldino

rbaldino

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
sfoister, Rbaldino we are all pretty much on the same page, just looking form different angles, hows this sound, he should
A} determine if his test kit is valid
B} try to discern the cause of his nitrates
C} do at least one larger than normal water change to signifigantly reduce the nitrate concentration
D} try and take appropriate measures to reduce nitrate acumulation, be it adding chaeto, more live rock, feed less, increase water change ritual(either amount or frequency) depending on the cause and overall situation. or fine tune his other maintinace to accomodate the problem.
maybe this person just isnt keeping up on maintinace, we dont know.

He definitely needs to determine the accuracy of the test kit. That number sounds very high to me.
 
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