Nitrates over 50..help pls

kazara

kazara

Member
I had been using test strips and my nitrates were showing above 100 on them. So I went out and got red sea marine tes kits and did a 50% water change. the Red Sea test kits still show above 100 and now my strips show around 30 to 40. Pls give me some advice on the tests and how to remove the problem or what might be causing it. thx
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
So is this in the 55 gal tank on your profile?
Some more information would be helpful:
Have you taken a water sample to your LFS to have them check it to verify which reading if any are correct?
How many lbs. of live rock?
How many lbs. of sand?
Any mechanical filtration?
Any chemical filtration?
Sump refugium?
How many fish and what kind?
Feeding schedule and amount?
I think if you can answer some of the above question we can help to narrow down problematic areas for you.
 
kazara

kazara

Member
60 lbs of live rock
90 lbs of sand and CC slowly removing CC
i have 2 power filters from marineland
2 clowns, 2 chromis, 1 damsel, shrimp, lot of snails and hermits, choc. star
i feed once a day either brine or flake
i have not taken sample to LFS.
All the fish seem fine and are still eating great. thx for help
 
spiderwoman

spiderwoman

Active Member
Probably the cause is switching from CC to LS. You've stirred up the sand bed too much and that is causing the nitrates to be released from the sandbed. I'd continue doing large water changes every 3 days or so to see if that will bring the levels down. You might want to take the remainder of the CC out and put the permanent sand in to stop releasing any more nitrates into the water column.
 
kazara

kazara

Member
The Nitrate were already high before I changed only a fith of the CC and water. I did the water change( 50%) and a1/5 CC at the same time.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
I am not familiar with the power filters from Marineland. Are they the BioWheel type? If so this may be the problem. These mechanical bio filtration methods will tend to trap detritus and nutrients if not maintained correctly.
 
kazara

kazara

Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2757281
I am not familiar with the power filters from Marineland. Are they the BioWheel type? If so this may be the problem. These mechanical bio filtration methods will tend to trap detritus and nutrients if not maintained correctly.
Yes it is the Bio Wheel type. I have 2 Penguin Power Filter 350B . What shoudl check or clean to fix this problem? thx
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
I believe the wheels themselves need a maintenance program done on them. Every week at a minimum they need to be taken off and swished around in the change water to remove the detritus that gets trapped in them. Most people will actually take these wheels off and just use the filter with some filter floss or pads, maybe some Chemipure or Purigen bags, Could put some Chaetomorph in there. The wheels are much like bioballs in that if they are not cleaned often they will trap detritus and increase your nitrates.
JMO let's see what others say.
 
kazara

kazara

Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2758206
I believe the wheels themselves need a maintenance program done on them. Every week at a minimum they need to be taken off and swished around in the change water to remove the detritus that gets trapped in them. Most people will actually take these wheels off and just use the filter with some filter floss or pads, maybe some Chemipure or Purigen bags, Could put some Chaetomorph in there. The wheels are much like bioballs in that if they are not cleaned often they will trap detritus and increase your nitrates.
JMO let's see what others say.
Thanks for the advice. I will try this and let you know.
 
rotarygeek

rotarygeek

Member
Nitrates are always going to be a problem till you get established enough to have the proper amounts of bacteria to deal with it. There are many ways to deal with them though. Water changes are the most effective, but also the most work. There is dosing with sugar/vodka/vinegar, but you will want to do a lot of research on these becuase you need a good skimmer and really good turnover rate. There is adjusting your feeding, feed less or every other day. And then there is a really good protien skimmer to get rid of food and poop before it turn into nitrates. Also, i don't beleive your problem is from stirring the sandbed up, becuase every time i have stirred the sandbed up, i get ammonia spikes, which lead to nitrate spikes eventually. If you didn't see ammonia, i would say that its becuase of the CC. It famous for trapping stuff and letting it rot. Its hard for CUC's to get clean, and needs lots of vaccuuming to work. Just my .02 cents.
 
kazara

kazara

Member
Originally Posted by RotaryGeek
http:///forum/post/2758273
Nitrates are always going to be a problem till you get established enough to have the proper amounts of bacteria to deal with it. There are many ways to deal with them though. Water changes are the most effective, but also the most work. There is dosing with sugar/vodka/vinegar, but you will want to do a lot of research on these becuase you need a good skimmer and really good turnover rate. There is adjusting your feeding, feed less or every other day. And then there is a really good protien skimmer to get rid of food and poop before it turn into nitrates. Also, i don't beleive your problem is from stirring the sandbed up, becuase every time i have stirred the sandbed up, i get ammonia spikes, which lead to nitrate spikes eventually. If you didn't see ammonia, i would say that its becuase of the CC. It famous for trapping stuff and letting it rot. Its hard for CUC's to get clean, and needs lots of vaccuuming to work. Just my .02 cents.
My tank is over 2 yrs old. My ammonia is very low but not 0. i going to get the rest CC out and clean my BIO wheels and see what happens. My fish seem great and there is no algae problem either.
 
kazara

kazara

Member
I have removed all but a small area of CC and removed and cleaned my Bio Wheels and still seeing high Nitrate levels and low ammonia levels. I have done 1 50% water change and have been doing small 10% change every few days and still have not got the levels to change. I have also blown off the rock and low flow areas. Is it possible that the tests are bad? My fish seem to be fine and eating well.
 
M

markeo99

Guest
the nitrates were trapped in the cc and released into the water as it was removed get it all changed and keep on top of water changes it will go down
 
kazara

kazara

Member
That kinda what i thought. It has been a week since i have touched the CC and have done 2 water changes. Do it take longer then this?
 
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