Nitrates too high?

lolly1

lolly1

Member
Hello everyone!
As some of you know, early last month, after a LONG wait, I finally got my 55 gallon set up. The cycle has been progressing nicely so far. The pH is at 8.2, ammonia is at 0 and so are the nitrites. The problem is those nasty nitrates! I can't seem to get them to get all the way to 0. Right now they are at about 15 (which the guy at the LFS said is low enough to put my clean-up crew in) and have been stuck there for a couple of weeks already. I did a water change the other day, and my substrate is only about 1 1/2 inches deep (20 pounds live sand, 40 regular soft sand). Would putting my clean-up crew in help this situation, or would I just be killing them? What should I do??? :help:
Thanks in advance,
Beth ***)
 
pchromis

pchromis

Member
There are many more knowledgeable hobbysists than me on this board who may have different approaches to high nitrates.
But, for me, a refugium is the answer along with protein skimmer. Once I added the fuge, nitrates have never been a problem for me.
Of course, regular water changes are a must!
 
elitephoto

elitephoto

Member
yeah a fuge and a skimmer is a must! if u dont have one GET ONE. anyway yeah put the clan up crew in..it helped my tank I think. I put in 12 snails and a few hermit crabs to get it going and then tossed in a sand star once it was in better shape. the tank is now perfect and running great..with fish, 6 weeks later
 
jcarroll

jcarroll

Member
This number is completely fine for your nitrates. I've had mine staying at 20 before and had fish and inverts in my tank. They'll be fine. It's good to try and get them down, but nothing to worry about, especially since you have nothing like corals and anemones in your tank yet, which require much pickier water parameters than a FOWLR tank. Just keep up with your water changes and I do agree on the skimmer. I just got a skimmer for the first time yesterday, a coralife super skimmer. I love it and already it's making my tank water look even clearer than it looked before, and they are supposed to help lower nitrate levels.
 
am3gross

am3gross

Member
it might be that your test kit is bad.what kind are you using? maybe you could take a sample to your lfs and compare it to yours. 15 isnt a bad number of course 0 is always better! salifert is one of the better test kits that are made.
am3gross
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
Do you have any live rocks in there??? That'll help some with your nitrate levels as well. Like it was mentioned, 15ppm isn't a bad number. By adding a refugium with macro algae will help a lot as well, so is adding a skimmer. But to really lower your nitrate levels right now you need to do 20-25% water change every other day to lower it. Good Luck! :happyfish
 
lolly1

lolly1

Member
Thanks for all the input.
am3gross: I have taken a sample to my lfs and they got the same number.
Mikeyjer: I forgot to mention that I do have live rock in there. I have roughly about 25 pounds right now along with my 20 pounds of live sand.
I have been planning to get a protein skimmer in there, but was hoping to get one in after I had more creatures (right now all I have is one hitch-hiker turbo snail). I guess I will need one sooner rather than later!
Thanks again for all the help.
Beth ***)
 
T

tampausmc

Guest
the more LS and LR you have will help keep those numbers down....also if you don't have a fuge or a section in your sump to use as a fuge you can use macroalgae in your display.....i actually find that it looks nice to have some in the display......and macroalgae uses the nitrates......but 15 is fine.....it's actually tough to keep it below that without a fuge.....and especially without a skimmer.....IMO
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
15 is perfectly fine. Trying to get to '0' is a great way to lose all enjoyment in the hobby.
I worked with FO systems WELL in excess of 200ppm with no issues.
If you think public aquaria (at least those without flow through seawater systems) have low nitrates, you are mistaken in many cases
. It is tough to run a refugium, LR or DSB in a multi thousand gallon system...it is also a challenge to do water changes on the same

If you have a reef tank with soft corals I would not go about 20...if an SPS tank I would aim for as low as possible. If a FO tank? I wouldn't lose sleep over much.
A refugium, good skimmer, water change, low stocking, low feeding...all ways to help deal with nitrates. But I wouldn't become over worried about where you are at now.
My tank has run between 15 and 20 ppm on nitrates for ages - in large part because I feed very very heavily....it ain't perfect, but things certainly aren't dying!
 
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