Nitrates!!!!!!

[malli1]

:help: We have a 125 gallon saltwater tank, up and running since Jan. We perform water changes weekly, at least 20% of the water. Our nitrate levels have slowly been creeping up, and now they are at 80!!! Our ph is 8.2, ammonia 0, nitrites 0,salinity .022. We have live rock in addition to our little critters, including clowns, scooters, tangs, porkfish, a coral beauty, and a couple of crabs. We treated the tank with "de-nitrate" yesterday and wonder if there is anything else we could do or should do to help the trate level come down quicker? A water change is in the very near future...Thanks!!!!We have an idea that we are overfeeding, so we have cut down to one meal a day.

 

[beth]

Malli1, are the high nitrites effecting fish health at all? Do you have tangs or angels in tank?
Give some specifics about your tank; like water you use? Filters? Just more details about how you have your tank set up.
How many fish, and what kind? Do you have any other problems with the tank, like hair algae, etc.?

 

[malli1]

Our nitrite level is fine, it is our nitrate level that is out of control. We have a sailfin tang, a coral beauty, 2 scooter blennies, a blue cheek gobie, a porkfish, and 3 clowns. We just lost 2 of our porkfish, I believe the one remaining was terrorizing them and they died from ich and stress. One of my clowns now has cloudy eyes, which is new as of today. We have a wet/dry filter, use a protein skimmer, and are pretty vigilant about water changes. Any ideas about what to do next?

 

[timg]

what type of substrate do you have? how much do you feed your fish? Do you have a fuge? how much circulation do you have?