Nitrates??!!

reefrunner

reefrunner

Member
Can someone please give me some advice on how to lower my nitrates? I have a fairly established 37 gallon cube that has been up and running for almost a year now. All of my water perameters are good with the exception of the Nitrates.
I know I am not over stocked, and I am only feeding a small amount every 2-3 days. I have excellent circulation, and I have a decent skimmer as well. I have done two 30% water changes in the past week, and have not seen a drop in my nitrates!

Please tell me if I am doing the right thing with the water changes....and if so, why are they not improving my nitrate problem?
Thanks for any advice!
 
reefrunner

reefrunner

Member
I've heard arguments both ways on vacuuming the bed. I've heard that it is good....and also that you can suck up a lot of the critters that you want to have in your tank (ie...nitrifying bacterias etc...). So the answer is no...I haven't done that. I have a lot of live rock, and honestly couldn't get to most of the sand in my tank anyway.
 
reefrunner

reefrunner

Member
Its about 1.5 inches. However, I have a pistol shrimp that likes to re-arrange things...so it's .5 inches in some areas, and up to three in others. I also have a sand sifting cucumber....so between the two, they keep the sand bed pretty well stirred up.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefrunner
http:///forum/post/2560977
Please tell me if I am doing the right thing with the water changes....and if so, why are they not improving my nitrate problem?
Thanks for any advice!
you may not be removing the source of the trates with the water change. try blowing the gunk out of your rock hole with a turkey baster or a powerhead blow behind the rocks too.
how many LBS per gallobn of LR do you have and what size pieces.
 
scopus tang

scopus tang

Active Member
If your not vaccumming or cleaning your sandbed, and you have a pistol shrimp thats moving your sand around, that might be part of the issue.
 
reefrunner

reefrunner

Member
Well the tank is 37 gallon, and i would guess (conservatively), that I have about 75lbs of rock. It ranges in size from about .5 lb to about 20 lbs.
I do have a pump going toward the bottom of the tank in the back that keeps everything circulating nicely. Should I maybe stick it right in the middle of the rockwork to try to force some of the crap out?
 
reefrunner

reefrunner

Member
I have thought about a refuge, but space is a serious issue right now. I need to know what will bring down my trates now.
They read off the chart everytime I test, but my fish don't seem to be stressed at all. I have 1 blue damsel (regretfully), 1 clarky clown, 2 firefish, a serpent star, 3 small peppermint shrimp, the pistol, and a bunch of various snails and hermits. I don't think I'm over stocked, as I do have good filtration and circulation.
 
reefrunner

reefrunner

Member
The tank has been up and running for about a year now. My trates have always been high. It's so frustrating! All other parameters are perfect (PH could use a slight bump).
I have used three different types of tests for the trates, and they all tell me the same thing. If I remember, yesterday it was at about 80-100ppm.
 
cleve_seahorse

cleve_seahorse

Member
test your change water...I just had an issue with that... mine were sitting at 25-30ppm before and after my wc...turns out my change water had high trates
 
reefrunner

reefrunner

Member
After my last 30% water change didn't change my levels at all, I tested the next batch, and it was clean.....0 trates. Still no change in my levels. I'm kind of at a loss...I'd really like to start buying more corals, but don't want to throw my money away, and that's what I'd be doing until my trates are where they should be.
 
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