NITRATES

[porkypuffer]

CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF YOU CAN REDUCE THE NITRATE LEVEL ANY OTHER WAY BESIDES WATER CHANGES? I DO WATER CHANGES EVERY WEEK AND THEY DON'T SEEM TO DROP.

 

[porkypuffer]

MY NITRATES STAY AROUND 40. WHEN I DO A WATER CHANGE, I ALWAYS USE I GRAVEL SIPHON. AFTER EACH WATER CHANGE THE NITRATES DROP ALITTLE, JUST ENOUGH TO TEASE ME, THEN THE NEXT DAY, THEIR RIGHT BACK TO THE SAME LEVEL.
I TREATED WITH COPPER LAST MONTH SO I'M DOING FREQUENT WATER CHANGES TO ELEMINATE THE COPPER, 20% EVERY 5 DAYS. I HAVEN'T PUT THE CARBON BACK IN MY CANISTER YET, WOULD THIS MAKE A DIFFERANCE? OH, IF ANY-ONE WONDERED, MY FOXFACE ISN'T AFRAID OF ME. HE ALMOST GOT ME WHEN I WAS PUTTING IN HIS VEGGIE CLIP.

 

[kris]

Hey porky-- Have you tested your water supply? Alot of times there are nitrates in tap water, switch to r/o. And wear heavy rubber gloves when you go sticking your hands in with a foxface.

 

[beth]

If you have a Fish Only setup, I wouldn't worry too much about the nitrates....you will always have nitrates where there are fish. Tab water has can have lots of nitrates and tab water. Go to the grocery store and get bottled distilled water [reverse osmosis]. Test the bottled water and get the kind that has no nitrates and the least amt of phosphates.

 

[kris]

Sorry beth- but I disagree as far as not worrying about nitrates, fish too are sensitive (some more than others) to nitrates. Go with rr's advice about the under 20. It is however normal to have some, mine have never been 0, but generally run 5-10, which is what you should shoot for. Also if you go back through previous posts in this forum and the reef forum you will find plenty more advice on this common problem.

 

[krazzydart]

my levels are at 0 .... I have live rock in my tank as well as carlopa(grape&feather)also wondering if your are running a bio wheel this may help too.[

 

[porkypuffer]

NO LIVE SAND OR BIO WHEEL. WHAT IS A CARLOPA?
FISH ONLY, CANISTER FILTER, SKIMMER,UV LIGHT.
WILL ADD LIVE ROCK AFTER THE COPPER LEVELS DROP. GOING TO TAKE A TAP WATER SAMPLE TO MY LFS FRIDAY.
[This message has been edited by PORKYPUFFER (edited 03-02-2000).]

 

[kris]

I think--Krazzydart is reffering to caulerpa which are various types of live plants. If I'm wrong krazzy let us know.

 

[porkypuffer]

i took a sample of my tap water to the lfs and it showed a trace of nitrates and alittle more then a trace of amonia.

 

[the rock]

the rock says...
any macro algae, and yes nitrates should be as low as humanly possible, if you have the proper setup and load you can achieve and maintain zero nitrates which is ideal, proper setup to me is plenum, live rock, w/d, protein skimmer, powerheads, deep substrate

 

[the rock]

the rock says...
any macro algae is a cure for nitrates, and yes nitrates should be as low as humanly possible, if you have the proper setup and load you can achieve and maintain zero nitrates which is ideal, proper setup to me is plenum, live rock, w/d, protein skimmer, powerheads, deep substrate