question about Nitrates

jden092901

jden092901

Member
My nitrates have been staying around 20. Everything looks good, fish ok, i only have xena, a leather, and a feather duster with some crabs, snails,and cleaner shrimp. How can I lower my Nitrates...is there something I can buy? I have been doing water changes, get a new filter and carbon every week. what else?
 
cvetnich

cvetnich

Member
Originally Posted by jden092901
My nitrates have been staying around 20. Everything looks good, fish ok, i only have xena, a leather, and a feather duster with some crabs, snails,and cleaner shrimp. How can I lower my Nitrates...is there something I can buy? I have been doing water changes, get a new filter and carbon every week. what else?
My 72 stay right around 15 to 20 and I have never had a problem and my tank is a show tank.
 
lexluethar

lexluethar

Active Member
How long has your tank been setup? I've found that over time your NA will eventually drop down to around 10, i personally haven't gotten to 0 yet. You may be doing 10% water changes weekly, and you may be doing everything right, sometimes it just takes time.
 
nycbob

nycbob

Active Member
what substrate r u using? certain substrates will produce nitrate. it is always best to use live sand.
 
eaglephot

eaglephot

Member
Originally Posted by cvetnich
My 72 stay right around 15 to 20 and I have never had a problem and my tank is a show tank.
I envy you with your low trates (Yes they are low! Compared to mine at least).
 
lexluethar

lexluethar

Active Member
Wet dry wouldn't do anything for the nitrates. Unless you added a lot of LR, LS, or some plants somewhere in the system for beneficial bacteria to build up (bio-balls, LR, LS). How many lbs of LR do you have?
Again i would say just give it time, your NA is good right now, unless you have a reef aquarium. Continue your weekly / bi-weekly water changes and maybe try adding something like a fuge to your system. If you are using a HOB filter or something similar you could add some LR in it and a small light, or some green plants that feed of the NA.
 
mcbdz

mcbdz

Active Member
Originally Posted by speeddemonlsr
what about the addition of a protein skimmer, would that help the nitrates?

YES!!

A protein skimmer would make a world of differense. you want believe the stuff it pulls out. And I don't understand why you already have those N03. My tank is 9mos and I have it fully stocked and my NO3 stays >5.
You may have already done this but for the purpose of this thread please list all your info. And see if anyone will see something that may help.(Size of tank, age of tank, how you cycled, filtration system, relist stock list, and most importantly water levels. Also anything you add to your water, how often you do changes and how much, and then what you feed and how often. I beleive there is away for you to be close to 0 if you don't even have fish yet.Good luck
 
speeddemonlsr

speeddemonlsr

Member
Originally Posted by mcbdz
YES!!

A protein skimmer would make a world of differense. you want believe the stuff it pulls out. And I don't understand why you already have those N03. My tank is 9mos and I have it fully stocked and my NO3 stays >5.
You may have already done this but for the purpose of this thread please list all your info. And see if anyone will see something that may help.(Size of tank, age of tank, how you cycled, filtration system, relist stock list, and most importantly water levels. Also anything you add to your water, how often you do changes and how much, and then what you feed and how often. I beleive there is away for you to be close to 0 if you don't even have fish yet.Good luck

Right now I have a 75 gallon FOWLR for now(soon to be reef) 50/50 low watt light, fulval 405, mag 350, 90 lbs of live rock. Yellow tang, 2 queen antias, hippo tang, naso tang small, 2 neon gobies, emperior angel, mandrian gobie, yellow jaw fish. I know its a heavy stock list. 25% water change every month (RO water). 1.022 salt level (working on getting higher). 8.0 ph(working on getting higher trying to test at same time every time) , nitrate 15 ppm, nitrite 0, amm 0 ,alk 250 ppm, cal 425 .temp 78-80 deg. feed once daily with zoecon dose, formula one pellets with garlic, once a week frozen brine with the zoecon, and omega fish flakes with garlic. I just purchase a wet dey set up and a protein skimer (octopus nw-150). I havent added the wet dry styem yet waiting on getting it, and protein skimmer is running in a big bucket (breaking in period). I was hoping with those additons mmy nitrates will be zero. My goal is to get every this perfect before I add lights and reef. Oh tank has been runnig for 5 months.
 
mcbdz

mcbdz

Active Member
Originally Posted by speeddemonlsr
Right now I have a 75 gallon FOWLR for now(soon to be reef) 50/50 low watt light, fulval 405, mag 350, 90 lbs of live rock. Yellow tang, 2 queen antias, hippo tang, naso tang small, 2 neon gobies, emperior angel, mandrian gobie, yellow jaw fish. I know its a heavy stock list. 25% water change every month (RO water). 1.022 salt level (working on getting higher). 8.0 ph(working on getting higher trying to test at same time every time) , nitrate 15 ppm, nitrite 0, amm 0 ,alk 250 ppm, cal 425 .temp 78-80 deg. feed once daily with zoecon dose, formula one pellets with garlic, once a week frozen brine with the zoecon, and omega fish flakes with garlic. I just purchase a wet dey set up and a protein skimer (octopus nw-150). I havent added the wet dry styem yet waiting on getting it, and protein skimmer is running in a big bucket (breaking in period). I was hoping with those additons mmy nitrates will be zero. My goal is to get every this perfect before I add lights and reef. Oh tank has been runnig for 5 months.
You do have a heavy bio load and that is why your NO3 is up.
First off with the tangs which will way outgrow your tank, but for now I hope you are also including some kind of seaweed for them to graze on all day. If not then their health will quickly suffer. You can also try the multi pack in the frozen section of your lfs. It will help with a mixture of different foods. With this bio load I would be doing a weekly 10% water change. It really is better for the fish and once you decide to add corals it will help with trace elements. I would also check out the diy section. You may thing about turning the wet/dry into a fuge. It's better for fish and trates.Good Luck
 
mcbdz

mcbdz

Active Member

Also remember most of your fish selection don't like nitrates so please try to get these down before adding anything else. I would raise your salinity to 1.026. Water quality is very important for a reef.
 
nycbob

nycbob

Active Member
try to run fuge w cheato if u can. i find my water level much better once i added chetao to the fuge. my corals seem to be happier too. they r all open and smiling!
 
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