What am I doing wrong?

[sugarfox03]

I just checked my tank and my nitrate is back and now over 100 ppm. I'm shocked, I don't know how this could have happened. Nothing has died, all 3 fish are alive and well. I feed twice a week. My Remora skimmer is pulling stuff from the tank. I've been doing weekly 4-5 gal water changes (just did another one about 30 mins ago.) I'm to the point right now where I want to sell everything and just quit. What am I doing wrong? The tank is 5-6 months old. I havent added any livestock in atleast 2 months. Can anyone give me any insight on this? This is just so bizarre. Thanks in advance...

 

[petjunkie]

Any filter floss, pad, in your tank? I had weird nitrates problems once and my filter was clogged. How many inches of fish?

 

[sugarfox03]

No filter pads - I removed all mechanical filtration, as I thought that was causing high nitrates, and made a mini fuge in the back. I have 3 fish, all pretty small, and 3" or under. The true perc is barely 2" and the purple firefish and yellow watchman are 2-3" each. Also, I am having a huge algae problem, hair, red slime, and some other kind that has completely taken over an entire rock and is fast growing on the neighboring rocks. I quit, anyone want to buy some really nice corals for cheap?

 

[laddy]

So your tank is 4-5 months old, and you've always had elevated nitrates or have they just started? Is a filter your only means of filtration? LR/LS?

 

[sugarfox03]

I have been battling high nitrate about a month now. The tank is 5-6 mos old, not 4-5 (if it makes a difference). I have the Remora protein skimmer, 20 lbs of live sand, 30 lbs of live rock, I have a couple lbs of lr rubble in the rear right chamber as well as chaeto there also. I have a 5100k bulb over the fuge that is on at night.

 

[kimc]

Don't give up!!! There's got to be a solution!! you are using RO water right?? I've been battling green algae flim on my glass and on my sand bed for about 6 weeks. I've been doing 2 gallon water changes every couple of days.. I am sick of water changes but won't give up.

 

[sugarfox03]

Only ro (I asked specifically) is what I have always used. I have even tested the ro water and it was perfect. I had high nitrates a few weeks ago and did a huge water change, bringing them down to 20-40 ppm. I have done a small water change 2-4 gals every week since then. Could cat hair cause high nitrate? I am debating getting rid of my MH and going back to the stock canopy just so nothing gets in the tank. I will cut a part open for the Remora if I need to, even though I'd much rather prefer to keep the MH. Should I start to do daily water changes? If so, how much should I do on a 24 gal tank?

 

[kimc]

I know doing frequent water changes has helped alot, though not completly solved my problem. Maybe you should try a small (2gallon) water change every three days to start and see if that helps... I know there must be a better way. I have a 24 gallon JBJ Nano Cube at work (problem tank) and a 24 gallon Aqua Pod with no problems at home. I also have 90 gallon tank at home with no problem and using same water in all tanks... I sure can't figure out why my tank a work has an algae issue. I don't know if cat hair would cause the problem. All of my tanks have a canopy..

 

[petjunkie]

I would do larger water changes to get your nitrates down. Maybe your tank just can't handle the bioload yet. My 33 does fine with three fish, but every time I add another my nitrates go up no matter how small the fish. Do you clean your skimmer? Also check your fuge, maybe something got in there and blocked flow. What are you using to test your nitrates?

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by SugarFox03
Only ro (I asked specifically) is what I have always used. I have even tested the ro water and it was perfect. I had high nitrates a few weeks ago and did a huge water change, bringing them down to 20-40 ppm. I have done a small water change 2-4 gals every week since then. Could cat hair cause high nitrate? I am debating getting rid of my MH and going back to the stock canopy just so nothing gets in the tank. I will cut a part open for the Remora if I need to, even though I'd much rather prefer to keep the MH. Should I start to do daily water changes? If so, how much should I do on a 24 gal tank?

I have 6 cats and my trates are okay, so I don't think that's the problem.

 

[sugarfox03]

Originally Posted by petjunkie
I would do larger water changes to get your nitrates down. Maybe your tank just can't handle the bioload yet. My 33 does fine with three fish, but every time I add another my nitrates go up no matter how small the fish. Do you clean your skimmer? Also check your fuge, maybe something got in there and blocked flow. What are you using to test your nitrates?
I clean it with warm water every 2-3 days. I dont want the gunk sitting in the cup for too long. I havent added a fish in awhile, about 2 months I'd say, maybe longer. I just checked the fuge last night, its fine. I have Aquarium Pharmaceuticals (I hope I spelled that right) tests for Nitrite & Nitrate. I want to order Salifert tests, but they are so expensive, I have a few, and will slowly replace them all with Salifert. But there's no way the test can be this off. I test them against the LFS tests when I bring a sample in, and these are right on. I'm going to do a 10 gal change this evening, hopefully that will help. But I want to find a permanent solution. I don't want to always be dealing with this. I'm afraid for my corals that I have spent way too much on, and my poor fish & clam who may be suffering. I just don't understand...I also have a 20 gal long tank that I have just curing rock. I have never done a water change, never changed the pads on the filter, and the params are perfect. I have 1 little damsel and some hermits in there, I feed him a few times a week. I just don't understand how the tank with all the expensive stuff and I do everything with is having such a hard time and this 20 gal long which I do nothing to except top offs & check SG and its perfect, even with some uncured rock. I guess I will just wait it out and see. Luckily I am pretty much done with this tank, I didnt plan on adding anything else for a long time, if ever, as its getting pretty full with corals. Will this eventually even itself out, or should I get rid of some fish? I figured with the protein skimmer, I could handle 3 fish....maybe not, huh? Thanks everyone for the help, I really appreciate it. This is so disheartening.

 

[jambo]

Hey SugarFox,
I just helped my roomate try to get his water chemistry back on the right track and it seemed to help. I know that the Aquapod doesn't have a sump, but we cleaned out his entire sump with hot water. His tank is about the age of yours and there was a lot of accumulated "detritus" in there.
Maybe the next time you're doing a water change, take the water out, then take everything out of the back and put it in the old water. Then, really vaccuum and scrape out the back to get out all the nasty gunk. We also cleaned out the first inch or so of his sand bed when we pulled the water out. I know a lot of people don't like to disrupt their sand bed, but after cleaning his and mine, I'll do it with every water change from now on. All the water you pull through the sand bed will be a nasty brown.
I've even got some corals sitting on my sandbed, so I have to rearrange them, vaccuum, and them put the back. It seems to be working to get the nitrates down a good bit though.
Also, for the next couple of water changes (hopefully weekly,) do a large water change of about 30-40%. If nothing else, this should knock them down in the short term.
As always, have a good day and don't take anything anyone (including me) says as the saltwater gospel.
Later,
JAM

 

[sugarfox03]

Originally Posted by JAMBO
Hey SugarFox,
I just helped my roomate try to get his water chemistry back on the right track and it seemed to help. I know that the Aquapod doesn't have a sump, but we cleaned out his entire sump with hot water. His tank is about the age of yours and there was a lot of accumulated "detritus" in there.
Maybe the next time you're doing a water change, take the water out, then take everything out of the back and put it in the old water. Then, really vaccuum and scrape out the back to get out all the nasty gunk. We also cleaned out the first inch or so of his sand bed when we pulled the water out. I know a lot of people don't like to disrupt their sand bed, but after cleaning his and mine, I'll do it with every water change from now on. All the water you pull through the sand bed will be a nasty brown.
I've even got some corals sitting on my sandbed, so I have to rearrange them, vaccuum, and them put the back. It seems to be working to get the nitrates down a good bit though.
Also, for the next couple of water changes (hopefully weekly,) do a large water change of about 30-40%. If nothing else, this should knock them down in the short term.
As always, have a good day and don't take anything anyone (including me) says as the saltwater gospel.
Later,
JAM
Thanks for the info! I can't really take everything out of the right chamber, I have a mini fuge back there (with chaeto & live rock rubble) but I can clean out the left side. I plan on cleaning out my protein skimmer completely today. Its been a few months since its been set up...I'm also going to clean out the powerheads while I'm at it. I did the 10 gal water change, and everything looks great now. I plan on doing 10 gals weekly until I figure out the problem.
I wanted to thank everyone immensely for all the help you all have given me. This is a tough hobby, and without great supporters like you all, it would have been over pretty quick for me. So thank you again!!

 

[lbaskball]

So let me get this straight,
You have live rock and no mechanical filtration
You have been doing water changes on time
You havnt added anything (live rock or fish) recently
your tank is not near a window...and you still have algae problem with high Nitrates?
Okay here are my suggestions...
Make sure the tank hasnt been getting any sunlight
Have you been sifting your livesand at all? I heard if you sift the sand that the tank could go into a mini cycle b/c there are nitrates or nitrites trapped inside the sandbed.
Have you been adding or bought any new liquid foods latly?
Get some more snails to fight all that algae that you said you have. Oh and also, how are your phosphate levels?

 

[sugarfox03]

Originally Posted by lbaskball
So let me get this straight,
You have live rock and no mechanical filtration
You have been doing water changes on time
You havnt added anything (live rock or fish) recently
your tank is not near a window...and you still have algae problem with high Nitrates?
Okay here are my suggestions...
Make sure the tank hasnt been getting any sunlight
Have you been sifting your livesand at all? I heard if you sift the sand that the tank could go into a mini cycle b/c there are nitrates or nitrites trapped inside the sandbed.
Have you been adding or bought any new liquid foods latly?
Get some more snails to fight all that algae that you said you have. Oh and also, how are your phosphate levels?
The tank doesnt get any sunlight. I have no exposed windows in the room, everything is covered with blinds and drapes. What do you mean by liquid foods? I only feed flake food & brine once or twice a month as a treat for the fish. I used to feed my corals Reef Chili & Cyclopeeze, but havent in a little while. I just spot fed my hammer & frogspawn & removed anything that wasnt eaten after a few minutes. The snails that I have dont seem to do much. I have 3 large (real) turbos, and numerous other snails, dont know what they are called, they are slightly smaller than turbos, and I have 10-15 nassarius snails. Do I really need more? If so, what kind & how many should I get? My phosphates are undetectable on my Salifert test. I may have stirred up the sandbed a long time ago, but I figured by now any "mini cycle" it would have gone through would be done. This is no mini cycle, but I wish it was!! That means it would be over soon, I dont see this ending...

I just don't know what could be causing the problem. I don't see that I am doing anything wrong.

 

[lbaskball]

Originally Posted by SugarFox03
The tank doesnt get any sunlight. I have no exposed windows in the room, everything is covered with blinds and drapes. What do you mean by liquid foods? I only feed flake food & brine once or twice a month as a treat for the fish. I used to feed my corals Reef Chili & Cyclopeeze, but havent in a little while. I just spot fed my hammer & frogspawn & removed anything that wasnt eaten after a few minutes. The snails that I have dont seem to do much. I have 3 large (real) turbos, and numerous other snails, dont know what they are called, they are slightly smaller than turbos, and I have 10-15 nassarius snails. Do I really need more? If so, what kind & how many should I get? My phosphates are undetectable on my Salifert test. I may have stirred up the sandbed a long time ago, but I figured by now any "mini cycle" it would have gone through would be done. This is no mini cycle, but I wish it was!! That means it would be over soon, I dont see this ending...

I just don't know what could be causing the problem. I don't see that I am doing anything wrong.

No I dont think you need to buy anymore snails. Im surprised your turbos arnt getting rid of the algae because when I had my 24gal, I had my whole back wall with green hair algae that looked like green grass and they ate everything in about 4days. What I meant by liquid food was, you know like "marine snow" stuff like that. Hmm..you have no phosphate and yet you have algae growing? Theres obviously a nutrient problem. It might be comming from a live rock or from the sandbed but anyway I am out of good advice. I dont know why your paramaters are outta whack!
I dont think your fish will die. Usually ammonia is what will kill the fish. Keep monitoring. And you know, try testing the water that you put in when you do water changes (if you havnt alrready) just to see what the results on that is.

 

[sugarfox03]

Originally Posted by lbaskball
No I dont think you need to buy anymore snails. Im surprised your turbos arnt getting rid of the algae because when I had my 24gal, I had my whole back wall with green hair algae that looked like green grass and they ate everything in about 4days. What I meant by liquid food was, you know like "marine snow" stuff like that. Hmm..you have no phosphate and yet you have algae growing? Theres obviously a nutrient problem. It might be comming from a live rock or from the sandbed but anyway I am out of good advice. I dont know why your paramaters are outta whack!
I dont think your fish will die. Usually ammonia is what will kill the fish. Keep monitoring. And you know, try testing the water that you put in when you do water changes (if you havnt alrready) just to see what the results on that is.
I have tested the water I put in the tank, it was perfect (both the ro & the salt.) Thanks for the info! Luckily, everything still looks great. All my corals still open up huge and look healthy. My clown fish that I thought had ich is doing great (no spots!) Hopefully whatever my problem is will eventually disappear (and never come back!) I cleaned up the tank really well yesterday, pulled out a bunch of algae that was growing on one rock, scraped the sides of the tank, sucked up most of the red slime, its looking better, but I know that was just a cosmetic fix. Still makes me feel better though.

 

[newreefers]

I thought I was buying good RODI water from the LFS. Could not figure out my water problems, went on for months, they sold me all kinds of things to fix the problem. Bought a TDS meter and tested their water - off the charts, tested their water for everything. It was BAD water. Bought a RODI system, made my own water, problem solved.

 

[sugarfox03]

Originally Posted by newreefers
I thought I was buying good RODI water from the LFS. Could not figure out my water problems, went on for months, they sold me all kinds of things to fix the problem. Bought a TDS meter and tested their water - off the charts, tested their water for everything. It was BAD water. Bought a RODI system, made my own water, problem solved.
Dumb question, what is a TDS meter? My next step is purchasing an RO/DI system, as I just bought a big tank (105g) and figured it was about time. Thanks for the info!

 

[cjworkman]

What kind of substrate do you have?
Live sand or crushed coral?
I have been battling high Nitrates for awhile as well. I've finally come to the conclusion that my crushed coral is a nitrate factory.
I stopped feeding the tank anything that will sink to the bottom and that seems to be helping. I think I just need to wait it out and keep doing water changes until I can keep it at a managable level.
I've got it down to about 30-40ppm that i can sustain, still trying to get lower.