NO3 too high!! in BB Tank!!

[castroantonio]

I have installed a 300gallons Bare Bottom tank last week.
But I have checked a PO4 AND NO3.
PO4 is very good level .01 (salifert test)
but NO3 is too high! is around 30. (Salifert Test).

What I have to do for go down the NO3??
any body have had any experience about this??
thank you

[crvz]

Welcome to TRT!

First, to address the po4; any measurable value should be something to look into. Test kits do not tell the whole story.

For nitrate, a simple way to get it down is through water changes, though that may just be a temporary fix. Can you describe your husbandry habits? What/how much do you feed, what kind of skimmer do you use, how much/how often are you already doing water changes? Those answers should get us started!

[castroantonio]

Hello the tank is new, I have 2 skimmers g4 recirculation mode and Bubble king 200 internal.
is my first BB tank, and I dont Know what is the husbandry habits taht I have to do.

thank you

[Geoff]

why are you worried about your NO3? it is not that toxic. the phosphates are more damaging to the tank then the nitrates.

what does your skimmate look like? it needs to be a very light green/brown coloured liquid. on a 300g tank with 2 skimmers, i would think that you would get at least 2gallons of skimmate a day. i get 1gallon a day on my 125g tank.

how much LR do you have? what is your fish load? how much do you feed?

G~

[castroantonio]

Im getting less that 2 gallons of skimate by each day. I have around 250 lbs of liverock and I dont have any fish until, I only have a lot of zoanthids (maybe thosands) (they come together with live rock).
I only want to go down the No3 before to add some fish.

thank you

[themissinglynk]

Have you been monitoring the full cycle, since this is a new tank? What did you use as a "starter" for cycling? (piece of dead, uncooked shrimp, etc?)

Could you still be somewhere in the cycle? Maybe all the tank needs is a bit more time to settle out.

Just my initial thoughts...

[marineduud]

Originally Posted by themissinglynk

Have you been monitoring the full cycle, since this is a new tank? What did you use as a "starter" for cycling? (piece of dead, uncooked shrimp, etc?)

Could you still be somewhere in the cycle? Maybe all the tank needs is a bit more time to settle out.

Just my initial thoughts...

I think your right on target about the tank cycling he said 2 times the tank is new LOL Its only a week old and probably has some die off from the live rock, I would just not add anything to the tank as far as live stock and test every few days until it comes down, Was the LR from another tank ? or did you order it online ?

[Geoff]

how much detritus is the rock producing? i would not worry to much about tank levels until the LR stops dropping bacterial flock.

G~