Nitrates!! Help!!

Gaidin · 11-12-2004, 02:25 AM

Ok so i did a water change last night... simply because it was time to do so... and i noticed that i had some detritus hanging around in one corner...since my sandbed is not all in yet... one side of the tank and partially behind the rocks is bare bottom right now. was going to add the rest of my sand when i finished my closed loop...well i decided to do a round of tests on my tank since my xenia wasnt looking full and open the way it should be, a couple of my other corals was starting to die back a little and a small part of my maze brain was dying back..I was beginning to think that it might be a heat issue since my tank always used to be at like 79-80 before but now its been up to 82-83 (sometimes even up to 84 depending on the lights being on or not) with the pump i am using on my skimmer (its a genx 6000) i noticed that the pump raised my temp like 2-3 degrees..... well after the tests my readings came out to....

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
PH 8.2 -8.3 its hard to tell the color and my pinpoint monitor pooped out on me.
and finally
NITRATE 80

i dont understand how i could be that high on Nitrates especially right after a water change.....i just changed my carbon too... i picked some up from Woody's and used that (the first time i have used carbon from woody's not that i am saying thats the cause... just a side note)....test kit is Saltwater Master by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals...which i have been using for a long time...also i do have the quick dips that also seem to give me a Nitrate reading of about 80 also.. maybe a little less...any ideas how to rid my tank of nitrates especially if i just did a water change.?

Thanks in advance.

-J.R.

wanareef · 11-12-2004, 02:42 AM

JR

Still could be something in the LR still cycling. Even thought you just did a WC, you probably just diluted the concentration. How much of a WC did you do? 10% -20% ??

Do you have access to the Salifert test kits? That's all I use and most use as well for testing.

Clams are great at helping with the nitrates, supposedly just one of the things clams consume in the tank.

Gaidin · 11-12-2004, 02:53 AM

I did roughly a 20% water change... it was about 35 gallons on my 180gal tank....also i have two derasas and one squamosa in my tank at the moment... my live rock shouldnt really be cycling still... since i have had 75% of it for over a year and 80% of that was from a guy that had it for a year before that...and 50% of the remaining rock is dead base rock....dont have salifert kits at the moment... need to look into getting some.. i have heard that is what people use but i have been making due with my kit for a while now until it runs out so i can justify getting a new set...sounds stupid but why buy a new test kit when i have one already and i can use the money to buy more new and nifty things... and now that i am thinking about it... i might have found the reason my levels are off.... I have a rather large tang that just went missing a few days ago......hrm.... wonder where he could be......must go searching....

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Illusion · 11-12-2004, 03:04 AM

If you would like JR when you come over saturday bring some of your tank water and you can double check with Salifert.. I have just about the full line up here... With the Nitrates I would say check your Ro water and make sure that it wasnt coming from there.. Sould be possible that the membrane or prefilter/Di went bad... Pretty much all you can do is water changes though... With Nitrates the bigger the better but I would just do a couple more 20% water changes after making 100% sure its not coming in from the new water..

James

Gaidin · 11-12-2004, 03:09 AM

well since i dont have RO unit yet.. i have been using tap and i never really had any problems with it... but since i am now in a different place it completely slipped my mind to consider the tap water source as different.....so until i get my RO unit... which hopefully will be soon... I am stuck using tap unless someone wants to lend me their RO unit for a water change sometime this week... just need to make 35 gals or so... and i dont have a truck so cant lug around water so thats not really an option... I did just find a container of Kent Marine Nitrate Sponge that i somehow inherited in usual dealings of used equipment... any idea if this stuff works... also have a container of PhosGuard by Seachem... just found these in the closet... thinking of using them in a filter bag in a high flow area for now... Any thoughts on whether or not this is a good idea??

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Illusion · 11-12-2004, 03:17 AM

I have no Idea about the 2 products but my guess is the nitrates are coming from the Tap water... I would offer to loan you my Ro unit but its would be a PITA to unhook since its permantly installed... You are more than welcome if you want to borrow my Oceanic buckets to fill 4 or 5 of them up and take them back home with ya... Just make sure I get them back LOL...

I would probably try and use the Nitrate sponge and see if it works... I have no idea and havent heard of anyone i know using it... At any cost when you get the nitrates lowered I wouldnt use the Tap water anymore... Ebay has some really good cheap Ro/di units... Check user name "filterdirect" and "aquasafecanada" you can usually get them shipped for less than $100.00 ready to use...

HTH<
James

wanareef · 11-12-2004, 03:21 AM

JR

Tape water

I have a Seahorse DI water card with 11 fills that I don't use any more and a salt card with 2 fills on it. You can get those used water jugs from Culligan or ?? for about $.50 apiece. That's about 55gals of di and 10gals of his salt mix - trade ya for some of those green/white shrooms?

Gaidin · 11-12-2004, 03:34 AM

sounds good.... in Corvallis i never had a problem with Nitrates or Phosphates or anything...
it wasnt until i moved to beaverton did i come across this... I always meant to get a RO unit
.....just never did...and i never realized that i should even think about RO since i was so used to not using it from before... anyways... i think its not necessarily completely the cause of my high nitrates since i did lose ( i mean literally lost it... one day its there in the tank.....next day its gone and i havent seen him since... and no he's not on the floor behind the tank....) a large Orange shoulder tang a few days ago.....but thanks for the offer......

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wanareef · 11-12-2004, 03:59 AM

Oh not a orange shoulder- those are neat looking and have thought about geting one for the next tank - but that still up in the air (fish list that is)

Gaidin · 11-12-2004, 04:57 AM

i have always loved orange shoulders...I had this one for about 8 months now.... i will have to get another one now that i lost this one... I am really sad to see it go... and i still dont know the reason for the disappearance...oh well... have to find out and fix it so i can get another one...

wanareef · 11-12-2004, 05:56 AM

I won't be going to the mtg and will be out of town on the 20th till the 1st of dec- I could snail mail you the cards if you still want them. Just PM me your addr

impur · 11-12-2004, 11:15 AM

Hey just for a future reference, i picked up one of those filterdirect RO/DI units off ebay for $130 shipped. Came with a 3 gal storage tank and a faucet adapter. I gotta say this thing rocks. Does 110 gph and was so easy to hookup. Great for drinking water too!!! I highly suggest these units. You can't beat em for the price.

upcfault · 11-12-2004, 11:49 AM

Woody sell's DI water for $17 for 150g's. Just need to get a couple 5g containers to transport it in. I priced the RO/DI units and replacement filters, and Woody's seemed like the better deal to me. I'm over at his place at least every other week looking at stuff, so it's no big deal bringing along a couple of jugs and filling up.

Ryan Mackey · 11-12-2004, 12:13 PM

I doubt the source of NO3 is the tap water. Of course, it would be easy to test this rather than just debate it! You say your sand bed is not finished and you just moved the whole tank( could the denitraters be lacking or yet to establish themselves), might you be treating the freshly set up new tank like you did your old tank, could a combination of processes be in play( new tank, over feeding, lack of mature macroalgea, decomposition of lg fish) all of the above? Seldom is there one single cause, but often, the things that seem to be problems are problems. Portland tap water in your reef?! Friends,... help this poor fellow to see the error of his ways! R2

Krux · 11-12-2004, 05:29 PM

is the sand that is in your tank from your old systm? if so then moving a sandbed is in my opinion 100% responsible for the nitrate spike. there is a reason that some of us no longer have sand :P

also, read up on "wet skimming" either in the think tank, or on RC, if you have any questions after reading bombers posts on it, we can discuss more.

as for ro, i just made a weeks worth, so if you want to come over you can borrow my unit for a couple days.

and on the genx, that is why i spent the money to get an iwaki, my system couldnt absorb the extra heat that they put out when run internally. you can plump that particular pump externally, you just need some extra fittings and some tubing. it also helps to use silicone and adhere the impeller cover in place, that model doesnt have a very secure cover plate.

still got my number?