Nitrates High! Any suggestions?

[ZMattie]

I decided to check my levels today (i wish i would have eariler) everythings fine besides my nitrates. They are currently sitting right inbetween 80 and 160.

What ive done so far:
1. I did a 20 gal water change right away (about 3 hours ago)
2. I just went and bought a 60 gal air pump and have 2 tubes going at full blast on each side of the tank

Does anybody have any other knowledge as to what i can do to lower the nitrates?

Ive already lost most of the frags that jason gave me

My mushrooms seem to be fine and im not sure how to tell if my purple ridge monti is in good health or not. I dont want to lose all my livestock!! WHAT CAN I DO?? HELP ME!!

I will check my levels in about an hour and post where they are at just for some feedback for you guys.

Thanks ALOT,
Zach M.

[hansmatt]

Zach,
I don't think the air pump will have any affect on the nitrate level. This is "bound" nitrate, meaning NH4, etc., not dissolved Nitrogen gas from the air. The water changes will make the biggest difference. You can add a "nitrate sponge", that will bring down levels over a few weeks, run charcoal which can help absorb ammonia & other nasties, and phosphate reactors to help with PO4, but the water change will make the biggest and most immediate impact.
I've talked with three other long-term LARK members in the last few days, all of whom are suffering from high nitrates...mostly from tank moves, new sandbeds, etc. It happens, but it's a pain. You can do water changes daily if necessary.

[ZMattie]

OK! i was told that added an air pump would lower the nitrates... That every air bubble that popped would release nitrates.. But back to the point... I can do another water change tommorow?? And if i can, how big of one, like another 15-20 gal or what do you reccomend?? (ive got a 55gal)

[ZMattie]

i was also told that the pump would add oxygen to the water, which would be highly effective in reducing the nitrates.

[hansmatt]

Never heard of that, but that doesn't mean it does not work either. doing another 20g would be fine. good luck!

[PinkNanoReef]

I don't know who told you adding an air pump would reduce nitrates...
but I can tell you for sure that it won't. Just wondering, is this the first time your nitrates have been high? If not, you may want to cut back on whatever you are feeding. I have found that the #1 reason people have high nitrates in an established tank is overfeeding. But hansmatt is right, doing water changes is the fastest and best way to treat the immediate problem.

[Jrmass]

The air pump is a new one for myself and I agree with Matt that it will successfully remove dissolved nitrogen ("N") but not nitrates ("NO3") which is not the same based on it's existing Oxygen bonds. Thus adding Oxygen to an existing Oxygen bond should not help with anything.
Water changes are going to be your best ally. You can do several water changes a day given you give the tank a chance to stabilize (several hours between them). I myself have done as many as 3 or 4 in one day. I had an anemone die in one of my tanks and found him decomposing in my sandbed. So, I had to do many water changes to both remove the STENCH of raw sewer from the tank (yes it really smelt like RAW SEWAGE in my ENTIRE HOUSE for several days) as well as to bring everything back into check. It's expensive to bring it back into check due to water changes/salt but, it's something that needs to be done. When was the last time you did a nitrate check on the tank before this call me curious?


I know that this is actually a Freshwater Nitrogen Cycle post but, it has definate relivance to that of the questions that you are asking as the fish cycle is basically the same as far as biological bacteria is concerned.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Freshwate...ls-1.htm?zIr=5

Jason

BTW given you can get the levels in check most of the frags should come back. A lot of them are pretty resiliant to nitrates. Although 160 is very very high I'm surprised you haven't lost any fish from this yet. Not to mention how did you test this as a typical test kit only goes to 100?

[ZMattie]

Its been a while since i checked everything... which is a HUGE lesson!! matt from OTP told me it might be a good idea to get a air pump... he said it couldnt hurt, which i agree. I was going to get one anyways.

--I didnt know you could do that many in a day! Ill do quite a few tommorow... im guessing i should have the problem fixed within a couple of days!! How many gal do you think i should do at a time?? (55gal tank)

--**Jason**: Do you think this could be the reason why i lost so many of those frag?? (im guessing so)

[Jrmass]

Yes definate the reason for the frags... I didn't even know you had an issue didn't even think to ask when you checked your levels. I only asked how long your tank had been running. No worries on the frags I'll be able to help you out on some of the frags when my stuff is ready to frag again. The mushrooms should hang on (maybe not the metallic one but, the others should recover over time). If you can get your temp and salinity close you can do a large one (up to 50% *which would HELP A TON!!!!!*) Remember to think of a water change as a math problem.

Nitrates to start at 160. You do a 20% change (160*.2) which drops it to 128. You do another 20% (128*.2) it's now at 103. Another 20% (103*.2) 82... So that is 3 20% water changes to get it to 82 not to mention you used 33 gallons where if you had done a 50% water change (160*.5) to start with you would have used 27.5 gallons and gotten it to 80 Nitrates in one shot. Remember, it's not good to shock your tank with a major change such as this is... But, it's worse for the tank to continue to run in poor conditions. It's really the lesser of the two evils. So, I'd do a good sized water change tomorrow to start the day and if you can do another one. *2* 40-50% changes tomorrow and I bet you could test your levels and see a significant change. Another thing.... Do not feed your fish tomorrow nor the next day. Fish can go 5-7 days w/out eating (similar to how a person can practice fasting).

Hope this helps clear things up... Also, if you need some additional help I have some chaeto which will help things a bunch as well... Although I'm not sure where you would place it (you could make up a pouch or something to contain it) as it does WONDERS to maintain water conditions!!!!

Jason

[ZMattie]

thanks for the help guys!! ill keep ya posted on the results...
--**Jason**: thanks again and i will hopefully (if the levels are right) be getting some more frags from you! If your ever around La Crosse and wanna see my set up (or help me make sure its coral ready: hint hint lol) let me know! thanks again for all you help

what is chaeto?

and finally....

I have a Instant Ocean Aquarium System Protein Skimmer and a 60 gal Tetra Filter and the air pump for my tank...

what other equiptment does everybody recommend?

And whats a sump and do i need one?

[Loverotties]

I hope your using RO/DI water for WC and top-off?Wc DOES THE BEST TO LOWER IT AND THEIR ARE CHEMICALS THAT YOU PUT IN A REACTOR THAT HELP TOO,BUT wc ARE CHEEPER TO DO.Opps sorry about the caps.

[Jrmass]

I'll answer you questions one by one.

(1) Chaeto: Chaetomorpha Macroalgae or Spaghetti Algae which a lot of people call it is used by many people to help reduce levels in a persons home aquaria as it simply grows from photosythesis (just add light) and it HELPS stabilize the levels in the tank. Keep in mind it's not a cure-all fix but, it does help. I myself use it as do most others in our club and throughout our hobby as it is really that beneficial to keeping levels in check.

If I had known you were having issues I was actually in LaX yesterday. I even stopped in at OTP to see if Matt had gotten frag plugs in from his order as I'm in need of some. I know that I will not be around this weekend (Haunted House back home opening weekend) otherwise I'd stop on it and see what recommendations I could come up with. I'm not sure if you would have a place to put some Chaeto or if you would even want it or not but, I could give you some (I don't charge for chaeto as I can make it very easily *most of you remember that from my meeting as I must have given away like 8 baggies of the stuff lol*) *that statement makes me feel like a drug dealer (baggies hehe)*. Anyhow, we will figure out a time to meet.

(2) Tetra filter. I have to ask right away with this filter are you using filter pads with it as they are nitrate collectors and this could be adding to your already existing problem? The reason they are nitrate collectors is that any additional food gets caught up in the weave any fish crud does the same and it begins to decay in the filter with nothing to remove it. If you have live rock in your tank (which I know you do) you do not need the filter (you could use it for surface water movement which would not be a bad idea) as it could be creating more problems than what it is actually worth.

(3) Sump. Remember when you were at my house and I showed you my basement setup? Well the tank directly under the tank upstairs was my sump. It's a place where you can hide your equipment so it's out of sight, it's a place to keep your macroalgaes (such as chaeto) so that it's not an eyesore in the tank, and it creates an additional resevior to make your system a bit bigger and a bit more stable which doing so.

(3.1) Sump and do you need one? No, you don't "need" one. They are nice to have as they definately make the system neater but, are most definately not a requirement in our hobby. Don't get me wrong I'm a huge fan of them and would recommend a sump to anyone and EVERYONE just from the experience that I've had with using them. But, they do not need to be installed.

(4) Seaclone Skimmer. I'm assuming that when you say you have the I.O. (Instant Ocean) skimmer you are refering to the I.O. Seaclone 150 am I correct? If I am then I'm going to answer you question based on this skimmer. First off I will tell you on a skimmer you DEFINATELY get what you pay for. If you buy cheap you will know it in what you actually pull out of the tank and also what you get in the collection cup. I've personally never used a Seaclone Skimmer but, I know a few in the club have (most with BAD experiences with it). The biggest issues that this skimmer has is that it's rated capacity is not even close to what it's "actual" capacity really is. It says that it is rated for tanks as large as 150 gallons and I have to laugh when I hear this as it is more designed for a tank your size (or even smaller lol). Heck, one guy in our club actually has it on a 10 gallon tank lol. I'm not sure how much skimmate you are pulling out of your tank with it if it's a lot great. Then this skimmer is working for your setup. It it's not much though then I know how hard it is looking at a skimmer that is a bit more expensive but, you do get what you pay for with this piece of equipment. If you decide to ever look for another skimmer do a bit of research and then search ReefCentral for some used equipment or Ebay is another great place to get used stuff. I've never actually bought a brand new skimmer since I've been in the hobby and I'm on my third skimmer. (All upgrades in total volume size).

Hope this helps clear some things up and if you have any other questions feel free to ask.

Jason

[Kyuss]

Matties, I can give you some chaeto also, I just gave aquaman a large bag of it also. You can stop by tonight or tomorrow if you want to grab it.

give me a call and leave a message if I don't pick up as my kids may be holding me hostage at that moment in time.

608.796.0322

[Kyuss]

oh if you could bring a sandwich bag or tupperware container also that would be good as mine are all used up

[Jrmass]

That works even better yet if you can give him some Josh (seeing you live in LaX anyhow) and as I'm going to be AFK this weekend.
And you have some of the chaeto out of my tank as well... So, he'd be getting what I have as well as a few others strains which is always a plus.
Jason