High Nitrates

adamman · 03-31-2005, 01:13 PM

i really messed up and my nitraes are throught the roof did a water change and added some stuff the lps gave me from tlc any other advice on how to lower my nitrates faster
thanks

reefBoyDc · 03-31-2005, 01:23 PM

i suggest more water changes. what do you have in your tank? how did your nitrates get so high? giving us more info will help us help you better.

Ss · 03-31-2005, 01:25 PM

my brother is having the same problem do you feed often?

adamman · 03-31-2005, 01:44 PM

75 gal button coral 2 button polyp rocks 1 spotten mushrom rock

3 Damselfish 1 large scallop 1
Long Tentacle Anemone 3 Haitian Reef

that darn invert food said 1 drop pre gallon daily that did it i belive

reefBoyDc · 03-31-2005, 01:45 PM

So, you were putting in 75 drops per day??

adamman · 03-31-2005, 01:46 PM

yep for a week

reefBoyDc · 03-31-2005, 01:50 PM

Were your nitrates ok before that? If so, then you know what the problem is. Never believe manufacturers' labels. They always want you to use more of their product than you should.

wharyat · 03-31-2005, 02:01 PM

There is really no reason you should be feeding that amount invert food, the only time you need to worry about feeding this type of food is when you have a non-photosynthetic coral or invert, i.e. tubeworms, certain clams, sponges, some corals ets.

Since you have a scallop, you should be spot feeding it with a turkey baster or large syringe, around half to 1/4 the amount of food reccommended by the manuf.

adamman · 03-31-2005, 02:14 PM

yep what a mess but know how do i fix it fast so i dont start losing stuff

reefBoyDc · 03-31-2005, 02:20 PM

Water changes... and more water changes. I don't think anything will die. How high are they anyway? I'm sure that if you do a 20% water change every other day for the next week or so, you'll be able to lower the nitrates... unless there is something besides the feeding which is causing the high levels. Nitrates don't really kill things in the short term. They just inhibit some of biological processes of corals, hampering their growth, and provide food for algae to grow. In the short term, you should be OK. There are some products that claim to remove nitrates, but I have never tried them, so I can't tell you if they work or not. DeNitrate is one of them.

adamman · 03-31-2005, 02:27 PM

HOW high when i had my water tested it was off the chart
it will kill fish fast right

reefBoyDc · 03-31-2005, 02:38 PM

No, many fish and inverts can tolerate high nitrate levels. It's not good, but it shouldn't kill them. NitrItes, however, are a different story. You're sure you're testing for nitrates, right?

adamman · 03-31-2005, 02:43 PM

ok so i am new to this. to be honest with you its what test the lps did
all i know is it turn dark purple that is nitrates correct

reefBoyDc · 03-31-2005, 03:02 PM

It depends on the test. Some turn blue some turn red some turn purple.

How are things looking in your tank. Do the creatures seem to be hurting?

BigDaddy · 03-31-2005, 03:45 PM

well you should really know for sure what is wrong before you try to fix it... anyway water changes are the fix all from what I understand. might want to do a lot of that and in the mean time figure out what it is that's so off.