Nitrate!

[BlennyMan1]

i set up a skimmer about 3 weeks ago in my 55 gallon tank my other filtration would be 10 gallon sump wet/dry and 2 powerheads with about 35 lbs live rock and about 50 lbs live sand. my nitrate hasnt been increasing but its been at a steady 20. anyone know the water change percentages and frequency i should perform to try and get the nitrate below 10? ive only got 3 fish and today i traded a medium sized mandarin fish in for a small diamond goby which is already doing a great job on my sand. ( 1 diamond goby 2 in., 1 perc clown. 2.5 inch, and a lawnmower blenny 4 inch) i was given the impression that it would take a while for 3 fish to bring a 55 gal to a nitrate reading of 20 so i figured it may be something else. i was wondering if i should wash half of the bioballs in my sump and if so how to go about that. my ammonia has been at zero and nitrite as well so that also to led me to believe that the nitrate problem isnt comeing from the fish? well id love some feedback!

[wanareef]

Originally Posted by BlennyMan1

i set up a skimmer about 3 weeks ago in my 55 gallon tank my other filtration would be 10 gallon sump wet/dry and 2 powerheads with about 35 lbs live rock and about 50 lbs live sand. my nitrate hasnt been increasing but its been at a steady 20. anyone know the water change percentages and frequency i should perform to try and get the nitrate below 10? ive only got 3 fish and today i traded a medium sized mandarin fish in for a small diamond goby which is already doing a great job on my sand. ( 1 diamond goby 2 in., 1 perc clown. 2.5 inch, and a lawnmower blenny 4 inch) i was given the impression that it would take a while for 3 fish to bring a 55 gal to a nitrate reading of 20 so i figured it may be something else. i was wondering if i should wash half of the bioballs in my sump and if so how to go about that.
I wouild take 1/3 of them out and wash them, then wait a week or so and take out another 1/3 till all of them have been washed. Inbetween the bio balls do a 10% WC.
my ammonia has been at zero and nitrite as well so that also to led me to believe that the nitrate problem isnt comeing from the fish? well id love some feedback!

[tims]

yup , and then dont put them back in, that most likly is your problem.

how old is your tank for the manderin?. i would add LR to the area that had bio balls or something that will help give the tank more area for pods if you can.

[VWD]

How long hads the tank been up , and what have Your water changes been, It it is a newer tank and You have finish the cycle recently and have not done any water changes You nitrates may stay around the same until you start doing them, Nitrates won't go away without some type of help

[skeety]

Also...if you are using tap water for your water changes, you should test it for nitrates first. Some tap water has high nitrates...in which case, you'll need to look into getting RO/DI water (either buy it, or get a unit and make it). Otherwise, they'll never go down.

[suzstephens]

Originally Posted by skeety

Also...if you are using tap water for your water changes, you should test it for nitrates first. Some tap water has high nitrates...in which case, you'll need to look into getting RO/DI water (either buy it, or get a unit and make it). Otherwise, they'll never go down.

If using RO water, be sure to check your RO water too. I battled nitrates for months before I realized that they were coming from my RO unit. My brother-in-law, who owns a water testing/purification business, suggested periodically cleaning the RO unit by running a few cups of hydrogen peroxide through it. I do that every month or two and have had no further problems. I run the RO until I can no longer taste or smell the peroxide, but the peroxide won't harm anything if a little gets into the aquarium.

It may also help to cut back on the amount or frequency of feedings.

[suzstephens]

Originally Posted by skeety

Also...if you are using tap water for your water changes, you should test it for nitrates first. Some tap water has high nitrates...in which case, you'll need to look into getting RO/DI water (either buy it, or get a unit and make it). Otherwise, they'll never go down.

If using RO water, be sure to check your RO water too. I battled nitrates for months before I realized that they were coming from my RO unit. My brother-in-law, who owns a water testing/purification business, suggested periodically cleaning the RO unit by running a few cups of hydrogen peroxide through it. I do that every month or two and have had no further problems. I run the RO until I can no longer taste or smell the peroxide, but the peroxide won't harm anything if a little gets into the aquarium.

It may also help to cut back on the amount or frequency of feedings. I also would remove the bioballs.

[BlennyMan1]

alright thanks you guys......if i am to remove my bioballs completely is there an alternative that i can place in the huge gap of empty space left in my sump or is that going to be wasted? i dont think its strong enough to put live rock in there. how often do you think bioballs would have to be washed after doing this (the first change after tanks been up) if i removed the bioballs do you think i should expect a jump in ammonia? tank been up since november. i think im going to try a series of 20 percent water changes before i do the bioball removal just to see if once the trates are reduced, will they get back up to 20 as easily...im kind of thinking that they have been there since february when i did a 75 percent waterchange and i just havent had a chance to bring them down yet and im hoping thats what it is but maybe not.

[customshopguy]

I would just toss the bio balls far far away and forget that they were ever in there. With the amount of LR in your tank all those bioballs will do is create a place for stuff to get stuck and degrade.

[wharyat]

Since the tank has only been up since November I would say that the BB's are not your problem (even tho you should stil toss them ); unless you been over-feeding, what is your feeding schedule like?