Nitrates on the Rise

Hermit · 07-31-2001, 07:47 PM

Help!!!!!!!!

My nitrates having been rising for a few months now. Water changes do not seem to help.

A little background. The tank was a FO with a UGF (yuck). in Feb. I changed over to a 1" sand bed, a Penguin 330 Biowheel, and added 10 lbs LR in a 55g tank. Along with the biowheels, I also use the Penguin carbon filters and polyfilters.

I assume the biowheels are what's causing the nitrate rise. I talked to the LFS and they told me to remove the biowheels, because everything else should give enough filtration. What does everyone else think? Is the tank well enough established and is there enough live rock to go without the biowheels?

Thanks,
Kris

FishDaddy · 07-31-2001, 08:14 PM

Hi Kris,
What fish do you have in your tank and how large are they? The bioload makes a big difference in whether filtration is adequate.
IMHO, with only 1" sand and 10# LR, you need to keep the Penguin running. You need a 4~6" DSB to provide adequate filtration and then, only after the bed has matured over many months. You would need 50~75# LR to provide biofiltration. By adding rock and more sand now, the LR would provide the filtration until the sandbed has matured, then you would have both working for you.
This is all problematical for you: You can add more sand but its going to take 6 months or more for the DSB to support a moderate bioload. Adding that much rock, even "fully cured" would certainly cause an ammonia spike that would hazard your fish. You would need to put the rocks in rubbermaid tubs with heat and powerheads for circulation and treat it as cycling a tank. Don't add the rocks until the water in the tub tests 0 for Ammonia and Nitrite and less than 5ppm. for Nitrates. The water in the tubs should be kept at the same SG and Temp as your main tank.
Alternatively, you could move the fish to large tubs and keep them there while you add sand and rock to the main tank and let it re-cycle before adding the fish back.
As a third alternative, you could keep the Penguin running and incrementally add rock until you get at least 50#. Again, you should "recure" the rocks in separate tubs to avoid Ammonia spikes if you are going to add more than 5# at a time and eve then, still check your Ammonia etc. You can also add small amounts of sand, say 1/2 to 1" at a time. This will make your tank cloudy for a day or so but with the Penguin running, should clear up ok.
There really is no quick and easy way to create a natural reef system.
Dick

For the time being, you should rinse the media in the filter every day and continue to run the biowheels.

DaveJ · 07-31-2001, 08:19 PM

Hi Hermit,

I don't use bio-wheels but I have seen a lot of posts where folks recommend that you removed them. I had a problem with nitrates a few weeks back and removed the media from my tidepool and it helped quite a bit. I also let my caulerpa grow quite a bit then trimmed it back. I tested just two days ago and it was at zero. So... maybe remove them a few at a time and see if that helps. Nitrates are not dangerous really, but you can feed algae growth with it. What levels of Nitrates are you measuring?? Are you getting any algae growth, the bad kind? You might want to see if you can get your hands on some Caulerpa or other macro algae and try that out. They are pretty good nitrate removal choices.

Some of the other information that people may want to know is how much do you feed and what types of food. How populated is your tank, how many fish and sizes.

While its a problem, I wouldn't stress out too much unless your getting bad algae outbreaks or cyno all over the place. I know several people who actually try to maintain 5 - 10 ppm in order to fuel coraline and other algae growth.

Hermit · 07-31-2001, 08:53 PM

Thanks for the quick responses. Seems I was right to question the advice.

As far as the DSB and more LR, they are on the list, I'm just waiting for the right time.

The bio-load is 6 hermits, 12 snails, 2 false perculas, Royal blue tang, Black velvet damsel, yellow tailed damsel, and a 3-stripe damsel. All but the perculas are full grown.

Dave, there are only two wheels, so I don't think I want to remove a few at a time. Especially considering that if I remove one, I will lose its bacteria permanently.

As far as feeding, I have recently cut down to once a day. The food varies from mysis and brine shrimp, to pellets to nori seaweed.

I am not concerned about the nitrates, except that the brown/green algae (not cyno) is growing too fast to allow any growth of coralline algae.

Would it be bad, or worth while, to remove one of the wheels? Or, am I just better off leaving alone and scraping the algae? Also, would I be better off changing more water or more frequently (currently 3-4 gals/wK)?

Hermit · 07-31-2001, 10:06 PM

Oh, one more thing. If I'm not in a position to add rock and sand, any other suggestions for keeping the green/brown algae down. I get quit a bit of light in my living room, so would it be beneficial to cover the tank with a blanket while I'm not at home? The light over the tank are 2 15w NO 50/50's.

FishDaddy · 07-31-2001, 10:25 PM

Kris,
I would suggest more snails for algae control; I would not recommend more hermits. For good advice on snails and hermits, please read this article by Dr. Shimek: http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/li...=&RecordNo=166
Ambient light in the living room should be no problem unless the tank is located directly next to a window. If so, A curtain or blinds would help.
How old are the bulbs on the tank? NO fluorescents on tar ballasts should be replaced at about 6 month intervals. As the bulbs lose intensity, they also undergo a color shift to the lower red spectrum which promotes algae growth.
Dick

Hermit · 07-31-2001, 10:44 PM

Fishdaddy, again thanks for the rapidity of your response. The living room gets alot of the afternoon sun, and even with the blinds drawn it's like a bright day.

The tubes were new in March, and I do replace them every six months. Would the low power lighting have an effect of the slow growth rate of coralline algae or the rapid growth rate of the other algae?

GaryG · 08-01-2001, 08:50 AM

Snails, snails, snails ....

I added about 25 snails (three diff var) to my tank last Wednesday (so exactly 7 days ago). Before I put them in I had to scrape my front glass every other day. I left two days worth of growth on when I put them in. In less than 24 hours they cleaned it totally and I have not scraped since and it looks like I just cleaned the glass.