How to Lower Nitrates in a Saltwater Aquarium VIDEO: Proven Techniques For Success

I have a 90G tank which is now 11 months old. It is stocked with 2 x percula clowns, midas blenny, solon fairy wrasse, lubbocks fairy wrasse, royal gramma, and a firefish (plus various corals). Is hair algae always caused by phophate/nitrate levels? My current parameters are: Ammonia: 0...

Alright, so around 2 weeks ago I started a thread named "Tank Cycling Help" and everyone was very helpful. Time solved my issue and my nitrites eventually went down. However, during the time that when my nitrites went down, the nitrates went very high, which I assume is routine. The weird part...

Hello! One week ago I set up a 30 gallon tank, cycling it with Dr. Tim's One and Only. I have been testing periodically and the ammonia spike has already passed, but the nitrites spike came with worrying levels. They are, from what i can tell, off the charts. They have been like this for a...

So, I went away about 3 weeks ago and my tank was neglected, I had someone feeding my fish. When I returned, My nitrates were 100!:doh: I have been doing daily 5-10 gallon water changes for the past week. I have a 75g tank and feed about a cube of frozen food each day since I have a heavy...

I've had some problems with high nitrates and started tackling it with some Purigen which worked fine but the moment I start feeding my corals with BRS Reef Flakes the nitrates spike and it takes DAYS to lower. First I went from 160ppm to 80, then to 40, then 20 and it settled at around 2-5ppm...

SO I have a bit of a question / dilemma on my hands. My tanks runs very high on nitrates . 25-50 ppm. My setup does not include filter socks . I have short runs of pipe with full siphon huge skimmer for the tank. 100 gallon total volume my live stock are 2 small clown fish. rox .8 carbon...

Dear All: I have a 180G mixed reef tank, and have had NO3/PO4 issues for years. I am running Carbon, and 2 months ago, started using BRS Biopellets. I am also dosing NOPOX. When I started with the biopellets, I stopped running GFO (in my BRS dual reactor--the other chamber is where the carbon...

Hi everyone, I have been keeping fresh water and FOWLR for over 20 years with no issues and I consider myself fairly knowledgable about it. Water chemistry in those type of set ups as we know it are less challenging than coral set ups. Recently (4 months ago) I decided to up the challenge by...

So here's a pic of two samples tested for nitrate using API reef test kit. One's from my kitchen fawcet. The other is from my tank. Prizes for those who guess which is which.

Has anyone seen BTAs thrive in high nitrate tank?

My tank has been doomed with high nitrates since the beginning. I hooked up a sulfur denitrator recently and now my levels are 3ppm nitrates. My Xenia are not looking so hot but everything else seems happy. My question is this, if natural levels are 1ppm why would any coral suffer from low...

A little background on the tank. I've had the 75 running for a few years. The only thing I've tested for were nitrates and they were always around 40ppm. Three months ago I decided to make the switch from tap water to distilled. I knew the tank was had phosphates due to the algae growing on the...

Hello TRT! It's been a long time since my last post. I had dismantled my first saltwater setup after a bad car crash, and one year later, I am looking at starting it again. We sold off most of our livestock, however since last December, I have been able to keep my live-rock on life support...

Do I need to worry about anything as far as increased ammonia or nitrites if I'm adding some dry rock to my tank that has about 50lbs live rock? Also, will increasing the amount of rock (ergo bacteria) help lower nitrates? Thanks. I'm beginning to understand how much I don't understand.

I’ve had my 30 gallon tank for over 3 years now. Although my fish seem to be doing fine, I’ve always had a problem keeping the nitrates down. I’ve recently (Dec 2014) changed the bottom from loose crushed coral to sand and just replaced by dual T5 HO fluorescent lighting to a brighter Coralife...

So I read a large portion of the ReefKeeping made simple thread, and I understand the process. Ammonia -> Nitrites -> Nitrates -> Nitrogen Gas. I have 75 lbs of Pukani rock, and 60 lbs of Reef Flakes, 30 lbs of Miniflakes. My sump is bare, no refugium, no plans for a refugium. My first issue...

Hi guys, you may (although probably not) know that over the last month i have been having some fatal nitrate problems. It started about a week after adding a refugium when all my pods died and suddenly nitrates out of nowhere. Initally i thought something in the fuge was causing it as the...

Hey everyone, I've been having issues with my sps corals for the past 6 months or so, and just wondering if nitrates are the issue.... I finally figured out how to do a high range test of my tank and the nitrates come in at 16ppm. I know this is high, but several of my sps corals have...

Hi gang, So I have an old version of the Red Sea Nitrate pro test kit. I say 'old' because I recently saw a Youtube video of what I believe is a newer version of the test kit that uses powder for reagents B and C instead of liquids. I tried to buy the new version but it's not sold ANYWHERE...