High Nitrates!!!

[magdelan]

My corals have not looked so well lately and I have not been too sure why. I test my Alk and Ca regularly and all is fairly well. I have the usual fluctuations between my Alk being too high and my Ca being too low etc., but nothing that will cause any reason for alarm. I checked my Po4 last night and it seemed a bit high. I don't think that Po4 would cause my corals to become unhappy, it would only encourage algae growth (I bought more Po4 remover today and am running it now). I checked the SG and it was at 1.0255 so I know that is not it. My heater has been acting weird not getting up to temp. The water temp has been fairly low but stable at 73-75 degrees. I need to look into this...and there isn't any electric current in the tank. So as I sat here thinking, I wondered if my Nitrates were elevated. But, I thought, "No, they've always been fine". Also, I have been without my Nitrate test kit since my tank was about 6 months old. All was ok so I never replaced it. Well, I went to CF today and tested my water for No3. WOW!! Wasn't I surprised when the test came back at approx. 250ppm. I was shocked . However, I was satisfied that I now knew what has been effecting my tank.

I got home with 15 gallons of RO and prepaired for a 50% water change. After all of the newly mixed water was in, I tested for No3 again (with my new test kit) and the results still came back in the 250's. So this leads me to believe that the initial test was even higher than 250!! Next, I simulated another 50% water change by filling my test vile half way with my tank water and the other half with fresh water. Did the test and waited 5 minutes. It's STILL high but seems to be a bit better.

Can anyone explain to me what it means on the Red Sea kit's test card why there is a high and low range, but they are both illustrated by the same color.

Do I just keep doing 50% water changes to remedy this? And, how long should I wait between doing water changes?

EDIT: I have a CPR Bakpak Skimmer with a MJ1200 on it. I haven't felt that it has been working well for quite a while now. For the amount of Nitrates in the tanks, one would think that it would be going crazy, producing a lot of skimmate, but I am only getting about 1/2 cup per week...if that! Would it be worth looking into a new skimmer for the next couple of months that I have this tank running? It has to be a back pack of some sort. I don't have a sump on this tank.




Thanks, mike

[Henry Colf]

what amount of bubbles is the skimmer producing? Does it use one of those black insert type venturi's that the airline goes into the middle of it?What bak-pak are you running?They are all rated for way over 30 gal. and should be fine for a 30 gal. tank.

[josh.vince]

are you sure you are at 250ppm? if you followed the instructions on the back of the card, you need to use the low range #'s.

in the test kit, there is an instruction sheet that tells you how to use the high range if you initially test at 50+ on the low range.

[magdelan]

Time out!! I fixed my skimmer problem. All that it need was a heavy duty cleaning. I filled up my bath tub with hot water and white vinegar. Then I added some red onion, cherry tomatoes, genoa salami and buffalo mozzarella... no wait!! I thought that I was doing the specials at work for a sec... back to the skimmer. I let it soak for about 30 minutes then scrubbed ALL the parts. After putting it back into the tank and plugging it in, the bubbles inside the skimmer went bazerk!!! Crazy amounts of bubbles!!!!! So, now that I have the skimmer under control, maybe now it will start pulling some of the trates out of the water colum. We'll see.

I have to read over the No3 dirrections again. Maybe that will answer my question.

[tmz]

You can try a nitrate remover such as polypad or another resin.

[Gary Majchrzak]

nothing will benefit any reef aquarium like a water change!

[magdelan]

Originally posted by tmz
You can try a nitrate remover such as polypad or another resin.

I haven't heard of poly pad and don't know of any resins, but I will look into those.

Originally posted by Gary Majchrzak
nothing will benefit any reef aquarium like a water change!

I am going to continue watching the improved performance of my skimmer and will continue testing No3.

How long do I have to wait until I can do another water change???

[MarksReef]

Originally posted by Gary Majchrzak
nothing will benefit any reef aquarium like a water change!

\
Hi, Gary.
I couldn't agree more.
With Nitrates, your going to have to be fairly agressive with your water changes.

[St.james of reefdom]

The polypad Tom is referring to is the Poly-filter pad it is an adsorbent, one of the best things next to a water change in my opinion.
They are 4X8 inch pad that will work even if they are left floating in the water, they do work best if water can flow over them , but miine just float in the sump.
They can purchased at some the sponsors like foster+smith in 3 pks , definitely a plus to our filtration systems. I believe all the reef stores in Rochester carry them.
I used to use them when I would ship cichlids ..can you tell I like them..

[KurtsReef]

I have gotten into the habit of cleaning out the skimmer about biweekly, it seems to perform much better after a good cleaning.

Something about the skimmate that gets caught up on the walls of the skimmer neck seems to prevent it from performing optimally.

[magdelan]

********************PLEASE************************

How long should I wait before doing another water change????

Originally posted by St.james of reefdom
The polypad Tom is referring to is the Poly-filter pad it is an adsorbent, one of the best things next to a water change in my opinion.
They are 4X8 inch pad that will work even if they are left floating in the water, they do work best if water can flow over them , but miine just float in the sump.
They can purchased at some the sponsors like foster+smith in 3 pks , definitely a plus to our filtration systems. I believe all the reef stores in Rochester carry them.
I used to use them when I would ship cichlids ..can you tell I like them..

I'm definately going to look into a poly pad. I might be able to fold it and put it in the return of my bakpak skimmer.

[thriceanangel]

Skimming will NOT remove nitrates. It removes some of the precursors that will produce nitrates. I would just do a few water changes instead of a big one to export the NO3, then see how the skimmer hold them back.

[magdelan]

Originally posted by thriceanangel
Skimming will NOT remove nitrates. It removes some of the precursors that will produce nitrates.

...I think I knew that

[thriceanangel]

Sorry, many people are under the assumption that a better skimmer will fix their nitrate problem, and that's not the case... But I figured that whether or not you knew it, that people could benefit from the info being posted so as to not get confused... Didn't mean to insult you.. :-)

[nwrogers]

I would setup a RDSB and do a 90% water change FWIW…

[magdelan]

Originally posted by tmz
You can try a nitrate remover such as polypad or another resin.

I bought the Poly pad and put a 3x8 inch piece in the return of my cpr bakpak skimmer.

Originally posted by nwrogers
I would setup a RDSB and do a 90% water change FWIW…

I can do a 90% WC without effecting anything??

I would love to do a RDSB but that would require finding and buying sand, bulkheads, plumbing, and a pump (I have a bucket ). I will be doing one when I set up the 180 in a couple months.

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally posted by magdelan
********************PLEASE************************

How long should I wait before doing another water change????

there's no set "waiting period". Check your nitrates. Are they still high? Do another water change as soon as reasonably possible.
Of course, if you're doing small percentage water changes you'll need to do many of them in rather quick succession to be effective.
Personally, I'm a fan of large water changes. (I change out 55 gallons at a time on my 225. That's roughly a 25% water change.) Just make sure that the new saltwater matches the old water as closely as possible and that you're not adding any Genoa salami into the broth!

[magdelan]

Thanks Gary!! I did a 50% on Sunday (11/4/07 yesterday). I am going to get more water tomorrow and do another 50% tomorrow night.


OK... If I preform two 50% water changes, does this mean that I have change out 75% of the water?

Can I then do another 50% water change two days later??

Also, does Nori add to the bio load?

[tmz]

Originally posted by magdelan
Thanks Gary!! I did a 50% on Sunday (11/4/07 yesterday). I am going to get more water tomorrow and do another 50% tomorrow night.


OK... If I preform two 50% water changes, does this mean that I have change out 75% of the water?

Can I then do another 50% water change two days later??

Also, does Nori add to the bio load?

I would keep the water changes to 25% or less unless you have a serious crises which you may. The only concern I have about 50%to 90% changes are the salt mixes. They contain metals and ather impruiteis higher than natural seawater. These generally precipitate. I don't know how long it takes and a heavy dose at one time could be harmful.

Nori adds to the bio load just like any other food. Probably lower in phosphate and nitrate than other stuff. If you use frozen foods try thawing them with tap water and draining off the packing water. The the packing water is full of nutrient . The soak in tap water may also help kill any vibrio bacteria which may be in the food.

Nori would be one of the last things I would stop using unless my fish stopped eating it.

Good Luck and keep us posted.

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally posted by magdelan
Thanks Gary!! I did a 50% on Sunday (11/4/07 yesterday). I am going to get more water tomorrow and do another 50% tomorrow night.


OK... If I preform two 50% water changes, does this mean that I have change out 75% of the water?

Can I then do another 50% water change two days later??

Also, does Nori add to the bio load?

in plain speak simple terms: yes, yes and yes.
Technically speaking, the term "bioload" is usually used to describe the amount of livestock in your aquarium... so nori isn't "bioload" at all. A heavier bioload may require feeding more nori (among other foods) which in turn results in more nutrients being put into a system. To keep nitrates down you need to limit input and increase export of nutrients such as those found in any fish food- including nori (which I would rate as a "low pollution" type food if fed correctly.)

[magdelan]

FOOOOOOD!!!!!

[magdelan]

I am going to preform my second 50% water change tonight. I will post the Nitrate level afterwards. Some of my corals are opening up a tiny but though. That is encouraging!!!

[nwrogers]

I did a 90% water change on my on my 65 gallon tank just a few weeks ago and all of my corals looked great about an hour afterwards and have looked great ever since. If done carefully and quickly there is no risk in doing a large water change like that IMO. Many people won’t tell you to do it because they have never tried it and are rightfully wary of recommending something risky they haven’t tried. However I have done it a few times before so I know it is safe. If you want to get rid of nitrates and phosphates fast do a BIG water change IMO. You could even do a 100% water change but I don’t usually remove the fish so I like to leave a little water at the bottom for them that is why I say 90% or 95%. Your live rock has all of the nitrifying bacteria your tank should need so as long as the new water is the same or close to the same temperature as the old water you will be fine. Good luck!

PS Do at your own risk, I don’t personally feel there is any risk but just incase don’t blame me

[magdelan]

Thanks Nate! Considdering I just did a 50% water change two days ago. I have water mixing right now to do another 50% water change tonight. I was going to do it last night but I got into reading this article about Nitrates. If I had more buckets, I would do a larger WC, so I will stick to the 50%.

I will post my results.

[magdelan]

I am getting ready to do the WC, but my PH levels are off!! My tank PH is at 7.8 (7th hour of 8 hours with MH) which is unusual. It's usually a solid 8.3 with lights on. My mixed water is at 8.2-3 right now. My alk is a 4dkh and my Ca is at 400. Any idea of how to lower the ph in the buckets?