nitrates never read zero?

[wasp9166]

my tank is 3 months old, 120 gal,ive always had measurable nitrates, it did go down to .02 or so , but today i did a 25 gal water change , and now its 2.5.............why isnt it going down? over feeding maybe? selcon? garlic juice? i feed twice a day and i always soak in selcon AND garlic juice, could this be the reason? but its all gone in maybe 3 minutes tops, and i only have 2 tangs and a blenny..............and my chaeto doesnt grow either, im stumped

[wasp9166]

uoh, nitrites are now .1, been zero all along, all i have in the tank is crabs which seem fine, snails which seem fine, a yellow tang , a powder blue and an algae blenny, which are all fine as well......i did add i detritivore kit last week from inland aquatics , and i have not seen a sight of anything that i added, i figured they were in the sand somewhere, is it possible that most died and thats whats causing this?

[andy51289]

What type of test kit are you using? Do you have any kind of sponges or filter pads that may be trapping food in them after you feed the tank?

[wasp9166]

well ammonia is 0 , i do use a filter pad on one drain but i change it weekly, and it was changed yest.........i have been feeding heavily since i added the sand kit since i was told to not dose phytoplankton, instead feed the fish heavily.............i feed frozen brine about 3 times a week, they are dead shrimp, perhaps thats it, other than that i feed form 2 pellet and sea veggies mixed flake , along with some nori in a clip, and all of that stuff doesnt stick around long, the tangs gobble it up, maybe some brine are geting caught in the rock work?

[andy51289]

It sounds as if you are feeding too much... Try feeding once a day. And also, I would cut down on the brine shrimp feedings. Only feed the amount of food it takes for the fish to eat it in 2 or 3 minutes.

[andy51289]

Just FYI, a nitrate reading of 2.5 is actually very good. Nothing to be concerned about.. If you don't want to change your feeding habits, then I wouldn't worry about nitrates.

[wasp9166]

well i guess its a double edged sword, im worried if i dont feed enuff the detritivores will die.............i have a fuge with chaeto but it doesnt grow, i run a euro cs6-3, i have a deep sand bed and ive never once since i started this tank gotten a nitrate reading of 0................

[samsfishnchips]

you have nice equipment, and that reading is not bad, just enjoy the tank :D

[andy51289]

Some people even stride to have nitrates at 10. 2.5 is very good.

[wasp9166]

well i always thought that 0 is what you should strive for, i know fish can handle it a bit but what about anemones and corals?

[samsfishnchips]

Originally posted by wasp9166
well i always thought that 0 is what you should strive for, i know fish can handle it a bit but what about anemones and corals?

you will be fine, when dealing with finite species, then its highly recomended to give your tank time,

so in your case what can you do to improve it:

water change, keeping parametors, and give it time,

good luck,

nothing good comes easy, the wise said :D

sam

[Devious Rhesus]

Originally posted by wasp9166
well i always thought that 0 is what you should strive for, i know fish can handle it a bit but what about anemones and corals?

All the people with TOTM quality rigs seem to hae nitrates of zero. I think they're horribly color blind and can't read their own test kits. I've been trying for AGES and can't get mine down to zero...

[wasp9166]

what i cant figure is why i have nitrates and nitrites but my chaeto seems stunted, it doesnt die but it doesnt grow either, just stays the same size..........well ill cut back on feeding, i thought feeding heavily would be good for the sandbed but its obviously not good for the tank overall.........i guess its a fine balance ive yet to meet..........fat fish, thriving sand, bad parameters.............or.........skinny fish, ok sand, good parameters

[The Grim Reefer]

I don't think you could actually have ZERO nitrates amonia or nitrites because they are a part of the natural nitrogen cycle. From what I've read some corals actually do better with nitrates a little higher. If your macro isn't growing like crazy you are probibly feeding about right. I assume overfeeding would promote macro growth because of a steady supply of nitrates to feed them.

[wasp9166]

well i allready know fish can handle a few nitrates,i didnt know corals could, what about nitrites? do they tolerate them the same way? i know ammonia is not tolerated at all by fish.............and if this is the case when i read that anemones need "prestine" water, what exactly is that if some trates are ok?

[The Grim Reefer]

I should have used the word a few instead of some regarding Nitrate tolerant corals. As long as your Nitrates are under 10 PPM you really shouldn't have a problem with most anything you want to have. I think Anemones need the stability of an established tank, no big nitrate or amonia spikes.

[Scuba Dog]

Your tank is still young and so is the deep sand bed, I would expect for your system to still test positive for some nitrates, at the 6th month mark or so you will notice that they are more controlable, and at the one year mark they should test out non detected, in time it will mature.....

[wasp9166]

i see, and the nitrites ive read this week that are the first since the tank cycled are caused by...........? ive even had 5 trates but 0 trites at one point.................the trites alarm me more than the trates, the trates dont alarm me being there but i thought they should have gone down to 0 by now is all..........i was releaved to see 0 ammonia i can tell ya that

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by wasp9166
i see, and the nitrites ive read this week that are the first since the tank cycled are caused by...........? ive even had 5 trates but 0 trites at one point.................the trites alarm me more than the trates, the trates dont alarm me being there but i thought they should have gone down to 0 by now is all..........i was releaved to see 0 ammonia i can tell ya that

Reading Nitrites is not a good thing. Perhaps the 25 gallon water change caused the problem. Did you stirr up the sandbed or rocks when you added the water? Maybe doing smaller water changes more often will help.

[dillycheeze]

a while back i didnt think you really could have a nitrate test give you a 0 reading......all the TOTMs posted 0 nitrates.....and i would always test the water after buying corals, and they always had nitrates.....sometimes pretty high!....so i figured i was fine......but in the past 2 months, i started doing weekly waterchanges and feeding less, and i get 0....with 3 different test kits....when it happens you stare at it like, when is it gonna change color....lol......keep up with maintenance and it will happen, but 2.5 isn't shabby at all

[wasp9166]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
Reading Nitrites is not a good thing. Perhaps the 25 gallon water change caused the problem. Did you stirr up the sandbed or rocks when you added the water? Maybe doing smaller water changes more often will help.



i didnt stir the sand but what i do is blow off all the rock with a baster b4 i start to siphon, alot of white stuff blows off, im not sure if its sand that my tangs have kicked up or detritus..........if it is indeed detritus that i disturbed would it give me a trite reading?

[The Grim Reefer]

I don't think you could have enough gunk on the rocks to cause a problem if you turkey baster the rocks often, they should be fairly clean. I assume you have a good clean up crew. Your tank may just need a little more time to mature.

Are you using tap water for your changes? If so that could be the source of your problem. Other than that just give the tank more time, you are running good equipment so it will come in at some point.

[wasp9166]

oh no , ro di 0..............i bast em once a month when i change.......yes i have crabs and snails and such