High Nitrates.

ButterCup

ButterCup

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Hi everyone. reaching out for some advice. Please. We acquired a 120 liter
When I first tested the parameters on the tank it was as follows

Nitrites 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrates over 100
Alkalinity 3,5
Ph 8,2
Salinity 1.026
Phosphates 2

Livestock in the tank:
Anemonefish
Damsel
Blenny
Hermit crab
4 trochus snails
1 turbo snail
Sand shifting star fish
Bloodred fire shrimp

Lots of live rocks
Some xenia, mushrooms, 4 kenya trees. And some other unidentied small pieces of coral


Equipment.:
Redsea primz skimmer
Some kinda light
Canister filter
Airstone


I have been doing the following to try to get theses nitrates down:
1. Cleaned the canister filter
2. Water changes. 10% every three days for the first two weeks. (Did make a slight difference but not much).
Did a 20% water change in the third week. Brought it down to about 50 for nitrates
But then again this morning nitrates are picking up again

3. Added some triple buffer to get The alkalinity up. Managed to raised to 4,5. Will do that every day untill we reach 8. Also check ph to make sure that stays stable

4. Also added phosphate stop to filter to try and get the phosphates down. Will give that a week before checking the phosphates again

Help feels like I am fighting a loosing battle..
Any advise will be appreciated.

If any more info is needed, please let me know. Would like to stabilize this tank. As it is my pride and joy
 
So alot to ask since we don't know the start of this tank that's why adding a thread of tank is so helpfull when it comes to others helping you
How long has the tank been running?
Did you cycle it or bought it just so, from a reefer?
Who is testing your water?
Send pics of the setup and more info
 
Sorry I was not aware that I could add a tread for the tank. Although I have read so much about other people building tanks and found it so interesting. My mistake...

The tank has been running for app 2 years. I have had the tank for about three weeks now. I bought from another reefer. I test the water myself.
Sorry was trying to give as much info as i could think of. Will add pics soonest.
 
210655 210656
 
See pics above.
equipment is red sea hang on prism skimmer
Dophin c1000 canister filter
Twi mini sobo wavemakers.
And airstone.
Can’t give details on the light... i dont know.

Hope this helps
 
Take sample water to a LFS to test and see if it's same or near the same cause 100ppm No3 and 0.2 Po4 is alot
Your coral seen happy do you have algae issues with that levels you should have a bunch if not I think test isn't right or done right
Your maintenence also good on tank so I really can't seem to see what it can is other thn test worng
Maybe the more experienced guys wil help later on
 
Doing waterchanges to manage water parameters is not ideal. What do you currently use to manage nitrate except the waterchanges? I found running phosphate stop works best in a reactor. If you add just in a sock the media tends to clog up and be useless
 
Thanks guys all advise is much appreciated.

I have used two different ranges to test nitrates: salfert and red sea. Both show the same. I will definitely check LFS for full water testing as currently I am not checking magnesium and iodine

will keep my eyes open for an algae outbreak. I did expect the tank to go through a small cycle due to the sand being shifted when moving the tank. Am i right in expecting this?

I am also surprised by the state of the coral. They look ok. But can just image how beautiful they will be one phosphates are down.

To control the nitrates I was just planning on doing the regular water changes 10%. Please give more advise on this...

I have place phosphates stop in a flat bag on-top of the first layer of the canister filter. Is this good enough. Is there another place to put it? Planning on checking that once a week and also these phosphate once a week. Was planning on replacing phosphate stop every three week. Any comment regarding this plan?

Thanks again for the advise and comment. Please feel free to tell if there is anything I should be doing different.
 
I havent used phosphate stop in a cannister but will imagine it will be the same as just adding it into bag. To be effective the media needs to tumble. In my experience it also gets saturated very fast so one need to replace or renew it regularly. At least once a week if levels are high.

Regarding nitrates i am not sure what you can do. I assume you dont have a sump?
 
Nopox is a option....myself havent used nopox but ive used other carbon sources wich works on same principles as nopox. when done right it works very well.
 
So in all how long has the NEW system been running? you WILL get a mini cycle when moving tanks and nitrates will push up sky high.

This happens to every single one of the tanks I speed cycle etc. Instead of doing things like chemicle dosing for a new tank, give it some time to build bacteria load and maybe add chaeto to your cannister filter. you can look on youtube how to modify it.

NOPOX will not work as effectively in your current situation as its designed to bring down both phos and nitrates in a set ratio in order to keep your red field ratio in check.
 
Ferret said:
NOPOX will not work as effectively in your current situation as its designed to bring down both phos and nitrates in a set ratio in order to keep your red field ratio in check.
Click to expand...
I completely agree here. I do not use NOPOX to reduce my nitrates/phosphates. I use it to keep the level consistent.
 
vinegar and glucose dosing is a good way to only target the nitrates in a tank when you start carbon dosing. BUT dont do this at the start of a new tank. Rather wait for it to settle and use the Vinegar/Glucose to bring it down slowly by small amounts
 
Ferret said:
vinegar and glucose dosing is a good way to only target the nitrates in a tank when you start carbon dosing. BUT dont do this at the start of a new tank. Rather wait for it to settle and use the Vinegar/Glucose to bring it down slowly by small amounts
Click to expand...
I cycled my tank using the "Red Sea method" which incorporates NOPOX as food for the bacteria during the cycling process. I have continued with this process since my first tank about 2 years ago, and continued it when I upgraded and moved most of the content over to the larger tank. But again, carbon dosing is not a quick solution to any nutrient problem as it takes quite a length of time to get the dosage up to spec.
 
SFlow said:
I cycled my tank using the "Red Sea method" which incorporates NOPOX as food for the bacteria during the cycling process. I have continued with this process since my first tank about 2 years ago, and continued it when I upgraded and moved most of the content over to the larger tank. But again, carbon dosing is not a quick solution to any nutrient problem as it takes quite a length of time to get the dosage up to spec.
Click to expand...

first time I have heard of a program recommending carbon dosing from the start. Do you have any more information about it as I used to use the red sea range as I would love to read up on it as they dont do a 'stability" or "colony" type product to seed/start the tanks with in SA, I know they do a reef mature kit (but having seen it in shops)
 
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Ferret said:
first time I have heard of a program recommending carbon dosing from the start. Do you have any more information about it as I used to use the red sea range as I would love to read up on it as they dont do a 'stability" or "colony" type product to seed/start the tanks with in SA, I know they do a reef mature kit (but having seen it in shops)
Click to expand...
The "Reef mature Starter Kit" is that exact thing. It contains four "ingredients":
  • A bacteria starter
  • A bacteria food source ("to facilitate waste production")
  • NOPOX as a bacteria growth supplement
  • Coralline Gro (which I didn't even use)
The kit uses the tank's natural waste production process in conjunction with carbon dosing (a.k.a NOPOX) to quickly cycle the tank. My tank was successfully cycled and stable within 2 weeks (as advertised). But I continued monitoring it for an addition 2 weeks just to be sure. It worked like a bomb in my case, but it is kind of expensive for larger tanks as each kit only "treats 250 Liters".

See here for the webpage: Red Sea Reef Mature Pro Kit

(edit: I am in no way advertising or promoting this product, even if it may sounds like it)
 
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