High Nitrate

I'm going to change my filter socks out. And after talking to some people last night in chat, we came to the conclusion that there might be trapped nitrate in my sand bed. So, gonna try stirring the sand by hand for a few days, take another eading and see if that works. Also getting a better brighter light for the sump today to help out the chaeto. I don't normally disturb my sand bed when I do a water change, so we thought maybe try stirring it up a bit to see if anything releases, or add a couple engineer gobbies to do it for me.
 
Interesting...thanks for the info. Ironically enough...I too do not stir up my sandbed at all. Haven't for 6 months. Maybe you're on to something...
I have one goby that does a great job on one side of my tank. My blenny won't allow him on the other side to eat. She chases him away. Maybe I should do a little stirring myself?

BTW I bought a 10.0 UVB 26W for my chaeto, and it's doing quite well.
 
U4BOYZ said:
Interesting...thanks for the info. Ironically enough...I too do not stir up my sandbed at all. Haven't for 6 months. Maybe you're on to something...
I have one goby that does a great job on one side of my tank. My blenny won't allow him on the other side to eat. She chases him away. Maybe I should do a little stirring myself?

BTW I bought a 10.0 UVB 26W for my chaeto, and it's doing quite well.
Click to expand...

Try it and see. Between the 2 of us we should get some sort of result, good, bad or indifferent.

Also, thanks for the info on the light. Will be checking that out today for sure.
 
I agree w/ Bluespace's theory on the chaeto -- I had 0 nitrates in mmy 45 w/ the chaeto -- but it didn't get that way until I learned how to grow the chaeto. The chaeto doubled in size, and my nitrates became 0ppm all the time. That was with my light on the chaeto on 24/7. I switched out to an opposite lighting schedule as my dt lights, and I did notice a difference in my water quality. The chaeto's growth slowed significantly.

My 125g now has chaeto, but hasn't grown (hasn't died, either), and it was on a night-time schedule only. My nitrates would not go down. I'm up to 20ppm, and I've done a couple of, albeit, small water changes. But this week, I now leave the CFL light on 24/7 to see if it makes a difference, so I'm hoping that having it on 24/7 will make it grow faster, which would hopefully mean it would eat up more nitrates. But it's worth a try.
 
as for sand bed stirring, I HIGHLY recomend a sandsifting goby-- I love my diamond goby. That way, it's being stirred up constantly and so there won't be a big nitrogen spike...whereas if you're the one doing it, there's bound to be a spike.

U4-- you were feeding 3x per day? Holy crap!! Knock it back to every other day at the most until your params are under control. I promise your fish will be fine.
 
Have you considered doing the algae scrubber on the DIY thread? When i was cycling my tank I ran across the thread, and instead of doing a skimmer I figured I would give it a shot (I'm not saying take out your skimmer, I just didn't have one yet) My nitrates have dropped from an initial almost 50ppm to around 5ppm. I figure at my next 1 to 2 cleanings I won't have any nitrates. It's working really well for me. You can see pics on my build page if you'd like.
 
I do have a sifter goby...he does a great job...but he's only allowed on one side of the tank...my blenny won't allow him on the other side. :(

I am feeding one small meal a day now....and a small piece of algae every-other-day. I am concerned about my tang already---she's gotten too skinny. All the other fish seem to be doing fine though.

Please let me know how it goes with the chaeto wontonflip. I only have my light on for 8 hours a day. I can certainly leave it on 24/7 if it'll get my nitrates down!

I've also never siphoned my sand. I wonder if that's a problem as well. I will give it a bit of a stir....but only a little bit a day. I don't need something to spike on me.
 
I leave my fuge lights on (two 23 watt CFL bulbs) 24/7. My chaeto grows out of control, and my nitrates have been at zero ever since I set my tank up. Maybe 8 hours is too short for your tank?
 
I think that the greater the bioload, the more time you should leave on your fuge light. For my tank, a night time 10 hour light schedule is enough for it to hold the nitrates at zero. I have cut back my water changes and added a filter sock about 6 weeks ago. Ever since I added the filter sock I have noticed that their is soo much less crap building up on all of my rock work. That sock pulls out a lot of crap. Also I tried throwing it in the washer like you guys suggested and it came out crystal clean. If my wife knew I put a fish diaper in the washing machine she would be pissed!
 
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Fish diaper. Hehehe

Well...I'm going to start leaving my light on 24/7. Can't really hurt, right? Why not give it a try...

I'm not sure what you're talking about PRC with the algae scrubber...but I'm going to check it out. Thanks.

Does anyone knows if it hurts my tank that I never siphon it?
 
Okay, so I pulled the old light out. I just bought and mounted a new light fixture with a 23 watt CFL. Also went and got another conch to help stir the sand bed as well. So my plan is to leave the new light on 24/7 for at least a week, and then back to the normal reverse light schedule as before. That will be 11 hours on the sump. I'll check my nitrates again at the end of the weekend and see if they drop from the 20ppm at all.
 
Why not just leave the light on 24/7, it's only 23 watts.Bulb will last longer, the off/on kills the cf bulbs pretty quick. I'll toss you a carbon credit so its all good :Cheers:
 
This is the bulb I finally ended up with after trying a few. I think it was $7
Left my light on 24/7 until I saw growth. Now 8 hours and still kickin.



721365600628lg.jpg
 
To get my nitrates down to zero I had to:
1 Get good flow going including under the rock. Prevent detritus traps
2 Put strong light on BIG piece of cheato. I recommend a basketball size chunk of cheato for your tank
3 Don't over-stock!
4 One and a half pounds of rock per gallon
5 The value of sand beds has been disputed.
 
How did you get flow UNDER the rock?

I have a good size ball of chaeto. How long do you leave your grow light on for a day?

I also have 1 1/2 lbs of live rock per gallon...so I guess I'm all set there.

Question: I think I have my tank overstocked. Will getting more LR help? I could add some to the sump. Does extra LR help if you have too many fish? Thanks.
 

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