Nitrate 911!!!!help!!!!

RAYRAY

Tiny Tank Club A+ Member
I don't know what is going on with the tank !!!!!! MY NITRATES ARE OFF THE CHART AND ALL MY FISH SEEM TO BE CRAZY STRESSED!!!!! I JUST DID A 5 gallon water change and added a small HOB Filter to hold the Chemi-pure Elite !!!!!! I'm not sure what else to do !!! how much water can i change at one time with out really stressing everything out????????
Nitrates never been this high ?????
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should this be ok for now?????
 
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When I first stared mine got up to 40 and I did either a 50% or about 10 gal 3 times in a day. That might be overboard, but I wouldn't do more than 50% in one day. Are you using RO/DI water? Have you tested it for nitrates.
 
I'd go with 40% like James mentioned.
Have you checked to make sure that everything is there?If all your fish are accounted for,then the only thing I can think of that would spike em,is maybe when you took the HOB filter off,it caused a mini-cycle.
 
Do the 40% total volume but break it up into 10% at a time Ive been told by a man in alaska who will remain unnamed that this will actually drop the nitrates more that a total volume change
 
yeah all the fish are there.... the big astrea snails are all good the small snails usually hide until the lights go out. 40 % would be another 10 gallons I think !!! I already did 5 gallons. I will have to wait till the wife gets home around 6 to get more water. I have been using tap water with conditioner and stress zyme since day one that was 9 months ago. I just started having Nitrate trouble !!!!! GRRRRR thanks everone for the quick help!!!!!
 
Now would be a good time to get away from the tap water.I been using distelled water for over a year now.
 
its funny yote I just told the wife that when we go to Walmart I have to get like 20 gallons of RO water !!!! Its like 20 cent a gallon there !!!! I think this is stressing me more then the fish !!!!
 
I am praying for you and your fish. Breathe deeply and try to relax. If horses can pick up on our stress and get spooked, maybe fish can as well. If you have some Prime you can bind the nitrates to buy yourself some time. I had the exact same problem yesterday. I only have a 12 gallon Aquapod, though. I changed about 33% and all is well on the home front today. Your fish are probably doing better than you are!!

We're all here for you!

Matti
 
Thanks Matti. I am relaxing now.. A cold Guinnes Helped. I'm just trying to figure it all out you know. How can I keep corals if I cant even keep the nitrates down !!! I am going to do 10 more gallons this evening, 5 at a time. Run the chemi-pure elite until Monday and wait and see !!! thanks again for the support !
 
Don't worrie too much as the tank mature and if you start using ro water then it will get better, oh and water changes to. I thought the same thing when I started. Just start out with some easy stuff and and build up from there. They can take more than you think, but also need special care if you know what I mean.
 
when you say "off the charts" what does that mean? 20-40ppm isn't critical. Those levels will start to bother coral though. 60ppm? now you are getting somewhere bad. 80ppm? not good.

Anytime I get a weird reading, I re-test immediately. I once got a ph reading of below 8 and I lost my mind. I ran to the store to buy buffer (which I still have, unopened, if someone wants a 3 year old jar of it). When I got home, I re-tested it and it was spot on. Human error is just as big a part of this hobby as algae and cyano. Breathe and take it slow, trying to figure out the root of the problem, not just trying to put the biggest band-aid you can find. More damage can be done by messing with things that don't need attention than just thinking things through.

BTW, I agree to not use tap water ever. Only RO water for me

-Doc
 
thanks DOC !
the only ROOT of the problem for nitrates I guess would be the tap water. I feed only once a day, I dont have abio-wheel any longer. I have a skimmer. I might not have enough Live rock yet but the rock I have in the tank (35 lbs of base rock and 5 lbs of live rock) My tank has been runnnin now for 9 months.
I tested 2 x's and the chart was in the red. at least 80ppm NOT GOOD !!! my tomato is breathing really fast, same with the chromis, the diamond goby doesnt seem affected either do the snails. i heading to the store to get RO water and saltwater for another water change to get the nitrates down 10 more gallons I might have them test my water too. thanks again
let me know if there might be anything else you can think of !!!
just tested again and they are right around 60 now I guess above 40 below 80. hope the water change lowers it!! heading out now to the store !
 
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If it is a continual problem, it may mean that you are overstocked (no idea how many inches of fish you are running). which can be relieved by either removing a fish OR adding more cured live rock. the more rock you have that is cured, the slightly bigger bioload your tank can handle due to more surface area bacteria can grow. Don't get anymore lace rock. Only cured live rock. I am a fan of fiji myself. Good luck.

-Doc
 
doc, my system right now has 4 fish, 2 small green chromis, i small tomato clown one small diamond goby. I have 5 nassarius snails and 5 astrea snails.
I have 40 lbs of base reef rock that has pretty much been in since the start, I have 5 lbs of live tonga branch that as been in for about 3 weeks or so. I run a CSS65 and 2 powerheads, a koralia 1 rated at 400 gph and a maxi 400 rated at 104 gph. I almost bought more "cured" fiji rock but decided to do the water change first. thanks for your help ! the LFS was way to busy to "talk" tonight. this site really kicks ass!!
 
we do try. Your fish load sounds like it is somewhere around 6 inches or so. seems like you may be getting close to your limit, depending on the size of your tomato, who will get about 6 inches or so. You will max out at about 7-8 inches. You can push 8-9 if you add another 20 lbs of live rock. not small chunks either, bigger boulders that have a lot of surface area. I got my fingers crossed for you

-Doc
 
Ray,I'm betting you had a mini-cycle from taking out the bio-wheels.But thats alright as long as everything lives.Which I think they will.
Another thing that will help lower the nitrates is marine SAT.
 
well i got them down to 20 ppm. overnight even whe nwe lost power twice. I think that I will try to replace some of my base rock with fiji cured live rock today, I HOPE !! getting low on funds !! The fish are not breathing as heavy today, but still look a little stressed , The Clown is usually swimming all around by now but is still in his home. The chromis usually dont come out of thier caves until the afternoon. As far as BIO LOAD, is that just fish, or EVERYTHING. I want to get a couple peppermint shrimp and after my MH light arrives start planning corals. Yote I hope it was just a mini cycle !!! But we will see soon right !!!
thanks for all the help !!!
 
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