Nitrate problem won't go down !!!!

[dirtytank600]

I use to have a 400 gallon aquarium I bought a 600 gallon aquarium a month ago I transferred everything over to my new tank and added new water to my aquarium to make up for the difference in water quantity . After adding the water I had noticed that the hoses in my 250 gallon water store unit for my RO system was switched and ever since setting up the new tank I cannot get my nitrates to go down , it doesn't matter how much water changes I do after switching the hoses back around. I'm pretty sure I have exchanged all the bad water out of my tank with new. Nothing but the nitrates are high everything else is normal .

What am I doing wrong????????
I have never had this problem and I have been in and out of the aquarium hobby for 7+ years . What advice can u give me to try fixing the problem???


Little about tank


Running two reef octopuses rated 400 gallon each
Sequence alpha one 7800 Gph pump
4 Ecotech mp40s
6 ecotech radions
2 200 micron Filter socks

 

[Steveg229]

When you switched everything over, did you rinse the old sand, or use new?

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...sounds like when you made the transfer, you disturbed the rocks and sand, causing all the settled crap to cause a nitrate spike. It's best to rinse the sand very, very well during a transfer, or just replace it because of all the bad stuff trapped in it. The best thing to do at this point is multiple water changes to dilute the nitrate levels down. Good luck.

 

[noy]

you had me at 600 gallons.... there is a lot of variables here but i'm assuming your stocking situation remain the same after the switch. I am assuming you are running a refugium (and a huge one at that).
if you are carbon dosing - moving the sandbed may have disturbed the anerobic bacteria and you no longer have a biological filter to reduce nitrates (as least as efficiently).

but, have you tested your replacement water for nitrates?
also, test your water before and after each water change - what is the shift (give it few hours to settle)?
give a few days - see if the ntirates rise - if they do - then your system is now producing nitrates faster than you are exporting it.
also, this may seem funny but what does your water smell like - if there is a foul smell you may have some dead/decaying matter that you disturbed which is now releasing nitrates with a vengence.

 

[2XAl]

Any pics? I haven't seen a residential 600 gallon system, that's pretty awesome