Nitrates - Eliminating the Last 10ppm!

[sen5241b]

Had my tank setup about 10 months now and my Nitrates are consistently at 10ppm although lately they jumped to 15 because I've been putting a lot of live brine shrimp in there for a new Mandarin Goby.

I can't get rid of the last 10 ppm!! What's the secret? As much as I appreciate the great help from this forum, I'm looking for less speculation here and more stories of things that actually worked for people to get rid of the last 10 ppm.

Setup:
Biocube 29G.
Upgraded stock pump to Rio 6hf (350gph), stock pump was 265gph.
Added two loc-lines one with spinning nozzle.
Koralia 1 pushing water under LR, see lower left of tank
BC29 skimmer (Uses wooden airstone, skim-mate is green tea and occasionally a little viscous crud)
2 water changes per month (there's a 20G to 25G of water in the tank so my 5g change out is over 20%)
2 handfuls of chaeto in back fuge
All water is first passed thru a piece of floss before further filtering
Passive filtering thru chemipure wrapped in floss --most water goes thru this on each pass.
Passive filtering thru a small bag of Rowaphos. --most water goes thru this on each pass.
All water also goes thru a sponge.
I blast the rock with a turkey baster on a regular basis.
Have some bioballs because they keep the tank quieter but, trust me, they're completely detritus free.
Over 30lbs of LR.

 

[Alexander]

not to be a pessamist but I would imagine 70 percent if not more of all hobbiests have somewhere between 0-10. As far as the rowaphos, it will be most effective in a phosphate reactor. Does your 1 powerhead seem to create flow through the whole tank with minimal spots where there is little flow? what else is in there besides the mandarinfish?

 

[sen5241b]

Only the Mandarin is in there --until he is trained to eat enriched frozen. I've read that a real reef gets the equivalent of a 100% water change 3x a day! I can't keep up with that.

 

[cthegame]

I would say do more water changes until you get 0, make sure you feed only frozen or live foods, make sure your new water is RO water not tap and double check your test kit by getting a second or third opinion.

 

[yote]

Alexander is right about the nitrates.I'd even venture to say that 99% have at some nitrates.
But to get to complete zero.Your going to have to wash that sponge out at least every other day.Rinse or change the filter media the same as the sponge.

 

[JAG107]

You'll probably never get your nitrates to completely zero. But that's ok, if you get corals or clams they will need just a little bit. WHat's worked for me in getting nitrates down are 1. water changes and 2. a more powerful skimmer. Nothing wrong with overskimming IMO. If your nitrates are below 10 I wouldn't worry unless you're gonna keep SPS.

 

[dustin_P74]

jag there is no such thing as over skimming, also a good thing to help keep nitrates down is some chaeto in the sump

 

[JAG107]

:mrgreen:+1 Dustin!

On my Christmas list: WM K1 (if I get a good deal on a 240g)