Nitrates to high!!!

[jneigh1]

i just did this thread but i am writing it again cause i do not c it.

two weeks ago i had bought a lionfish but he was too hard to keep so i went to get rid of him but in the proccess of catching him i accidently knocked a giant can of opened flake food into the tank. at the time i did not check the nitrates cause i knew they were high. ever since then i have been doing small water changes and last night i did a 25% water change. i thought that would do the trick but i just checked my nitrates a second ago and they are at 40 ppm! the strange thing is thta my fish are ok. the day it happened my trigger got ick but i medicated the tank and everybody was alright. how do i lower the nitrates quickly so that there are no long term damages to my system.

 

[Keaton]

Did you test before and after you did a water change? You might have disturbed the sand bed releasing detritus which would raise the nitrates. The flake food will result in a spike in phosphates as well as nitrates eventually if I remember correctly. Phosphates will encourage algae growth if you don't take care of it. Did you vaccum the spilled food up with your siphon?

 

[yote]

You'll have to keep a close eye on your parameters for the next little bit.
Not only did the mis-hap give your tank a butt load of phosphates and nitrates.It can kick off another cycle.
Any of the food thats left to rot will cause ammonia.So have enough water made up to do at least a 50% water change if needed.Test ammonia everyday untill you know the dangers gone(at least a couple of weeks).At the first sign of ammonia,do a water change,then mix more water,just in case.

 

[jneigh1]

i checked right after the water change, so you say you think its the sandbed. i certainly hope so. i will check tommarow because i think i might have disrupted the sandbed and the water is foggy from the change. also i was looking up algea scrubbers, do you know anything about this and how to buy them? thanks for the help

 

[jneigh1]

do you think it would be safe to do a 50% water change tommarow since i did a 25% water change today or should i wait

 

[Smitty]

Continue to do water changes and monitor the levels...what kind of filtration are you using on your tank? The reason I asked is because many filtration methods people use trap nitrates(eg. bio-balls, bio-wheels, canisters).

 

[jneigh1]

i have the ammonia test bottles one and two and the card but i dont have the directions. can someone give me the direction lol, thanks

 

[jneigh1]

i am in the proccess of adding a sump with a refugium that has cheato algea but i havnt connected the two yet because i added more sand to the refugium to get a deep sand bed and am waiting for it to cycle. right now i am just using an aqua clear 110 filter with ammonia remover pouch. i had the carbon pouch in as well but i am finishing off the kick ich treatment and had to leave it out.

 

[Smitty]

Do you have a protein skimmer? If not, you should really invest in one.

 

[jneigh1]

yes i have an octopus, sorry i didnt think to mention that. i also have a UV sterilizer. the UV sterilizer was really for a pond.

 

[jneigh1]

i just checked my ammonia levels and they look to be zero

 

[Bifferwine]

Don't panic -- nitrates at 40 are not going to be harmful to most fish. Inverts, yes, but fish will withstand those levels just fine. Keep doing 25% water changes a couple times a week to get them down, but don't do anything drastic as long as your ammonia and nitrites are both at zero.