nitrates

[kyle]

i cant seem to get my nitrates down i are always inbetween 15-20ppm(is that bad)im running carbon and PURA nitratelock. i been funning it for almost a week and they have not gone down.

is it cuz i mite have stocked my tank to fast. i have 4 fish 1 shrimp 5 crabs. i also thougt it could be because my filter im using a canester filter. i herd tho are bad for high nitrates. any ideas???

oh and i do a 20% water change almost every 3 days

 

[sen5241b]

I had a similar question recently and everyone is telling me to set up a refugium ("fuge") with LR rubble and a big piece of chaeto. Also add a protein skimmer. (Drs Foster Smith have an easy to setup hang-on-the-side refugium you can order.)

 

[kyle]

i have 2 skimmers on. a css65 and a prizm im cant remember wat it rated but thire shit anyways. i dont have room for a "fuge"
but i think i will diffenly look in to it

 

[Bifferwine]

Try getting rid of the canister filter. Take it off, and use the protein skimmers only. Also, what are you feeding? Ditch flakes and pellets, only use frozen food. And only use RODI water. Next time you do a water change, check the new water for nitrates before you add it to the tank. To make sure that the new water you're using doesn't have high nitrates to begin with.

 

[chaosfinity]

Stocking your tank to fast does not have much to do with nitrates jumping high, that means your bio filter is taking care of the all of the Ammonia the fish are causing. In my experience and my reading filters seem to cause nitrate problems if not constantly kept clean to keep the bio filter from propagating on the filter floss. It seems that if you have a nitrate factory the live rock in your tank cannot remove the nitrate fast enough and it causes a build up. I removed my filters from my tanks and increased my water volume and now my nitrates stay below 10ppm in between my water changes which are every other week. As the tank ages it definently begins to take care of nitrates quicker.