Nitrates

Mikek

Mikek

Reefing newb
So I need some advice. My Nitrates are consistently at 40. I make my own water from tap, but that tests 0 for nitrate, I have done oodles of water changes, with no effect. I have a HOB filter and a canister. I have cleaned out the canister recently, and even added stones to reduce nitrate. I have reduced the amount of food I am giving my fish. For a while I had a HOB refugium but took it off after several months as it wasn't doing anything. After all of this 2 different tests, an API liquid tester, and Tetra easy strip tester both show a consistent 40.
If it is not going any higher is this REALLY an issue? I know the lower the better, but everyone seems healthy, including my snails, hermits, and mushrooms. Lastly if it IS an issue, does anyone have any advice on other ways to lower it?

The rest of my levels are Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, Sal 1.023-1.024, Alk 280, Ph 7.9, temp 78 F.
All of these levels too, are consistent.

Thanks in advance for any input :)
 
Upgraded back to a 55 in September 2013, so it's been 6 months. The Nitrates have been pretty consistently 40 since the beginning of November.
 
Hey Mike. I don't know a whole lot about canisters filters but I hear they are nitrate traps. I had the same issue as you about a year ago. Everything in my tank was fine there were just certain corals I couldn't keep for the life of me. I had 4 fish in a 20 gallon long so I'm assuming that was my issue. Since then my fish count has been reduced to 2 for around 6 months now and my nitrates are barely on the radar and holding steady . Not sure what your current fish count is but it could be an issue if overstocked. Since I reduced my fish the corals I couldn't keep are now flourishing in my tank along with some more difficult ones as well. This is just my opinion but if they are holding steady and your fish don't seem stressed it should be OK. I would definitely still keep up with the water changes and maybe get rid of that canister filter and get a good protein skimmer if you don't have one. Hopefully someone else chimes in with some more remedies. Either way good luck!
 
+1 on the skimmer and keep the canister filter pristine.
Also when was the last time you cleaned your sand bed, I always see a drop in nitrate after I vacuum the sand.i try to clean 1/4 of the sand bed with each water change.

Also your tap water may have zero nitrate but what is the phosphate? And it may have trace minerals that are feeding the nitrates.
 
The short history of my tank..last March I had a 55g with 5 fish, I began to have ammonia issues, admittedly it was my inexperience as you can tell by the timeline here, as I was a new hobbyist. As chance would have it, in the middle of trying to deal with the ammonia in June, my tank suddenly began leaking from the bottom. In an emergency fix, I quickly moved everything over to a 20g long I had. Suddenly all the levels were perfect...and stayed perfect, making me hesitate to restore a 55g setup. Finally, in September, I decided to go bigger again and upgraded back to a 55g
 
As for the sand, though I stir it up now and again, I have never vacuumed the sand bed. Sorry to sound stupid but, they make a vacuum for sand? I have a gravel vacuum/water siphon but have never used it on the sand because it seems like the sand would come out with the water.
 
Last edited:
It will pull some sand out but not much, the gravel vac is the same for sand. Just push it in twist it and lift it back out of the sand you will see all the dark crap go to the top and the sand will fall back down.
 
I will definitely try this. I feared the sand was contributing, have even stocked up on some Nassarius' to help move the sand a bit. As for skimmer, I have a Corallife 65g that I was using. When I had my first 55g tank the skimmer wouldn't stop micro bubbling, I couldn't use the bulky thing on my 20g, and shortly after I went back to the 55g I tried using the skimmer again, but now I don't get ANY bubbles going on in the chamber so it seemed like it wasn't working, so I took it off. Don't know how to be sure if it's working.
 
ive got a small tank 10 gallon. crushed coral for substrate feed once a day never vacuum the substrate only got one cerith snail that disturbs it no skimmer and yet i have 0 nitrate for 3 and a half years.tend to now water change every two weeks not weekly.am i just lucky nitrates dont rise much?
 
bronson said:
ive got a small tank 10 gallon. crushed coral for substrate feed once a day never vacuum the substrate only got one cerith snail that disturbs it no skimmer and yet i have 0 nitrate for 3 and a half years.tend to now water change every two weeks not weekly.am i just lucky nitrates dont rise much?
Click to expand...

I wish my tank was like yours. :D
 
bronson said:
ive got a small tank 10 gallon. crushed coral for substrate feed once a day never vacuum the substrate only got one cerith snail that disturbs it no skimmer and yet i have 0 nitrate for 3 and a half years.tend to now water change every two weeks not weekly.am i just lucky nitrates dont rise much?
Click to expand...
What else is in there?
 

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