Nitrate problem

[c.hill1100]

My nitrates are always in the 40 to 50 range and I can't seem to get it down after countless water changes!!
46 gal reef tank
All my corals are fine but I've had 1 fish die from ich which I removed right away
And my bubble tip nem is at the top of my tank looking stressed
What's a way to lower nitrates better

 

[mike007]

Nitrates are caused by excess nutrients most common cause Is from overfeeding.

 

[c.hill1100]

Yea I think I may be over feeding
I feed twice daily
2 clowns
1 pintail wrasse
1 cherub angel
1 royal gramma

I've heard of draining the water from thawing frozen food but it doesn't make since

How much do I feed?

 

[mike007]

Yes you need to thaw frozen food and rinse it. Slow down on your feeding my friend and your nitrates will go down. Continue doing your water changes .

 

[c.hill1100]

Ok il try that hope it works thanks

 

[icsparks]

Increase your water change amount over the next 4 changes by 1/4. Only one feeding a day and feed less food. Rinse the food in DI water. I know some foods you just cant and only feed that type of food once a week. You should see a change in the 4 weeks.

 

[c.hill1100]

Rinse in fresh water? Do I thaw it out in the tank water? Or just RO?

 

[Reefing Madness]

Rinse em out in RO water, or use tank water to thaw.
Bigger skimmer
Algae Turf Scrubber
Carbon Dosing aka Vodka Dosing
Large sump with lots of macro algae
These are some things that can help you keep your nutrients in check.

 

[ultimatemj]

The rinsing food idea seems to come up a lot regarding P04, but appears to be a myth.

I've never heard it in regards to NO3, but this article helped me understand "the battle".

 

[c.hill1100]

Article looks super helpful. Def gunna start feeding once daily now and il do 10 gal water change every week or so

 

[gtbarsi]

+1 on rinsing the frozen food.

I had to learn the hard way that you want to shut off your power heads while you feed. Feed a little, let them eat it all feed some more, let them eat it, etc... Try and avoid anything hitting the bottom of the tank or going over the overflow. After feeding turn your power head back on.

One other thing I changed was to get a power head that had the ability to pulse. Running a pulsing power head really insures nothing stays on the bottom of the tank. I proved this to myself when I got it by feeding the fish a normal amount of food all at once with the power head off. After they were done eating I turned it on and the food that had gotten to the bottom was kicked up. It would have eventually made it to the overflow, but the fish went in to action and ate every little bit.

Finally if you have mechanical filtration of any kind (filter sock, filter floss, filter pad, a canister filter) you have to clean them very frequently (think 2-3 days). Otherwise fish poop and food get trapped in them and it turns in to a nitrate factory. I am a big fan of good mechanical filtration but only if it is easy to replace and the filters can be cleaned and re-used. I have 20 filter socks, and I just keep swapping them out, until I am down to a pair, then I throw them in the washing machine with hydrogen peroxide (I rinse them out when I remove them to minimize any smell).

 

[c.hill1100]

What do u rinse your filters in?

 

[reeffirstaid]

While rinsing frozen food is important, I wouldn't think you would see such a high nitrate number, from your feeding schedule, or not rinsing food alone. 40-50 ppm, in a reef tank, is extremely high. Do you have any foam filter pads, or areas where a lot of waste sticks, creating a nitrate factory? Massive, frequent water changes, can be both good and bad. Good, that they reduce nitrate within the water, by replacing it with nitrate free water - bad in that they replenish calcium, etc. If your animals are not using it fast enough, then you can get out of balance CA, ALK, etc.

When you feed, are your fish consuming the majority of the food given to them? I feed a lot, as my fish eat a lot, but I still run a system with around 2-5 ppm nitrate. You may need to consider adding a biopellet reactor to your tank, giving anaerobic bacteria a place to flourish and allowing them to break down that excessive nitrate.

 

[vlangel]

+1 on some sort of anaerobic bacteria to flourish. I have a deep sand bed and have undetectable nitrates even though I feed an unrinsed cube of frozen food a day in my 36g tank.

 

[c.hill1100]

My overflow filter foam things are nasty with food so I'm pretty sure it may be the culprit.

Would high nitrates cause my nem to die?

 

[gtbarsi]

What do u rinse your filters in?

Tap water in a work sink in my laundry room...

 

[c.hill1100]

Ok il probably test the tap for nitrates nitrites ammonia all that stuff before I use it

 

[gtbarsi]

Ok il probably test the tap for nitrates nitrites ammonia all that stuff before I use it

The actual cleaning is done in the washing machine with Hydrogen peroxide. After that let them air dry and you are good to go...

 

[vlangel]

I don't think nems are as sensitive to nitrates as SPS corals and some nems utilize some nitrates and phosphates as food but yours are quite high so perhaps it could negatively affect one.

 

[icsparks]

My 20 gal tank holds 15 gal of water. I do 4 gal water changes every week I change the filter floss every 4 days like clockwork. I run an Aquaclear 20 with a media basket filled with Clear FX pro and Purigen. 4-420 gph powerheads for flow. No skimmer, No pellets, No GFO, No sump. Tank has 0 nitrates. My phosphates got high (.12) because I didn't change out my media soon enough but is now going back down. You may want to try the Clear FX Pro and Purigen. I found that I need to change it out every 2 months. My calcium, Alk and Mag has not changed in 4 months.
I installed a HOG algae scrubber on the tank about a month ago but it hasn't done anything but blow bubbles. I wanted to keep the setup as simple as I could. I feel that with the setup I have the tank has done great. I have no fancy equipment on this tank and also feel that the water changes has made all the difference in it's success.