Going to try and bring the fight to the nitrates

[Justin Hartmann]

I have been fighting with nitrates for a while now. I will admit that there was a point for about a month that my water changes were not as much as they should have been. This was about two months ago. The nitrates went to about 30 - 40. I did get back on top of things and knocked them back down for the last month or so. I did larger water changes a few times over two weeks and then the normal 20% every two weeks after that. However the last week or two they have climbed back up to around 40. I cannot seem to keep them down for some reason and I cannot figure it out. I have kept up on water changes but a few days after the change the nitrates rocket back up. My corals (soft and LPS) are starting to brown a little bit and not be as vibrant. I need to get this figured out before I loose anything. Any tweaks or suggestions or ideas please let me know. Here is my plan.

I got some nopox tonight but haven't started adding it yet. I am thinking that I will do a large water change. I was thinking of doing about 10 gallons (maybe more around 7 or 8 in reality) on a 30 gallon system. I don't think that is to large but really don't know? After that change I will let it circulate a bit and test nitrate levels. Following that I will dose a small amount of the nopox (probably 0.5 - 1 ml) and keep dosing that amount everyday for about 4 days. I will test every other day unless there is a reason to test everyday? I will plot these and start tracking what is happening. I will use that data to adjust the dosing appropriately and keep tracking until it seems that the dosing will keep nitrates around 5. I do not want to bring it all the way to zero (hence the small dose to start).

I will stay with 20% water changes every other week while dosing and see how things go. May continue dosing for a while to see how it goes. May stop to see what happens and decide on next action. I will probably start to dose the red sea energy A & B a few days in to keep some nutrients in the water, I think this is what is recommended? My questions (along with the ones above) are I assume on water change days I should dose after the change? Is there going to be any effect on PH as I am already sitting on the low side? I would like to start using kalk to get it up but just don't need the alk or cal supplement. That is beside the point for now haha, will deal with that later. I do not run a skimmer, is that going to create a problem or should water changes be good enough? That is all I can think of right now, i'm sure i'll have more later. Thanks!!! I am using an API test for nitrates right now. It is the one I had from my cycle cause I did not plan on testing that much. I will probably get a salifert test to see if that is different this week. My parameters are as follows just for information.

Temp: 80
Salinity: 1.026
PH: 7.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 40
Phosphate: 0.05
Calcium: 450
Alk: 9.2
Mag: 1350
Two clownfish, three acans, one hammer, one ricordia, two favia, a mixed zoa garden (small) and a chalice. Probably 7 hermit crabs (red), 2 emerald crabs, 5 nassarius snails.

 

[Mark Taber]

Double check you make up water. Even though I have an RO/DI unit, I still detect some Nitrates as the water in my area is high in Nitrates and I have learnt that RO/DI units cannot strip it completely. I have been using N03 P04-X for about 3 months now. Within 1 week if using it, my Nitrates dropped to near zero.

 

[SPIREEFER]

I would recommend the salifert test way more accurate than API or Red Sea IMO, i had issues with nitrates also and one way is water changes but also clean your sump your filters , socks, and sand bed if you have it. I used Biopellets in a reactor and after like 3 weeks i started seeing the changes in nitrates going down mine were at about 70 and now are at about 15. It all comes down to being constant with water changes cleaning and not overfeeding.

 

[Alfrareef]

I've tried several methods and I'm now with NOPOX and quite happy with it. Just two advises. Start slow. I for the 1st 4 weeks have been with half dose trying to determine the impact over the tank. And don't add to many stuff at same time it's difficult to understand the impact and you'll probably get worst and confused.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Organic carbon dosing is a good way to reduce nitrate, but it will likely take longer than 4 days to detect an effect.

I personally wouldn't try to deal with nitrate via water changes more than the norm.

 

[PlanB]

What water are you using for WC's? Is it RODI from home or LFS? What salt are you using? Also would recommend using better test kit than API, such as salifert or Redsea. Seeing your working with 30Gal, using an RODI source for your water changes, and using better test kit, along with frequent/consistent water changes, I think you should see a reduction in nitrates.

 

[Justin Hartmann]

Thanks everyone for the responses. Sounds like the consensus is I will be getting a salifert test kit tomorrow.

@Mark Taber I did not think of the source water, I will do a test of this for sure to see where that is at. Im interested to see how the NO3-PO4-X works for me!

@SPIREEFER I did clean everything in the system really well about three weeks ago, I might do it again this week. I was thinking of throwing some marine pure into my system but wasn't sure if it would be worth it, I need more research. I have changed my feeding habits but need to come up with a way to keep my emeralds fed because they turn on my acans every now and again. So many things to fix, but one at a time so I see true results of each! I do a 20% water change every Thursday so I am back to consistent.

@Alfrareef I am glad to hear you are happy with it, i'm pretty excited to see what it does. I was going to start with dosing at about 0.5 ml and slow work up by 0.5 from there, do you think that is to small a start? I do plan to keep changes to one at a time so I see what takes effect, I agree to many things gets confusing, thanks.

@Randy Holmes-Farley Thanks, I am excited to see what it does. Thanks for the advice I was not sure how long I should wait for the effect to kick in before adjusting. I will extend the initial dose to more like weeks before I tweak things, until I am confident I can say a trend is there. That could have been bad haha. Yeah I tried water changes every few days for a week or two and it was just a ton of work, I hope this works well and can just keep to my bi-weekly.

@PlanB I use RODI from the store and mix it myself with instant ocean reef crystals. I wish and hope to get a home RODI unit soon but just have to come up with a place to put it, not the easiest at my current place. I am going to test my source water since I am not making it as suggested above. Maybe there could be something there. Thanks.

 

[brandon429]

That size of tank needs to be ripped clean to control it's nitrate imho

As mentioned earlier source water, your fish bioload, and whatever the sandbed stores up to me is your total nitrate potential

To add anything and not rip clean the sandbed back to zero storage (easily done without cycle) to me is to skip a step towards completeness of that battle. Not taking making the fell swoop cut to the nitrate.

Anyone with a nano reef and a nitrate param in mind, for those who liked to test that sort of thing, should have a sandbed that is verified to contribute nothing to that reading. Being cloudless is a good quality to have in a neutral impact sandbed imo.

If there is no SB here I'll be impressed, post pics let's see how the bioload appears in the shot

You can reach in a clean nano, grab the sandbed, drop down, nothing clouds. Detritus=no where to hide during a rip cleaning.

 

[kennedpa]

FWIW, 40 isn't toxic. Be gentle and take them down slow. Better than doing to many things at once and bottoming out. That's how you loose corals.

I like nopox. I now use vinager/vodka DIY. You must have a skimmer for carbon dosing (didn't see where you described your setup).

I also wouldn't chase your pH if you don't have an alk/cal demand. That will do more harm then good. Plenty of people rock out at 7.8. I ran an airline to my skimmer. I'm 8.3-8.45 now from 7.9-8.1.

I had a tank doing well at 90, I never tested back then. It's about stability IME. At an Alk of 9 I wouldn't go below 5 ppm. I hover around 10-12. I don't know why I choose that but I do, usually when it's dirty it's nicer. Good luck!!

Also, nopox dosing instructions are pretty spot on, don't over due it.

 

[kennedpa]

I would recommend the salifert test way more accurate than API or Red Sea IMO, i had issues with nitrates also and one way is water changes but also clean your sump your filters , socks, and sand bed if you have it. I used Biopellets in a reactor and after like 3 weeks i started seeing the changes in nitrates going down mine were at about 70 and now are at about 15. It all comes down to being constant with water changes cleaning and not overfeeding.

Not attacking but I use Red Sea, and felt good about it after BRS TV showed that it was the most accurate/consistent trends when used properly. I also like the color disc, I think it's easier to read, and I like that I can make my own dilutions to stay mid range where it's most accurate. Currently using a 15x dilution.

 

[SPIREEFER]

Yeah everyone's results are different stick with what makes you comfortable, on a side note I did use a marine pure and a bottle of bacteria.

 

[BoomCorals]

Have you considered an algae turf scrubber?

 

[andrew james]

Consider a homemade chaeto reactor, you can find instructions online. Mine has really helped me lower and stabilize both no3 and po4.

 

[jsker]

I would also look and bio media such as siprox, life bio fil, and zeovit.

 

[Alfrareef]

Thanks everyone for the responses. Sounds like the consensus is I will be getting a salifert test kit tomorrow.

@Mark Taber I did not think of the source water, I will do a test of this for sure to see where that is at. Im interested to see how the NO3-PO4-X works for me!

@SPIREEFER I did clean everything in the system really well about three weeks ago, I might do it again this week. I was thinking of throwing some marine pure into my system but wasn't sure if it would be worth it, I need more research. I have changed my feeding habits but need to come up with a way to keep my emeralds fed because they turn on my acans every now and again. So many things to fix, but one at a time so I see true results of each! I do a 20% water change every Thursday so I am back to consistent.

@Alfrareef I am glad to hear you are happy with it, i'm pretty excited to see what it does. I was going to start with dosing at about 0.5 ml and slow work up by 0.5 from there, do you think that is to small a start? I do plan to keep changes to one at a time so I see what takes effect, I agree to many things gets confusing, thanks.

@Randy Holmes-Farley Thanks, I am excited to see what it does. Thanks for the advice I was not sure how long I should wait for the effect to kick in before adjusting. I will extend the initial dose to more like weeks before I tweak things, until I am confident I can say a trend is there. That could have been bad haha. Yeah I tried water changes every few days for a week or two and it was just a ton of work, I hope this works well and can just keep to my bi-weekly.

@PlanB I use RODI from the store and mix it myself with instant ocean reef crystals. I wish and hope to get a home RODI unit soon but just have to come up with a place to put it, not the easiest at my current place. I am going to test my source water since I am not making it as suggested above. Maybe there could be something there. Thanks.

I've increase 1ml steps. Start with half the manufacturer dose and after 3 weeks start adjusting. Slow...

 

[rog2961]

just add po4 and watch them drop in two days.

 

[Justin Hartmann]

So right now I am using a hob filter because I did not want to drill this tank, I was going to do that with my 55. I may have to find a hob skimmer (any suggestions around $100, if that exists). Will that work with carbon dosing? Can I throw chaeto in my aquaclear filter and make that work somehow? I might be screwed and just need to switch everything over to my 55.

 

[kennedpa]

I Have one I'll sell you. Bubble magus HOB Q8 or something. Worked awesome on a 40 long with heavy bioload.

 

[Cory]

Water changes arent effective at reducing nitrates because as soon as you take a little out, it climbs back up.

Getting rid of the source is best but not possible completely. Imo using a ats is best