Help Needed Nitrates...

Ruffrider · Sep 14, 2017

Not exactly new to the hobby, but its been a while... Never had this issue before.

75 Gallon Das aquarium, Trigger system 26 sump, Reef Octopus 110ss skimmer, Microalgea refugium, and as of yesterday a Phosban 550 reactor. Dual T5 Lamps.

I got a massive red/green algae outbreak. Nitrates went really high. Lost my scarlet shrimp.. Other fish are fine.

I think it was mainly due to lighting , I put a blue LED light in my tank for night time. This is one of those GLO FISH blue led's. I think it was way more powerful than I thought.

Phosphate level is 0.. which is good, figure that's the reactor working.. Turned down lights and turned off night led.

Water changes not helping much. Do you think the Phosban will help fix this in due time? OR do i need to get aggressive with this?

Also since someone may ask
I'm using a phosphate test kit, and a 6 in 1 Test strip.
Nitrite, ALK, PHOS, PH, etc all good. Only NITRATE is my issue.

CNDReef · Sep 18, 2017

You can do a lot of small water changes or one very large one to get it down. Also could look into carbon dosing/reactor or sulfur reactor
The phosphate reactor won't do anything to nitrates

Waters · Sep 18, 2017

What are your nitrates reading at?

PatW · Sep 18, 2017

Phosphates have to be really low in a tank or they will cause algae blooms. The only test that is sensitive enough to detect those low levels is the Hanna ULR phosphate test.

Nitrates can be reduced by a number of methods.

There is the Brute force method of water changes. It really works by taking out high nitrate water and adding 0 nitrate water. It is solution by dilution.

Another method is having a big skimmer for your system. You add an energy source in the form of vinegar, vodka or one of the commercial additives. The fixed carbon serves as an energy source for bacteria. They multiply like crazy and in the process absorb nitrates and phosphates. The skimmer will remove the bacteria from the water. I get good nitrate control this way, less so for phosphates.

The third method is having a refugium in your sump. You have a light source and add some macro algae like chaeto. The chaeto grows and sucks up phosphates and nitrates. If it fills the refugium just remove some and toss it or give it away.