Help with high nitrates

[fishingchuck]

I was hoping to get some insight from the experts here. I have a 150gallon tall w/ 40 gallon sump. Tank has been running for about 10 months. I purchased it used as a complete set up and it crashed with the move. Got everything back on track and added a few corals a few months ago. Hammer/frogspawn/ torch and some Zoas. I got behind on my testing and about 3 weeks ago I noticed my frogspawn not doing so well. I tested and the nitrate was >160 api/Salifert and po4 was .67 Hanna. I was manually dosing reef energy and chaeto grow manually. Not sure why it went up so high. I stopped dosing both and started dosing nopox 15ml/ daily. It’s been almost 3 weeks and my nitrates haven’t lowered. I’ve done 4 20percent water changes. My phosphate has come down to .35 the rest of my params are
Salinity 35
Nitrate greater than 160
Po4 .35
Alk 9.4
Ca 430
Any advice for how I should go about fixing the issue? Thanks in advance for the input.

 

[Quietman]

Nitrates come from two places - stuff we put in and organisms dying/decaying (which technically is just releasing the nitrates from the food they ate I suppose).

Get a better test kit. I'm not a fan of API nitrate as I can't get two consistent readings. I like NYOS but any will do. I've also had better luck with test strips.

So the water change helped the phosphate. Good. Could be your nitrates are so high that they've actually come down you just can't see it. Again, confirm with another test kit.

Stop adding coral food. Corals don't actually need it and if you're nitrates are that high you're chaeto doesn't need it either (and really shouldn't ever if you're using to manage nutrients).

Once confirmed - do more water changes. Might want to up it one 50% based on results - and again - confirm with another kit/strip.

 

[fishingchuck]

I picked up a Hanna hr nitrate checker and it’s been 75 (max reading) each time. I don’t have a big enough reservoir for a full 50 percent change but could probably do about 35 percent. Thanks for the input. Greatly appreciated

 

[gbroadbridge]

I picked up a Hanna hr nitrate checker and it’s been 75 (max reading) each time. I don’t have a big enough reservoir for a full 50 percent change but could probably do about 35 percent. Thanks for the input. Greatly appreciated

Do two 35% changes the day after each other, that'll be somewhere around 50% total.

Then test again with the Hanna HR. Hopefully it will then be within range.

Once it's down a bit, you you could use NoPox to control it, but it does take a few weeks to kick in.

As others have said, feed the fish but not the corals, they don't need more food at the moment.

 

[fishingchuck]

I will definately try that. I just replaces all my rodi filters. I checked my most recent batch of saltwater and had 27 nitrates. Probably wasn’t the cause of the problem but wasn’t helping either. I’ve been dosing nopox daily x 1 month. Chaeto in a Refugium with a light. The chaeto is not growing just gradually shrinking. Thinking about adding a bio pellet reactor. Just hoping it turns around soon. Thanks for the reply.

 

[ZoWhat]

I took the Summer off dosing vodka in my 180g. Major mistake. You got to keep cultivating and recultivating good nutrifying bacteria on an ongoing basis

My no3 got upwards to 50-60

I Dosed a shotglass of 80proof vodka every day and inside 15 days my no3 will drop below 20.

Once i got below 10ppm, back off the vodka to a cupful ~5ml

On top of that be mindful of how much your feeding the fish. 1-2 times a day MAX. Amt of food where it's all eaten in under 5mins.

More food does NOT = bigger fish but = major no3

 

[davidcalgary29]

I took the Summer off dosing vodka in my 180g. Major mistake. You got to keep cultivating and recultivating good nutrifying bacteria on an ongoing basis

My no3 got upwards to 50-60

I Dosed a shotglass of 80proof vodka every day and inside 15 days my no3 will drop below 20.

Once i got below 10ppm, back off the vodka to a cupful ~5ml

On top of that be mindful of how much your feeding the fish. 1-2 times a day MAX. Amt of food where it's all eaten in under 5mins.

More food does NOT = bigger fish but = major no3

What would you say the volume of a shot glass is? I'd like to calculate dosage for a RSR350.

 

[gbroadbridge]

2-3ml per 100l is normal for vodka/vinegar