High nitrate how i do lower it? i dont have a sump only iso in my tank. HELP!

Ronalddd

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i notice my fishes are dying and when i check my nitrate is it very high and i do not know how to lower my nitrate
 

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Sorry to hear you’re losing your fish that’s never fun! You’re going to have to give the community more to go off to get the help you’re looking for. Such as tank parameters, how long has it been set up, the appearance and behavior of the fish? But to answer your immediate question about nitrates you’re going to have to do large water changes to get them under control. When you say high nitrates how high are we talking? Usually nitrates would have to be ridiculously high before they come under suspicion for killing fish.
 
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Ronalddd

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Sorry to hear you’re losing your fish that’s never fun! You’re going to have to give the community more to go off to get the help you’re looking for. Such as tank parameters, how long has it been set up, the appearance and behavior of the fish? But to answer your immediate question about nitrates you’re going to have to do large water changes to get them under control. When you say high nitrates how high are we talking? Usually nitrates would have to be ridiculously high before they come under suspicion for killing fish.
sorry i am new here hahaha. my ammonia is at 0 nitrite at 0 but my nitrate is at 160ppm cause that is the max ppm for api test kit. i have the tank up for 6 months now. i added a royal gramma and a flasher wrasse 2 days ago they were doing fine eating and all but today i found them dead. i just did a 20% water change
 

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i notice my fishes are dying and when i check my nitrate is it very high and i do not know how to lower my nitrate

You mention no sump. What do you use for filtration? Do you use mechanical filtration? How often do you change it? What is your water change routine? How large is the tank and what are the current inhabitants?
 
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You mention no sump. What do you use for filtration? Do you use mechanical filtration? How often do you change it? What is your water change routine? How large is the tank and what are the current inhabitants?
i am using iso with ceramic rings . i change my filter floss every week and water change every week. about 10 gallons now i have 2 clowns 1 cleaner shrimp 1 torch coral and 1 zoas.
 

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i notice my fishes are dying and when i check my nitrate is it very high and i do not know how to lower my nitrate

Are they new fish just added to the tank?

What are your nitrate readings? I've seen fish living in water where the nitrates were 180 and everything was doing fine.

You can keep Nitrates in check through water changes. 20% FAITHFUL, WEEKLY water changes.
 
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Are they new fish just added to the tank?

What are your nitrate readings? I've seen fish living in water where the nitrates were 180 and everything was doing fine.

You can keep Nitrates in check through water changes. 20% FAITHFUL, WEEKLY water changes.
yes i added those fish 2 days ago. my nitrates reading is 160ppm. and i do 20% water change weekly
 

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sorry i am new here hahaha. my ammonia is at 0 nitrite at 0 but my nitrate is at 160ppm cause that is the max ppm for api test kit. i have the tank up for 6 months now. i added a royal gramma and a flasher wrasse 2 days ago they were doing fine eating and all but today i found them dead. i just did a 20% water change
I suspect that the fish you added were diseased. And if this proves to be the case, you've got bigger problems as you've now infected the entire tank.
 

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Oh boy there’s just so many questions to ask here to narrow it down. The nitrates are pretty high especially for a tank with small fish like that. 20% water change isn’t going to do much with nitrates that high. You need to be doing massive water changes like 75% if you’re going to put a dent in those nitrates. Are your fish all quarantined?
 
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I suspect that the fish you added were diseased. And if this proves to be the case, you've got bigger problems as you've now infected the entire tank.
if thats the case i think i have to reset the tank because i plan on upgrading to a bigger tank
 
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Oh boy there’s just so many questions to ask here to narrow it down. The nitrates are pretty high especially for a tank with small fish like that. 20% water change isn’t going to do much with nitrates that high. You need to be doing massive water changes like 75% if you’re going to put a dent in those nitrates. Are your fish all quarantined?
will 75% water change affect corals? no i dont have a quarantine tank
 

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will 75% water change affect corals? no i dont have a quarantine tank
Honestly I agree with Dom I think it sounds like you have more of an issue with disease than the nitrates. Nitrates don’t normally kill fish at those levels even though they are ridiculously high for your set up. The sudden deaths make me suspect velvet but I’m not the expert on diseases here. Hopefully one of the true experts will chime in however my advice would be to set up a qt and leave your display fallow for the recommended period which is 76 days ?? Once you’ve removed the fish then you can focus on fixing parameters in the display tank.
 

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i am using iso with ceramic rings . i change my filter floss every week and water change every week. about 10 gallons now i have 2 clowns 1 cleaner shrimp 1 torch coral and 1 zoas.

If it were me, I would verify the test results as a first step. Could be testing error or a bad set of reagents. So I would confirm the results as a first step before doing anything.

Perhaps your LFS will test your water for you. I am a bit surprised the nitrates are measuring that high with a 20% weekly water change in a 6 month old tank. How are you feeding the tank? Are you feeding the corals?

That said, if the nitrates are in fact out of range where you'd like to keep them. Perhaps a couple of 20-30% water changes over the next week, and stay on a regular water change regimen. Changing too much water at once could be an issue for the corals you already have in the system.
 
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Honestly I agree with Dom I think it sounds like you have more of an issue with disease than the nitrates. Nitrates don’t normally kill fish at those levels even though they are ridiculously high for your set up. The sudden deaths make me suspect velvet but I’m not the expert on diseases here. Hopefully one of the true experts will chime in however my advice would be to set up a qt and leave your display fallow for the recommended period which is 76 days ?? Once you’ve removed the fish then you can focus on fixing parameters in the display tank.
okay i will set qt tank and fix the disease issue first then focusing on the dt. thank you for your advice
 
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If it were me, I would verify the test results as a first step. Could be testing error or a bad set of reagents. So I would confirm the results as a first step before doing anything.

Perhaps your LFS will test your water for you. I am a bit surprised the nitrates are measuring that high with a 20% weekly water change in a 6 month old tank. How are you feeding the tank? Are you feeding the corals?

That said, if the nitrates are in fact out of range where you'd like to keep them. Perhaps a couple of 20-30% water changes over the next week, and stay on a regular water change regimen. Changing too much water at once could be an issue for the corals you already have in the system.
i test it twice so i am pretty sure the reading is correct. i feed mysis every morning. not yet as i just got them 2 days ago
 

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okay i will set qt tank and fix the disease issue first then focusing on the dt. thank you for your advice
You’re welcome! Like I said there are lots of people on here much more knowledgeable than me when it comes to fish disease and running a proper qt set up. Be sure to do your homework and seek them out to learn more about that. Best of luck to you!
 

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if thats the case i think i have to reset the tank because i plan on upgrading to a bigger tank

Before upgrading to a bigger tank, I would suggest working with what you have first. Learn how to set up and maintain a stable environment for you tank inhabitants to thrive. Also, learn patience and quarantine! THEN upgrade.
 
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Before upgrading to a bigger tank, I would suggest working with what you have first. Learn how to set up and maintain a stable environment for you tank inhabitants to thrive. Also, learn patience and quarantine! THEN upgrade.
okay thank you so much for you advice!
 

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