High Nitrates in 28g Nano, Need Help deciding next solution

[Afkomjorgen]

Hello,

I need some help deciding how to fix some high nitrate water parameter issues in our tank.

We have a 28gal tall reef/fish tank that has been running for about 1 year 2 months ( has had fish for 1 year). This is our first salt water tank.

Fish :
2 Clown Fish that are about 3"
Diamond Goby that's 5"

Inverts:
3 Large Snails
4-5 Hermit crabs
1 Sea cucumber (pink) 1 "

Corals:
- 1 leather toadstool, 1 finger leather
- 1 frogspawn, 3 duncans, 2 areas of green star polyp

We have
- Aqua Top SSK-65 Aquarium Surface Skimmer, which I've only just realized is a surface skimmer and not a protein skimmer like I thought
- 2 heaters, kept at a range of 76-78' (closer to a consistant 79-80' during summer)
- Our wave maker runs 4 hours a day
-About 19# of live rock

We had some issues in july when we realized that our tank had outgrown its original live rock purchase (9#), and had 2 coral deaths ):
When that happened we had some spikes in ammonia and nitrates that took a couple of weeks of steady water changes to fix. Luckily (not really) we were moving so we were able to do a big clean when we moved the tank.

Our PH also improved dramatically when we changed houses. We could never get our PH to 8 previously, but it is a consistent 8 or above now.

My main concern now is that our water parameters are showing high nitrates every 2-3 weeks. I'll do a 5-7 gallon water change, and it'll be back to 20-40ppm nitrates by 3 weeks later.

Our last two checks:

12-16-20
SAL 1.026
PH - 8
AMM: 0 - 0.25pm
Nitrate: 40ppm
Nitrite : 0ppm
Cal : 400
KH: 214ppm (12dkh)

01-03-21
SAL 1.027 (high, so I'll add some water)
PH : 8
AMM: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Cal: 380 ppm
KH: 196.9ppm (11dkh)

We feed 1/2 block frozen hikari spirulina shrimp 3x per week, 1 full block 2x per week, and we skip 2 days of feeding. We feed 1/8 tsp benereef once a week. And 1 block of hikari cyclopods a week. We feed in the evening when the wave maker is off and everyone is awake.

Some of the things we are considering and would like feedback on:

- We are planning to take our Diamond Goby back to our LFS since he's a larger fish then we suspected, and we don't have the ability to upgrade his space.
- We would like to purchase another rock, but would prefer to purchase a dry rock ($) then a live rock if we can, and let it become live rock in the tank
- We are looking at protein skimmers or maybe building a sump but we would appreciate any recommendations or ideas for how to get started on a budget
- We would like to get more of a clean up crew, suggestions that are reef friendly would be appreciated

Thanks!
-Sierra

 

[DinoMagnet]

Hello,

I need some help deciding how to fix some high nitrate water parameter issues in our tank.

We have a 28gal tall reef/fish tank that has been running for about 1 year 2 months ( has had fish for 1 year). This is our first salt water tank.

Fish :
2 Clown Fish that are about 3"
Diamond Goby that's 5"

Inverts:
3 Large Snails
4-5 Hermit crabs
1 Sea cucumber (pink) 1 "

Corals:
- 1 leather toadstool, 1 finger leather
- 1 frogspawn, 3 duncans, 2 areas of green star polyp

We have
- Aqua Top SSK-65 Aquarium Surface Skimmer, which I've only just realized is a surface skimmer and not a protein skimmer like I thought
- 2 heaters, kept at a range of 76-78' (closer to a consistant 79-80' during summer)
- Our wave maker runs 4 hours a day
-About 19# of live rock

We had some issues in july when we realized that our tank had outgrown its original live rock purchase (9#), and had 2 coral deaths ):
When that happened we had some spikes in ammonia and nitrates that took a couple of weeks of steady water changes to fix. Luckily (not really) we were moving so we were able to do a big clean when we moved the tank.

Our PH also improved dramatically when we changed houses. We could never get our PH to 8 previously, but it is a consistent 8 or above now.

My main concern now is that our water parameters are showing high nitrates every 2-3 weeks. I'll do a 5-7 gallon water change, and it'll be back to 20-40ppm nitrates by 3 weeks later.

Our last two checks:

12-16-20
SAL 1.026
PH - 8
AMM: 0 - 0.25pm
Nitrate: 40ppm
Nitrite : 0ppm
Cal : 400
KH: 214ppm (12dkh)

01-03-21
SAL 1.027 (high, so I'll add some water)
PH : 8
AMM: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Cal: 380 ppm
KH: 196.9ppm (11dkh)

We feed 1/2 block frozen hikari spirulina shrimp 3x per week, 1 full block 2x per week, and we skip 2 days of feeding. We feed 1/8 tsp benereef once a week. And 1 block of hikari cyclopods a week. We feed in the evening when the wave maker is off and everyone is awake.

Some of the things we are considering and would like feedback on:

- We are planning to take our Diamond Goby back to our LFS since he's a larger fish then we suspected, and we don't have the ability to upgrade his space.
- We would like to purchase another rock, but would prefer to purchase a dry rock ($) then a live rock if we can, and let it become live rock in the tank
- We are looking at protein skimmers or maybe building a sump but we would appreciate any recommendations or ideas for how to get started on a budget
- We would like to get more of a clean up crew, suggestions that are reef friendly would be appreciated

Thanks!
-Sierra

What are you using for testing? I was using the API kit and for the longest I kept getting 20-40ppm switch to salifert and I’m reading 5-10.

 

[Afkomjorgen]

What are you using for testing? I was using the API kit and for the longest I kept getting 20-40ppm switch to salifert and I’m reading 5-10.

I am using the API test kit. I'll look at that, thanks. Maybe my LFS uses something else

-Sierra

 

[DinoMagnet]

Np, best bet it’s the test kit good luck

 

[Reef.]

Yeah sounds like it could be testing, Salifert tests are good.

Why run the wave maker for only 4 hours?

If you do have a nitrate issue, the wave maker will help keep the food in the water column so it goes over your overflow and doesn’t just lay on the sand and rocks.

 

[Afkomjorgen]

Yeah sounds like it could be testing, Salifert tests are good.

Why run the wave maker for only 4 hours?

If you do have a nitrate issue, the wave maker will help keep the food in the water column so it goes over your overflow and doesn’t just lay on the sand and rocks.

Mostly because the wave maker we have ended up being a bit strong for the size of our tank. We felt bad about all the corals closing up.
We usually run it 2 hours at about 10 am and then 2 more about 8pm. What would you recommend?

 

[Reef.]

Mostly because the wave maker we have ended up being a bit strong for the size of our tank. We felt bad about all the corals closing up.
We usually run it 2 hours at about 10 am and then 2 more about 8pm. What would you recommend?

changing it if you can’t turn in down, you have a lot of options, without sounding rude, you seem to have choose the worst one, as you want stability for your corals and parameters, which doing what you are doing is not giving the tank.

 

[Afkomjorgen]

changing it if you can’t turn in down, you have a lot of options, without sounding rude, you seem to have choose the worst one, as you want stability for your corals and parameters, which doing what you are doing is not giving the tank.

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you mean. Do you mean to say that I should make the wave maker more consistent by running it for a longer period, during just one time of the day instead of splitting it? For example 8 hours at night?
I don't think that all day is an option.

 

[DinoMagnet]

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you mean. Do you mean to say that I should make the wave maker more consistent by running it for a longer period, during just one time of the day instead of splitting it? For example 8 hours at night?
I don't think that all day is an option.

He’s saying maybe change it out to something you can control. I have a Nero 5 and can be controlled thru the ai app. Works pretty good you can set constant flow, random, pulse etc. Also times you want it on n off

 

[Afkomjorgen]

He’s saying maybe change it out to something you can control. I have a Nero 5 and can be controlled thru the ai app. Works pretty good you can set constant flow, random, pulse etc. Also times you want it on n off

Oh. The wave maker we have (forgive me but I can't remember the brand) has a control box that allows us to pick the type of waves (pulse, etc) and strength of the waves, as well as frequency. It has a feeding pause button but otherwise runs constantly. So we have it hooked up to a smart plug that turns it on/off at set times.

Unfortunately even the lowest strength setting has all the corals barely holding on to the rocks (some have flown off) even though we face it into the side of the rock to minimize the wave. This also means unfortunately that we don't get much surface movement like I've heard is ideal.

We are limited with $ though and can't buy a different one, so we have to make this one work. ):

 

[DinoMagnet]

Oh. The wave maker we have (forgive me but I can't remember the brand) has a control box that allows us to pick the type of waves (pulse, etc) and strength of the waves, as well as frequency. It has a feeding pause button but otherwise runs constantly. So we have it hooked up to a smart plug that turns it on/off at set times.

Unfortunately even the lowest strength setting has all the corals barely holding on to the rocks (some have flown off) even though we face it into the side of the rock to minimize the wave. This also means unfortunately that we don't get much surface movement like I've heard is ideal.

We are limited with $ though and can't buy a different one, so we have to make this one work. ):

Gotcha. Maybe u can try trading it on OfferUp for something smaller that has a control as well. I have a small wave maker I bought for our 10 gallon that was too strong. No control. You can have it just pay for shipping. Let me know

 

[vetteguy53081]

To assure you maintain control of nitrates, you could add a small container pouch of chemipure elite to the filter which will keep nitrate in check and polish the tank water and eliminate any toxins

 

[DinoMagnet]

Up to 30 gallons. Magnetic. Used literally 5 minutes. Let me know if you would want it. Like I said just pay shipping. (AirPod case for scale)

 

[Reef.]

What wave maker is it? Brand and model?

 

[DinoMagnet]

What wave maker is it? Brand and model?

Jbj ocean stream

 

[Reef.]

Jbj ocean stream

sorry I meant the OP, you posted a couple of seconds before me, but yeah that would be ideal for the OP, very kind of you.

 

[William Morris]

One of the many things my LFS guru has taught me is to run the wavemaker directed across the back of the aquarium. Keeps the back of the reef from being stagnant and results in a nice even flow throughout the tank.

 

[John08007]

I didn't read all these replies but 10-30 nitrate after several weeks of a water change is nothing to worry about.

You don't have a refugium so there is nothing to consume the nitrate, the only way you can lower it is through water changes. Adding a sump is not an easy task for non reef ready(drilled) tank. You can add a hang on skimmer but this won't lower your nitrates.

 

[William Morris]

I have been using Algone to bring my nitrate spike down along with water changes. Works nicely.
Algone