High nitrates

[Woodneers]

80ppm on a 100 total gallon system. I need to do a water change but how much? What's causing sick high nitrates. No fish yet. I've been ghost feeding a cube of brine shrimp since the cycle fished. Got some brown diatom growing like crazy. I have a lawnmower blenny, snails and blue leg crabs in qt at the moment. Thoughts?

 

[John3]

Your system hasn’t created enough bacteria to consume nitrates and you don’t have enough corals to eat it either.

Check your filter socks for crud, any food or poo will decompose back into liquid nitrates. Most people change out filter socks every 1-3 days.

 

[Woodneers]

I'm not running filter socks. Should I be worth no stock in the tank yet?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Also, what's your source water? RO/DI or tap?

 

[Woodneers]

Rodi unit. Running the 150gpd water saver

 

[John3]

It depends I guess on your setup. If you have places where uneaten food and poop will collect it’s better to catch it in a filter sock and remove it.

Are you putting in 1 cube a day with nothing to eat it? That food will decompose and turn into nitrates. That’s a good sign that your tank can process waste from ammonia to nitrites and finally to nitrates. There are only 2 ways to get rid of nitrates. You can find ways for your tank to consume it. Corals will and if you carbon dose that will. Or there are chemical products.

For now I think your issue is just overfeeding since you don’t have anything to consume that cube of food. Cut back and do 15-25% water changes weekly. When you get the nitrates lower and add some livestock you will need to find the right balance of feeding to keep your nitrate levels steady. Remember, no nitrates is just as bad as high nitrates when it comes to corals.

 

[JredM23]

Just wanna tap into this thread. Curious what the acceptable range for nitrates is to keep coral happy?

 

[Scooter.B]

Ok, so ZERO nitrites is good but, ZERO nitrates is bad, just as high nitrates are.
So what levels of nitrates are to high and then to low?
I have heard having some nitrates is good but, no one has really put a number on it.
Along for the education.

 

[JimmyV]

Ok, so ZERO nitrites is good but, ZERO nitrates is bad, just as high nitrates are.
So what levels of nitrates are to high and then to low?
I have heard having some nitrates is good but, no one has really put a number on it.
Along for the education.

I would say keep your nitrates below 5 ppm at all times once you get them down. Anything higher than 5 ppm is to high. Just my opinion of course.

 

[Idoc]

If you just finished your cycle, you should do a 50-75% water change. This should theoretically drop your nitrates to 20-40ppm which should be safe for fish. Then, next week do another 20% water change weekly to bring them lower.

Also, still feeding the tank since you don't have anything consuming the food. I would guess you'r going to habe nitrate problems for awhile since you've been feeding so much without anything to consume the foods. I would guess your sandbed and ricks may be full of uneaten food still waiting to decompose. Have you checked ammonia levels to ensure your system is actually breaking down all that you are adding? You might want to vacuum that sand to see if you get any junk up out of it.

Also... you may want to double think adding the lawn mower blenny right now. They typically need a well established algae to eat regularly which you don't have yet and may not have for awhile longer... unless you turn on those lights, which I don't recommend. You can supplement their diet with herbivore foods, but what a pain.

 

[Woodneers]

Thanks for the input. I do have quite a bit of algea growth. Lights have been on for a week now. I hope this is gonna be enough to keep him on his toes. The live rock I added had green and red algea on them. Looked like coraline to me. I'll keep an eye on him. I can always throw him a few tasty treats If need be. So as far as feeding the tank. What's common practice for keeping the bacteria happy if their are now fish to make ammonia? I did a roughly 30 gallon water change last night and would check nitrates tonight and see whats going on.

 

[Idoc]

Thanks for the input. I do have quite a bit of algea growth. Lights have been on for a week now. I hope this is gonna be enough to keep him on his toes. The live rock I added had green and red algea on them. Looked like coraline to me. I'll keep an eye on him. I can always throw him a few tasty treats If need be. So as far as feeding the tank. What's common practice for keeping the bacteria happy if their are now fish to make ammonia? I did a roughly 30 gallon water change last night and would check nitrates tonight and see whats going on.

If there is no food source, the bacteria will still live. I've read that they can go into a hibernation like state as well. They may reduce in number a bit, but they will rebound back as soon as there's a food source. How long until the blenny is out of quarantine?

 

[Woodneers]

Benny the blenny was released late last night after a water change. He's happy and seemingly getting to know his surroundings quite a bit. This little guy I swear changes colors. He can hide in plain sight in a rock and it takes my sharp kids to find him.

 

[John3]

I have mostly softies and lps corals and some montipora. I like my nitrates 10-15ppm. If my nitrates go below 10 my lps specifically doesn’t get as plump and my zoas dong fully open.

Every tank setup is different, I can only say having nitrates at zero is not good for any tank with corals.

 

[JredM23]

I have mostly softies and lps corals and some montipora. I like my nitrates 10-15ppm. If my nitrates go below 10 my lps specifically doesn’t get as plump and my zoas dong fully open.

Every tank setup is different, I can only say having nitrates at zero is not good for any tank with corals.

Thanks man. Ill work on getting the nitrates down to the 10 zone. I recently changed my entire filtration system and got the skimmer working. So ill give the new bio filtration time to kick in. I do weekly water changes of about 15%.

 

[John3]

It can take some time to slowly bring them down and then keep them stable. Some ways can bring nitrates down very fast and you can overshoot and end up too low. I dosed vitamins C for a while after reading about some positive affects. Vc acts as a carbon source and will bring down nitrates but I found it was not easy to control the nitrate levels while using it. I’d assume other carbon dosing can act the same way. There have been a lot of people lately in the forums with no nitrates and poor coral health. So finding that right balance goes a long way.

 

[JredM23]

It can take some time to slowly bring them down and then keep them stable. Some ways can bring nitrates down very fast and you can overshoot and end up too low. I dosed vitamins C for a while after reading about some positive affects. Vc acts as a carbon source and will bring down nitrates but I found it was not easy to control the nitrate levels while using it. I’d assume other carbon dosing can act the same way. There have been a lot of people lately in the forums with no nitrates and poor coral health. So finding that right balance goes a long way.

I hear ya. I definitely dont want to over react and do anything drastic then have to use something else to correct that mistake. Ill just go the natural route and allow it to drop from bio filtration and water changes. Then im guessing itll eventually find its own happy medium.

 

[PatW]

It is normal for nitrates to be high after one has cycled the tank.

The reliable, brute force approach to lowering nitrates is to do a series of large water changes.

Another approach is to get some macro algae like chaeto and put it in your sump and run an LED light from Home Depot over it. The chaeto will grow and reduce the nitrates.

A third method is to add a carbon source to you tank usually either vodka or vinegar. The carbon allows bacteria to bloom in your tank. Your skimmer will remove the bacteria. In growing, the bacteria will absorb nitrates from the water. This method requires a skimmer that is a bit over sized for your tank.

Of the three, water changes are the most fool proof.