high nitrates

[drakebuffie]

Im going to be completely honest.. there’s more than one way to approach problems. Especially in established tanks vs newer tanks.

It sounds like you’ve had a series of problems. Some of them it seems because you are rushing to stock the tank. Trust me, i get it, I love getting new fish and coral but nothing good happens if we rush.

It is so important to build a strong foundation if you want the tank to last a very long time. Having a successful reef is a series of building blocks.

If I were you i would empty it out and start over. You can have a successful bare bottom aquarium but you need other ways for bacteria to thrive.

Id drain it, start off with clean water, more live rock, and a plan. Find a system that inspires you and follow that plan.

You will start off with no brooklynella, no nitrates .. just a clean start to build a strong foundation.

Don’t think of it as time wasted but a lesson.

of course you can do what you think it’s best but I’d start over.

Doesn't the high nitrates mean the bio filter is working? Ammonia to nitrites to nitrates? The only thing that removes trates is a wc or a fuge with stuff in there that feeds on the trates?

I can definitely add more LR. I dont see myself tearing down the tank though. Rather flush the clown and leave tank fallow for the required time if it comes to that.

I also need to get my water tested at LFS because they tested it a week or so before I tested with an old test kit and got the high trates reading. I did do a water change sunday 10 gal and tested the new water before adding to tank. 0 trates as expected so I doubt a false reading on the tank water.

 

[Clownreef]

Flush the clown?

 

[drakebuffie]

Flush the clown?

As long as he is in the tank whatever killed the other fish is still alive and reproducing in there because it isnt fishless.

What my thought was going forward before you telling me I dont have enough LR was to give it a few weeks and see what happens with no changes other than weekly 10 gal water changes. The clown in there seems healthy and growing back his tail portions that were missing. Then add a couple of cardinals and see if they survive once tank parameters stabilize. If they dont then I would flush the clown and fallow the tank for 76 days.

For right now its pretty much same plan other than possibly adding sand and probably adding another 20 pounds of LR.

Wait till I post whole tank pics tonight and see if you still think not enough rock?

 

[drakebuffie]

Flush the clown?

So I had thought it was 1 pound of lr per gallon. I dont have an exact weight of this rock but it's got to the 50 pounds in a 65 gal tank with a 10 gal overflow.

I can definitely add more but there isn't a whole lot of room to put too much more and still have space.

 

[Clownreef]

So I had thought it was 1 pound of lr per gallon. I dont have an exact weight of this rock but it's got to the 50 pounds in a 65 gal tank with a 10 gal overflow.

I can definitely add more but there isn't a whole lot of room to put too much more and still have space.

I sure hope you don’t mean flushing the clown down the toilet…

how big is your sump? Skimmer? Any other type of mechanical filtration?

 

[PeterEde]

API test. 0 ammonia 0 nitrites ph 8.4 nitrates over 80 ppm

I have 1 clown fish I need to get out of there. Other than that I have hermits and snails. 1 elephant ear mushroom 1 small greenish common mushroom and a monti frag.

Are nitrates that high bad for the corals? I know its only water changes that will bring it down.

I really dont know how the trates got that high as I do weekly 5 gal water changes in a 70 gal tank. Last week according to my LFS everything was good. I have my own tests now and testing last night showed the elevated trates.

I will be removing this clown and letting the tank be fishless for about 3 months.

I've been fighting high NO3 for a while too.
I stopped relying on my vision and colormetric tests and got a Hanna HR tester.
I did a 50%WC and caused all sorts of issues.
I've been carbon dosing for months and nothing was changing so I sent off a sample for ICP
It showed undetected PO4 so I started dosing phosphorous.
I made the 1st section of my sump into a refugium with cheato and culerpa macro and added more live rock.
My NO3 is now at 20 odd down from high of 40 plus.

I don't understand though how your NO3 is so high with 1 fish?

 

[Rmckoy]

I sure hope you don’t mean flushing the clown down the toilet…

how big is your sump? Skimmer? Any other type of mechanical filtration?

I’m sure he meant flush to make his system fallow .
One could only assume toilet

 

[drakebuffie]

I sure hope you don’t mean flushing the clown down the toilet…

how big is your sump? Skimmer? Any other type of mechanical filtration?

No sump...I have a skimmer.

Took water to lfs tonight. Api test between 10 and 20. So either the api tests are 100% useless or my testing regents are bad.

I also did not understand how my trates could be so high. There is really nothing in tank to cause ammonia and trates are the end result of the whole process.

I need to get a red sea test kit or a salifert but I am really leaning toward there really is nothing wrong with my setup other than it needs to mature

 

[melonheadorion]

it could be a result of a bad test result. however, with api, if there was a false reading, i generally saw that the reading was 0, and not really high, so it could be the outcome of just bad tests that you did.
on the other hand, i think the reigns need to be pulled on the horse, just a tad. it seems that youre battling a bunch of things that dont really need to be battled, and perhaps im not understanding correctly, but flusing the clown? to me, it sounds like you would sacrifice the living clownfish, just to start over? and perhaps its just me, but i look at these living creatures in my tank as just that. living things. i couldnt imagine just "flushing" one for the sake of starting over. if youre going to fallow the tank, at least just setup a hospital tank and move that fish over to that tank, but if it were a fish disease that you need to fallow the tank for, that fish should have already died, so take that for what its worth.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Okay, so don’t flush the clown, of course. You could set up a temporary 5-10g tank with a sponge filter to QT him while your tank is fallow, if that is your main concern. Or maybe your LFS has a QT system and can take him off your hands. Clowns are pretty resilient and if I’m not wrong, Brook is fairly fast acting so he might pull through if he’s still doing okay right now.

In regards to the high nitrates and absence of ammonia and nitrites, yes - this is a sign that your cycle is working but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re totally in the clear. However, tanks go through multiple cycles in the beginning and the safest way to get your nitrates down is to do large water changes. If your tank is 65g, do a few 30g WCs over the course of a week or two.
Your clownfish is not going to be bothered if your nitrates are at 80ppm, as Lasse mentioned, but it’s not ideal, of course. Sometimes your initial cycle can bring your nitrates up that high even without over-feeding but based on the number of fish you’ve mentioned, that likely played a part as well. More fish, more poop, more nitrates. Puffers especially just make a mess, but I love them anyways.
Usually, at least one 50% WC is recommended once your system has cycled before adding fish & this is specifically to bring your nitrates down.

I don’t think you need to jump into dosing anything right now just stay the course and do larger water changes & get a salifert or Hanna checker. I like Hanna better because I can’t match colors on those test kits to save my life.

 

[Spare time]

Because that rock is not seeded. It looks like base rock that is trying to become live rock. If you’re not going to have sand, have lots of live rock. There is really no coralline algae. I’ve been in the hobby for a couple of decades. Believe me when i say there’s no enough live rock to maintain a healthy nitrifying bacteria balance.

how many fish do you have? How much do you feed? It looks like a very young aquarium.

That is definitely enough rock lol


OP has 1 clownfish, as well as 0 nitrite and 0 ammonia

 

[BanjoBandito]

Wow. Some of the comments on this thread….dude, message me I’ll help you! Don’t give up!

 

[Clownreef]

That is definitely enough rock lol


OP has 1 clownfish, as well as 0 nitrite and 0 ammonia

Sure.. it’s enough half dead, half seeded rock. lol

 

[Clownreef]

Wow. Some of the comments on this thread….dude, message me I’ll help you! Don’t give up!

who said give up? Honesty is the best policy. He has no sump, one sick fish, half dead rock.. I can’t remember the last time I saw a thriving reef that was locked in a single tank. When I began reefing I really appreciated the people that didn’t sugar coat it.

 

[BanjoBandito]

who said give up? Honesty is the best policy. He has no sump, one sick fish, half dead rock.. I can’t remember the last time I saw a thriving reef that was locked in a single tank. When I began reefing I really appreciated the people that didn’t sugar coat it.

Lol. Lots of people run successful “one tank” systems. Don’t be a snob.

 

[melonheadorion]

to be fair, with one fish, even with no sand, as long as there is enough bacteria to convert the ammonia that the one fish will produce, the amount of rock is more than enough. if it were 6 fish thrown in at once, then i would say that there might be issues, but for a single fish or two, this should be more than enough, assuming that you cycled the tank and whatnot

 

[Spare time]

Sure.. it’s enough half dead, half seeded rock. lol

It was cycled with bottled bacteria. If it wasn't enough, there would be ammonia and nitrite present. I think you are dramatically overestimating space needed for this bacteria.

 

[Rmckoy]

No sump...I have a skimmer.

Took water to lfs tonight. Api test between 10 and 20. So either the api tests are 100% useless or my testing regents are bad.

I also did not understand how my trates could be so high. There is really nothing in tank to cause ammonia and trates are the end result of the whole process.

I need to get a red sea test kit or a salifert but I am really leaning toward there really is nothing wrong with my setup other than it needs to mature

Everything put in will cause nitrates from fish to food
10-20 isn’t the end of the world , and many have maintained a healthy reef with nitrates a lot higher .

 

[HaveFishWillTravel]

API test. 0 ammonia 0 nitrites ph 8.4 nitrates over 80 ppm

I have 1 clown fish I need to get out of there. Other than that I have hermits and snails. 1 elephant ear mushroom 1 small greenish common mushroom and a monti frag.

Are nitrates that high bad for the corals? I know its only water changes that will bring it down.

I really dont know how the trates got that high as I do weekly 5 gal water changes in a 70 gal tank. Last week according to my LFS everything was good. I have my own tests now and testing last night showed the elevated trates.

I will be removing this clown and letting the tank be fishless for about 3 months.

Maybe I have it all wrong, but your post starts out with the fact that you want to get rid of your clownfish because of the Nitrates. Why don’t you just enjoy your clown fish and maybe stop feeding him so often or so much? Why do you put all the blame on the fish and not on yourself? Watch what and how he eats. What does he eat? Pellets? Flakes? Some are more polluting than others. I have had two beautiful black and white clownfish for 7 years and yes, the Nitrates will be a little high when you have a mixed reef. Dude…don’t blame the fish. Observe the fishes and take the time to figure out what to do. Maybe consider at least a weekly 10% or twice monthly 25% - 30%. If you don’t like what’s happening, do something different. It isn’t the fish that is polluting, is all I am trying to say…
Best of luck! JL

 

[HaveFishWillTravel]

I’ve been reefing for 22 years.

i had nitrates at 42.5 ppm on May 16. They’re at 22 right now and decreasing. I have a 350 gallon tank and dose 30 ml every

Essentially . You’re changing 7%
The best you can get is 7% if the new water is 0ppm nitrates which could not be enough to be noticeable .
Increase the volume of your water changes with known 0ppm nitrate water
What test kits are you using ?
could testing error or inaccurate tests be considered ? Absolutely

You are so correct. If he really wants to lower the Nitrates, a 10% water change is not going to do it…
Do a 40% - 50% water change and shake things up. IMO, I don’t believe in the 10% every week water change philosophy. I like the every 2 week, 30% - 40% depending on parameters and I dose KH and Ca over those two weeks. I don’t know, everyone is different. You gotta pay attention. He may have more fishes than I have and that is something. I wonder what he is feeding them. I asked him. It’s not the clownfishes fault. It’s the feeding, the skimpy water changes, maybe the lousy protein skimmer or not enough filtration. There are so many things that could be the answer…know what I mean?