HIGH Nitrates

ddreher47

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I have been in the hobby for 10 years now. I have been battling nitrates since I moved into our new house which has well water. I initially thought that I grew out of the Reefer 250 so I upgraded to a 120 display and a 35 gallon sump. Still have nitrates around 100. The new tank has been up and running for 2 months now. Every two weeks I do a 20% water change. I have a Red Sea Reef Mat 1200, a Clear Water Scrubber, an OCTO 150sss skimmer, bio pellets, 2 MP 40’s, and a Vectra L2. 2-inch-thick sand bed. 150 lbs of live rock. All corals and fish look great. I even have hard coral that is growing.

Aqua spin test this weekend at LFS produced the following results 0 ammonia, 100 nitrate, 0 nitrite, 0 PO. Retested on Hanna HR Nitrate and blinking at me above 75.

Tested my tap water at the LFS on an aqua spin freshwater test and 0 ammonia, 1 nitrate, 0 nitrite, 0 PO. Also tested the salt bucket which houses my fresh saltwater made by Reef Crystals and found .07 Ammonia, 2 nitrate, 0 nitrite, 0 PO.

I have a 9 stage (yes 6 DI canisters) which produces 0 TDS.

I have a total of 7 fish- 2 cardinals, 3 tangs, 2 nemos.

I feed pellets- once every other day.

Any ideas why I continue to have nitrate problems?
 

davidcalgary29

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Nori sheets can be a huge source of imported nitrates. My two tangs are big eaters, and they, along with a greedy Lamarck's angel and molly miller blenny, go through a sheet per day.

If your coral looks great, though, I'd simply monitor instead of worry. I've heard that some mature tanks have nitrates up to 200.
 

PBar

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Just one extra info,
it could be indeed potentially linked to the low phosphate (limited). As such, the advice above can really help.
If you manage to increase your phosphate level a bit… you will probably see your nitrate start to decrease.
Just be really careful, since your tank is quite new.

Cheers!
 

NowGlazeIT

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My nitrates climb when phosphates are limited. I would add another carbon source or a algae scrubber to this system. Along with dosing phosphates slowly till nitrates come down and some p04 is detected. Testing multiple times a day to monitor po4 fluctuations
 

Screwgunner

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Try dosing vodka it may drop your nitrates. Are you putting the exaust from your bio pellets into the intake of your skimmer?
 

BrotatoSalad

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I'd be hesitant to recommend anything since you said you've been in the hobby for 10 years and your corals are looking healthy. Are you getting an algae outbreak? Or is the consistently high nitrate reading causing your worries?

I recently cycled a new tank (rebooted a tank I've had for around 5 years. Bought this tank after running a 10 gallon for 2 years) and coming out of a fishless cycle I had a Nitrate reading at 63. I dosed a 1/2 dose of AquaForest Life Source after and a week later my Nitrates are down to 11.1 (went from 53 to 23 to 11). This is a new tank with dry rock and dry sand fresh out of a cycle though. You started with live rock which ideally has the same effect.

Your fish load and feeding regimen don't seem over loaded in any regard. With you running a skimmer AND biopellets I have the same confusion you do as far as the high nitrates. I'm looking forward to reading what the community thinks. Maybe the biopellets don't have enough of a source of phosphates to bring down your Nitrates too?

EDIT: Reread original post on how long the tank has been running. Removed mentions of "mature tank".
 
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livinlifeinBKK

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I'm hesitant like the others to suggest anything in your particular situation...if I were you, I'd slowly ease into beginning a carbon dosing regimen and observe really closely not only your numbers but the corals as well. The corals might appreciate the natural bacterioplankton they can feed on.
Again though I know you're not a newbie or anything...just an idea to think about...
 
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