High Nitrates?

[Dyln]

Hi All - I have a pair of clownfish in a 105l tank. The parameters are as follows.
Salinity - 1.025
pH - 8
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 50ppm

When I measured nitrate 4 days ago it was about 40ppm. Then I did a 10% water. I wanted to reduce nitrates further, and I did a 15% water change yesterday. Vacuumed sand on both days. But after the water change it read as 50ppm!! I am using Salifert test kit.

I am feeding pellets two twice a day. I stop feeding them as soon as they stop eating. A few pellets drop to the bottom. What am I doing wrong? Or what can I do better? Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[MinnieMouse2]

A fishes stomach is the size of their eye, so I feed a medium clown fish about three to four pellets each, that is it. I do not feed till they stop eating. Make sure your filter socks, filters are cleaned once a week, if hang on the back same thing. What salt do you use? Some salts contain nitrates. Are you using RoDi because some water sources can have nitrates in them. My tank is keeping 20ppm currently and what I am doing is little daily water changes which will remove Nitrates. I like my Nitrates 5 to 10ppm. A great way to lower Nitrates is too add in more life rock. That could be an issue too, not enough live rock to process all the stuff.

 

[MinnieMouse2]

I think this is a really good thread talking about exactly your issues. ( I feed my fish only once a day, forgot to mention that) https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nitrate-in-my-freshly-made-salt-mix.777429/page-2

 

[Dan_P]

Hi All - I have a pair of clownfish in a 105l tank. The parameters are as follows.
Salinity - 1.025
pH - 8
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 50ppm

When I measured nitrate 4 days ago it was about 40ppm. Then I did a 10% water. I wanted to reduce nitrates further, and I did a 15% water change yesterday. Vacuumed sand on both days. But after the water change it read as 50ppm!! I am using Salifert test kit.

I am feeding pellets two twice a day. I stop feeding them as soon as they stop eating. A few pellets drop to the bottom. What am I doing wrong? Or what can I do better? Any advice would be much appreciated.

The nitrate concentration might be higher than 50 but looks like 50 ppm for test. Dilute the aquarium water 1 mL aquarium water with 9 mL of new saltwater. This will give you a value in a more readable range of the color scale. Multiply the number by 10 for actual reading.

I doubt you are doing anything wrong and don’t try to control nitrate and phosphate by starving your fish. Keep them well fed and you will have healthy fish.

I will keep a watch for your test result of diluted aquarium water.

 

[Dburr1014]

Vacuuming the sand bed and a bigger water change will yield bigger results.

IE, 50ppm - your 10%WC = 45ppm
50ppm - 20% WC = 40ppm

 

[homer1475]

I think this is a really good thread talking about exactly your issues. ( I feed my fish only once a day, forgot to mention that) https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nitrate-in-my-freshly-made-salt-mix.777429/page-2

Horrible advice.

Do you only eat once a day?

Feed your fish so they are healthy, which usually means a couple times day.

 

[Dyln]

A fishes stomach is the size of their eye, so I feed a medium clown fish about three to four pellets each, that is it. I do not feed till they stop eating. Make sure your filter socks, filters are cleaned once a week, if hang on the back same thing. What salt do you use? Some salts contain nitrates. Are you using RoDi because some water sources can have nitrates in them. My tank is keeping 20ppm currently and what I am doing is little daily water changes which will remove Nitrates. I like my Nitrates 5 to 10ppm. A great way to lower Nitrates is too add in more life rock. That could be an issue too, not enough live rock to process all the stuff.

Thank your for the response. I think I am going to be more careful to further reduce the amount of uneaten food but I am reluctant to not feed them until they feel satisfied. I use H2Ocean classic formula salt and RODI water. I am going to add more rock for sure when I find something nice.

 

[Dyln]

The nitrate concentration might be higher than 50 but looks like 50 ppm for test. Dilute the aquarium water 1 mL aquarium water with 9 mL of new saltwater. This will give you a value in a more readable range of the color scale. Multiply the number by 10 for actual reading.

I doubt you are doing anything wrong and don’t try to control nitrate and phosphate by starving your fish. Keep them well fed and you will have healthy fish.

I will keep a watch for your test result of diluted aquarium water.

Thank you for your response. I did a diluted water test and read between 2-5 i.e., 20-50 ppm before diluting. It is difficult to compare the colours in the lower range. Then I did another test of the tank water without diluting and it read just above 50 (maybe 60). I am confident the previous readings were accurate. What do you think is a dangerous level of nitrates? I have seen people not worrying about nitrates even at 100 ppm.

What steps can I take to control this?

 

[Dan_P]

Thank you for your response. I did a diluted water test and read between 2-5 i.e., 20-50 ppm before diluting. It is difficult to compare the colours in the lower range. Then I did another test of the tank water without diluting and it read just above 50 (maybe 60). I am confident the previous readings were accurate. What do you think is a dangerous level of nitrates? I have seen people not worrying about nitrates even at 100 ppm.

What steps can I take to control this?

For fish only, 50 ppm is probably OK but for invertebrates this might be reaching a point where you would want to think about bringing it down.

What was the nitrate level before adding the fish?

 

[Dyln]

Horrible advice.

Do you only eat once a day?

Feed your fish so they are healthy, which usually means a couple times day.

Thank you for the response. I fully intend to feed my fish so they can stay healthy and grow.

 

[Bucs20fan]

You biggest friend in reducing organic material, aka nitrates and phosphates is going to be your rock, outside of that a good protein skimmer helps a ton. 50 isnt bad for fish as is stated, but will be harmful to sensitive inverts. Keep your fish fed, and doing regular water changes. You can dose microbacter7 if you wish to add some more nitrifiying bacteria. Id say you are ok and your tank is just going through swings. It will find its stable point.

 

[Dyln]

For fish only, 50 ppm is probably OK but for invertebrates this might be reaching a point where you would want to think about bringing it down.

What was the nitrate level before adding the fish?

After the cycle completed, and just after nitrates went off the chart i.e. over 100 ppm, I did a 40% water change and a 70% water change. After that nitrates were reading in the lower range before I added fish. The day after I added fish it was reading 2-5 ppm.

 

[Dyln]

You biggest friend in reducing organic material, aka nitrates and phosphates is going to be your rock, outside of that a good protein skimmer helps a ton. 50 isnt bad for fish as is stated, but will be harmful to sensitive inverts. Keep your fish fed, and doing regular water changes. You can dose microbacter7 if you wish to add some more nitrifiying bacteria. Id say you are ok and your tank is just going through swings. It will find its stable point.

Thank you for the reply. I am going to get more rock. Is having thicker rock better (deeper pores)? I am also look at HOB skimmers. Is it better to do less than weekly water changes or large (say 40%) weekly water changes?

I will not add any other livestock until I get this under control

 

[Dyln]

Vacuuming the sand bed and a bigger water change will yield bigger results.

IE, 50ppm - your 10%WC = 45ppm
50ppm - 20% WC = 40ppm

Thank you for your reply. I do vacuum a small area every time I do a water change. I think I need to up my water change percentage to at least 20%.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Thank you for the reply. I am going to get more rock. Is having thicker rock better (deeper pores)? I am also look at HOB skimmers. Is it better to do less than weekly water changes or large (say 40%) weekly water changes?

I will not add any other livestock until I get this under control

There are several very nice HOB skimmers. The nicer ones arent cheap, but I promise you get what you pay for. Reef octopus is the brand that makes several different onces. Aquamaxx also makes nice ones. Thicker rock wont be necessarily better than thinner rock. Just more of it. Idk how much you already have, but the thought once was like 2 lbs of rock per gallon, But Both of my tanks, 90g and 180g, have less than that, I have 60lbs in the 90 gallon and 110 lbs or so in the 180.

 

[Dan_P]

After the cycle completed, and just after nitrates went off the chart i.e. over 100 ppm, I did a 40% water change and a 70% water change. After that nitrates were reading in the lower range before I added fish. The day after I added fish it was reading 2-5 ppm.

OK, thanks.

Nitrate reduction is achieved by growing algae or by growing bacteria, i.e, dosing vinegar or vodka.

 

[unchaotic]

Got a picture of the tank? What do you have for filtration?
Without a protein skimmer, regularly changed filtration material, or some sort of refugium/algae scrubber the water changes are the only way you’ll prevent nutrients going up. Something has to pull them out of the water.

 

[Dom]

Hi All - I have a pair of clownfish in a 105l tank. The parameters are as follows.
Salinity - 1.025
pH - 8
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 50ppm

When I measured nitrate 4 days ago it was about 40ppm. Then I did a 10% water. I wanted to reduce nitrates further, and I did a 15% water change yesterday. Vacuumed sand on both days. But after the water change it read as 50ppm!! I am using Salifert test kit.

I am feeding pellets two twice a day. I stop feeding them as soon as they stop eating. A few pellets drop to the bottom. What am I doing wrong? Or what can I do better? Any advice would be much appreciated.

A nitrate reading of 50 is NOT the end of the world. Your best course of action is to identify the source of the Nitrates.

Water changes serve two purposes. First, they allow us to export nutrients from the tank. But water changes are also important to replenish elements consumed by the tank.

Water changes need to be adequate in both size and regularity.

Your water changes are inadequate. Water changes should be 20% of the total tank volume. In your case, 20% of 105 liters is 21 liters. You are only doing 10%. This means that you tank is producing Nitrates at a rate greater than what you are exporting them.

Also, water changes need to be consistent which creates stability in your water chemistry.

I would suggest doing FAITHFUL, WEEKLY, 20% water changes for a month and see if things improve.

Also, please tell us more about your filtration in your system; do you have a sump? Does it have a refugium? A protein skimmer?

Please do not fall into the trap of buying bottled solutions for your issue at the local fish store. That should be your last step if all else fails.

 

[MinnieMouse2]

Horrible advice.

Do you only eat once a day?

Feed your fish so they are healthy, which usually means a couple times day.

I have kept fish , fresh and salt for 40 years. Once a day feeding does not make for a weak fish. It is also what you feed. I feed flake, pellets, frozen, live... They do not need as much food as most fish keepers think to be healthy. In fact, over feeding is not doing them any favors.

 

[MinnieMouse2]

Watch out for
vinegar or vodka dosing. The have crashed tanks. Also, some say once you start you can not stop without doing it so slowly as not to crash the tank. I have stayed away from it. They are not in the ocean. I use macro algae instead. Careful about testing Nitrates if you bottom them out you risk dino. I bottomed out my phos and nitrates and got dino so bad. It takes a long time to turn it around, a lot of money, and hard work.