Novicereefer
Active Member
Hey,
So, I've been having trouble with keeping nitrates down to 10ppm. I used to be able to keep with easily even with moderately heavy feeding. I started noticing my API nitrate reef test kept coming back at 30+ ppm no matter how many water changes I did. I would do 25%, 50% and even 75% and I'll test a few hrs after and nitrates would read around 20ppm then the next day (without feeding) it'll say 30+ ppm again. I took out the gravel substrate as I was having great success with bare bottom. Still the same result with the tests. I bought a better test - Salifert. It read 50ppm while API read 40ish (hard to tell between the shades at times). Today, I did a 50% change again and vacuumed the bottom glass moving rocks and everything. I tested the nitrates on both test kits and it read 40ish ppm. So, I decided to test the leftover saltwater I have from my LFS (I buy their premixed saltwater for $7 for 5 gallons. I don't have space for an rodi unit). API read 10-15ppm and Salifert read 5ish ppm...THEIR SALTWATER THAT THEY SELL HAS NITRATES IN IT! I'm not sure if this is normal, but I only started to have nitrate problems when I started to go to a different LFS. With the previous LFS I didn't have this problem with nitrates. I'm not sure what to make of this information. My corals and fish are out and growing and thriving. Do I need a Hannah test? Do I need to go back to the previous LFS even though they're a little more expensive? Do I need to just buy RODI water and mix the salt myself? I'm lost and spending $32 for 50% changes every few days to fight 40ish ppm nitrates when I'm barely feeding the fish is starting to become expensive. I can use that money to do other things to enjoy my tank better.
So, I've been having trouble with keeping nitrates down to 10ppm. I used to be able to keep with easily even with moderately heavy feeding. I started noticing my API nitrate reef test kept coming back at 30+ ppm no matter how many water changes I did. I would do 25%, 50% and even 75% and I'll test a few hrs after and nitrates would read around 20ppm then the next day (without feeding) it'll say 30+ ppm again. I took out the gravel substrate as I was having great success with bare bottom. Still the same result with the tests. I bought a better test - Salifert. It read 50ppm while API read 40ish (hard to tell between the shades at times). Today, I did a 50% change again and vacuumed the bottom glass moving rocks and everything. I tested the nitrates on both test kits and it read 40ish ppm. So, I decided to test the leftover saltwater I have from my LFS (I buy their premixed saltwater for $7 for 5 gallons. I don't have space for an rodi unit). API read 10-15ppm and Salifert read 5ish ppm...THEIR SALTWATER THAT THEY SELL HAS NITRATES IN IT! I'm not sure if this is normal, but I only started to have nitrate problems when I started to go to a different LFS. With the previous LFS I didn't have this problem with nitrates. I'm not sure what to make of this information. My corals and fish are out and growing and thriving. Do I need a Hannah test? Do I need to go back to the previous LFS even though they're a little more expensive? Do I need to just buy RODI water and mix the salt myself? I'm lost and spending $32 for 50% changes every few days to fight 40ish ppm nitrates when I'm barely feeding the fish is starting to become expensive. I can use that money to do other things to enjoy my tank better.
