Looking for the source of high nitrates

[Marinereefiner]

Hello,

I have had some experience with high nitrates since I’ve established my tank 2 years ago. I will repeatedly get a 50+ ppm reading.
I have a 6 stage RODI unit that I top up with and use for salt mix. I have changed out my resin multiple times before it depletes and have a 0ppm output to my reservoir.

I have tested this water at getting a low nitrate reading of around 0-2ppm hard to tell with the Red Sea test but it is minimal and don’t think it will add up to 50+ppm if I top off with it.
I also checked my salt mix (Fritz rpm) and have a little bit more nitrate reading off 2ppm easily identifiable with the Red Sea.
I have confirmed this test to be reliable with a salifert test.

NH3: not 0 but the Seachem detectors say it’s under 0.02 and my last reading with red seas was 0.01
N02: 0.2
No3: 50+
Po4: next to none 0.03 or undetectable
Temp: 78F
PH: 8.1-8.3
Cal: dose kalkwasser and seems to maintain around 475
Salinity: 1.0245

I seem to have difficulty with growth of any coral that’s not a pulsing Xenia and a green start polyp. The other corals aren’t dead but don’t grow very much at all. Looking for some opinions of the source of my nitrates and some easy remedies that aren’t going to break the bank.

Thanks in advance.

 

[FUNGI]

How much and what foods are you feeding?

 

[Marinereefiner]

I recently increased the amount of fish in my tank. Prior to this I started out with a couple clown fish and an old tang that was given to me and some rock from a tank tear down, I didn’t feed very much at all maybe a couple pinches of flakes per week. I had high nitrates comparable to what I have now.

Currently I’m feeding a small pinch three times a day on auto feeder and will manually add a cube of mysis or brine shrimp almost daily. This was to help increase the PO4 in my tank which I also spot feed reef roids on occasion, about once a week.

I have 11 fish now doing this and the food is pretty well all eaten up by the fish or the CUC of a conch 9 nassarius snails and my surplus of bristle worms.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What kind of filtration do you have, how do you export nitrates? If you use a filter pad how often do you change them? How is the flow in the tank, are you pushing all the water into your filtration?

 

[FUNGI]

and size of tank?

 

[FUNGI]

so this problems been going on since Jan 2024?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nitrates.1031020/

 

[Dan_P]

Hello,

I have had some experience with high nitrates since I’ve established my tank 2 years ago. I will repeatedly get a 50+ ppm reading.
I have a 6 stage RODI unit that I top up with and use for salt mix. I have changed out my resin multiple times before it depletes and have a 0ppm output to my reservoir.

I have tested this water at getting a low nitrate reading of around 0-2ppm hard to tell with the Red Sea test but it is minimal and don’t think it will add up to 50+ppm if I top off with it.
I also checked my salt mix (Fritz rpm) and have a little bit more nitrate reading off 2ppm easily identifiable with the Red Sea.
I have confirmed this test to be reliable with a salifert test.

NH3: not 0 but the Seachem detectors say it’s under 0.02 and my last reading with red seas was 0.01
N02: 0.2
No3: 50+
Po4: next to none 0.03 or undetectable
Temp: 78F
PH: 8.1-8.3
Cal: dose kalkwasser and seems to maintain around 475
Salinity: 1.0245

I seem to have difficulty with growth of any coral that’s not a pulsing Xenia and a green start polyp. The other corals aren’t dead but don’t grow very much at all. Looking for some opinions of the source of my nitrates and some easy remedies that aren’t going to break the bank.

Thanks in advance.

The presence of nitrite will cause nitrate tests to read high. How much depends on the kit.

 

[bobnicaragua]

A few option to lower nitrates:

Regular water change schedule.
Good skimmer.
Filter sock or roller, and good flow pushing detritus into the overflow.
Bottled bacteria, like microbacter 7.
Refugium or algae turf scrubber.
Feed less.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The answer to the title question is food. It would be highly unusual for any tank to have a source as large as foods.

 

[BryanM]

following, but that high, yikes, if its true.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, many very nice tanks have 50+ ppm nitrate.

 

[Marinereefiner]

so this problems been going on since Jan 2024?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nitrates.1031020/

I started up the tank in Jan of 2023. Cycled it for a month and put in the clowns and yellow tang around February of 2023.

 

[Marinereefiner]

What kind of filtration do you have, how do you export nitrates? If you use a filter pad how often do you change them? How is the flow in the tank, are you pushing all the water into your filtration?

I have a 29gallon sump for filtration with 75gal display with eshoops large and have it setup as a bean animal overflow into two filter socks that I change out every 3 to 5 days. I have a Tunze 9206 or 9211 skimmer (sorta works could be better??) I have a refuge after the skimmer that contains my chaeto that grows slowly still. Only the size of a large handball 8” diameter and have pulled some similar size chunks out. Some it has gotten into the display and I have to pick small golf ball chunks out every week or so.

I can’t confirm my exact flow but it isn’t weak. I have my return pump running at max with about 4 feet of head and I specd it to run at 10x with 0 head. I have a Tunze single powerhead running at minimum speed as it will move a lot of water. The power head is pointed in the direction of the overflow and the return is pumping the opposite direction so these two forces are making random flow throughout the tank.I have lots of top agitation and flow around my tank I’m sure it could be better and one day will invest in newer power heads or another Tunze.

See attached picture of my display for rock

 

[Marinereefiner]

The answer to the title question is food. It would be highly unusual for any tank to have a source as large as foods.

I will try cutting out the flake food and feed cubes daily. I have been doing 1 gallon water change every day on top of about 1 gallon of ATO.

If I cut out the flake food how long should I monitor this for or expect it to come down?

I have a bottle of NOPOX as well that I’m willing to start using.