Hello,
I have had saltwater aquarium setup for many years. Recently for a year I had been out of the hobby because of my work. All life had been removed from the tank but everything else was kept running in hopes of restarting. A few months ago I started to get back into my tank and found that my nitrate levels were extremely high. I instantly assumed that I had missed a fish or something and it had decomposed causing the high nitrates. From that point I emptied the tank, cleaned the sand and life rock as well as all filters. I then added water and allowed it to cycle. Almost immediately the Nitrates went incredibly high. Since that time I have tested the source water which was perfect, completed water changes regularly, and have even tried artificial Nitrate removers with no affect. I have a local aquarium store which their specialists are all now stumped at my problem. I have had various types of aquariums for many years and have never had a problem such as this that seems to not have a solution. I am happy to hear any ideas you may have.
John
I have had saltwater aquarium setup for many years. Recently for a year I had been out of the hobby because of my work. All life had been removed from the tank but everything else was kept running in hopes of restarting. A few months ago I started to get back into my tank and found that my nitrate levels were extremely high. I instantly assumed that I had missed a fish or something and it had decomposed causing the high nitrates. From that point I emptied the tank, cleaned the sand and life rock as well as all filters. I then added water and allowed it to cycle. Almost immediately the Nitrates went incredibly high. Since that time I have tested the source water which was perfect, completed water changes regularly, and have even tried artificial Nitrate removers with no affect. I have a local aquarium store which their specialists are all now stumped at my problem. I have had various types of aquariums for many years and have never had a problem such as this that seems to not have a solution. I am happy to hear any ideas you may have.
John