Nitrate reduction without water changes

[Rmckoy]

10 to 4 in one week. 150 gallons, 8 small fish, aggressively dosing pods but otherwise taking it slow. Zero phosphates!

Pods . Even dosing nitrifying bacteria will
Lower nitrates .

 

[Screwgunner]

I have a 120 gallon system that i started with a scubber . My phosphates and nitrates stayed at 0 I thought 0's were a good thing . They are not dinnos suck I lost 3 corals and got lucky to bring several back from the dead. I haď to raise my phosphates to .28 and dose bacteria to win the battle . When I got my phosphates to.1 my corals started ģrowing like crazy. Now my phosphates are low .05 but my ñìtrates are high.

 

[Dan_P]

What types of things would cause nitrate levels to drop in a new system without algae or water change?

Some possibilities…

The nitrate you thought you were measuring was actually nitrite. Very little nitrite can give the appearance that nitrate is present. In some systems, dentrifying bacteria begin to work, converting nitrate into nitrogen gas. Also likely, algae and heterotrophic bacteria are starting to grow vigorously and are consuming nitrate and phosphate.