nitrates 54.9 not sure what to do

[JK75gal]

Hi all,
Just got the Hanna Nitrate (and dKH) checkers. when I tested the Nitrates the reading was 54.9. I have overreacted in the past hurting my tank, this time I would prefer advise on what they should be. Of course, as a newbie I purchased the API tester which I have seen all of the chatter around how it so I made the leap to Hanna for these two and will be ordering the red sea kit for the rest.. but for now this is where I am. Help?? not sure what you need to know so, please ask away. Of course, if you don't mind.
Thank you

 

[Ollie67]

Hi all,
Just got the Hanna Nitrate (and dKH) checkers. when I tested the Nitrates the reading was 54.9. I have overreacted in the past hurting my tank, this time I would prefer advise on what they should be. Of course, as a newbie I purchased the API tester which I have seen all of the chatter around how it so I made the leap to Hanna for these two and will be ordering the red sea kit for the rest.. but for now this is where I am. Help?? not sure what you need to know so, please ask away. Of course, if you don't mind.
Thank you

How large is your tank? I would personally suggest doing a large water change (50-60% or more) if you are concerned about the nitrates. My nitrates tested 73ppm using Hanna a few days ago and I did a 50% water change which brought it down to 9.7ppm.

Also, it might be helpful to find a source of the high nitrates. Do you have fish? Are you feeding?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Hi all,
Just got the Hanna Nitrate (and dKH) checkers. when I tested the Nitrates the reading was 54.9. I have overreacted in the past hurting my tank, this time I would prefer advise on what they should be. Of course, as a newbie I purchased the API tester which I have seen all of the chatter around how it so I made the leap to Hanna for these two and will be ordering the red sea kit for the rest.. but for now this is where I am. Help?? not sure what you need to know so, please ask away. Of course, if you don't mind.
Thank you

I am sure others here will answer as well, but I recently experienced the same thing. I did 25 % water changes for 3 weeks in a row. I also added Tropic Marin Elimi NP along with Microbacter 7 daily. That got my numbers where they should be in that 3 weeks. However, you will also need to know your Phosphate number.

 

[yury88]

You should test nitrite and ammonia.
Some Nitrate test kits going crazy if any in water.
Not sure about Hanna reagent, but some test kits will show 1ppm nitrate as 10x Nitrate.
If you will find Ammonia and nitrate- upgrade your bio filtration.

 

[JK75gal]

How large is your tank? I would personally suggest doing a large water change (50-60% or more) if you are concerned about the nitrates. My nitrates tested 73ppm using Hanna a few days ago and I did a 50% water change which brought it down to 9.7ppm.

Also, it might be helpful to find a source of the high nitrates. Do you have fish? Are you feeding?

Thank you for the reply, the tank is 75GAL. The source of the nitrates may very well be dead animals. short story: 2 fish and 1 bubble anenome have completly disapeared with nothing to remove and I am sure a few snails since I had so many. Yes, seriously. I have no idea how, there is no way out of the tank as I was pretty meticulous cutting out for the returns plus I looked anyway. the buble anenome was quite large when I put it in the tank and within 2 days...gone.
Left are 1 sailfin tang and 2 clowns, I feed as little as possible basically 3 or 4 pellets at a time watching them eat twice a day. I hope that is helpful.

 

[JK75gal]

I am sure others here will answer as well, but I recently experienced the same thing. I did 25 % water changes for 3 weeks in a row. I also added Tropic Marin Elimi NP along with Microbacter 7 daily. That got my numbers where they should be in that 3 weeks. However, you will also need to know your Phosphate number.

Thank you for the reply. I have microbacter 7 but do not does daily. Phospate is (API test) 0

 

[Troylee]

How does the tank look? If you lost animals I would do a water change and run some carbon for the lost nem… I get it there high but if your corals aren’t affected I wouldn’t sweat it and just let them come down. I know a few tanks running 80+ n03 and are flourishing.

 

[JK75gal]

You should test nitrite and ammonia.
Some Nitrate test kits going crazy if any in water.
Not sure about Hanna reagent, but some test kits will show 1ppm nitrate as 10x Nitrate.
If you will find Ammonia and nitrate- upgrade your bio filtration.

Thank you as well for your reply I appreciate all of you, seriously. this was the API test the other day. I hope it helps. I bought the Hanna dKH and Nitrate first due to the color aspect being so difficult.

 

[Ollie67]

Thank you for the reply, the tank is 75GAL. The source of the nitrates may very well be dead animals. short story: 2 fish and 1 bubble anenome have completly disapeared with nothing to remove and I am sure a few snails since I had so many. Yes, seriously. I have no idea how, there is no way out of the tank as I was pretty meticulous cutting out for the returns plus I looked anyway. the buble anenome was quite large when I put it in the tank and within 2 days...gone.
Left are 1 sailfin tang and 2 clowns, I feed as little as possible basically 3 or 4 pellets at a time watching them eat twice a day. I hope that is helpful.

Of course. It could be very possible nitrate spiked from the dead animals. Feeding sounds fine to me. I would definitely consider a larger water change to reset parameters, I don't think there would be any harm.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Thank you for the reply. I have microbacter 7 but do not does daily. Phospate is (API test) 0

Okay, well I am sure you already know that you do not want zero. Ideally, you want anywhere from .01ppm, to .1 or .2 ppm. Mine actually stays around .3, but my tank seems very happy. The Tropic Marin Elimi NP will lower your nitrates a whole lot faster than your phosphates anyway, but you do need to have some phosphate. Maybe just try large water changes and use the Microbacter7 daily for a week or 2. That will concentrate more on just the nitrates.

 

[yury88]

Thank you as well for your reply I appreciate all of you, seriously. this was the API test the other day. I hope it helps. I bought the Hanna dKH and Nitrate first due to the color aspect being so difficult.

So far nitrite and ammonia not your case... So water change will help.

By the way- what equipment you are using for filtration?
Your phosphate is zero, it's also a reason why nitrate accumulating in you system. In your case you should start dosing it

 

[flashsmith]

That's why I only put the large golf ball sized Mexican turbo snails in my systems. They are incredibly hardy and swings don't seem to affect them at all like the smaller kinds. Another plus is they are too large for hermits to kill. Easy to know where they are and easy to check too. Honestly no reason to panic. Just do a water change once a week and bring them down slowly. If you have a sump throw in some GFO and if you don't do it already research carbon dosing. If you have a skimmer don't wait until it's full pull it and rinse it out. Do it every day until nitrates are down. You don't need to be a chemist to run a reef tank contrary to alot of the advice you'll hear on this forum. Just basic things fix most all problems in this hobby. I sold all my hanna checkers. They aren't very reliable at all in my opinion. I wouldn't trust them.

 

[JK75gal]

How does the tank look? If you lost animals I would do a water change and run some carbon for the lost nem… I get it there high but if your corals aren’t affected I wouldn’t sweat it and just let them come down. I know a few tanks running 80+ n03 and are flourishing.

Hi And thank you!! Looks ok (to me) a bit of hair algea but, again to me not that bad. thoughts?

 

[Troylee]

Hi And thank you!! Looks ok (to me) a bit of hair algea but, again to me not that bad. thoughts?

Doesn’t look bad.. canister filter? If so start cleaning it more often and that should bring the numbers down for you.

 

[JK75gal]

So far nitrite and ammonia not your case... So water change will help.

By the way- what equipment you are using for filtration?
Your phosphate is zero, it's also a reason why nitrate accumulating in you system. In your case you should start dosing it

Thank you for the input, I am using a Fluval FX6 Not as an excuse but, didn't know I needed a sump system and that is what the LFS sold me when I bought everything. Yes, I should have done my homework first and will be upgrading over 2024 (which will be my next thread "what to replace")
On the dosing, will do!

 

[JK75gal]

Doesn’t look bad.. canister filter? If so start cleaning it more often and that should bring the numbers down for you.

Thank you, yes, FX6. should I go to monthly? I do it about every two to three months now.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Hi And thank you!! Looks ok (to me) a bit of hair algea but, again to me not that bad. thoughts?

Seeing a photo of your tank, I need to know why you're concerned?

I don't see a reason to disrupt anything by trying to correct it to some arbitrary number that people seem to pass on as gospel.

As an example, I allow my nitrates and phosphates to find their own balance and let them be. If you're curious, take a look at by build thread and recent videos of my tank. My N and P are 54 and 0.9.

 

[Troylee]

Thank you, yes, FX6. should I go to monthly? I do it about every two to three months now.

Honestly for best results I’d be cleaning that thing bi-weekly for best results.. or leave the sponges/floss out and just run it as carbon reactor and water movement.

 

[JK75gal]

That's why I only put the large golf ball sized Mexican turbo snails in my systems. They are incredibly hardy and swings don't seem to affect them at all like the smaller kinds. Another plus is they are too large for hermits to kill. Easy to know where they are and easy to check too. Honestly no reason to panic. Just do a water change once a week and bring them down slowly. If you have a sump throw in some GFO and if you don't do it already research carbon dosing. If you have a skimmer don't wait until it's full pull it and rinse it out. Do it every day until nitrates are down. You don't need to be a chemist to run a reef tank contrary to alot of the advice you'll hear on this forum. Just basic things fix most all problems in this hobby. I sold all my hanna checkers. They aren't very reliable at all in my opinion. I wouldn't trust them.

Apologies for the delay in response, (work getting in the way) I do not have a sump or skimmer yet, 2024-2025 is the replace as needed timeframe. Thank you for the advice, so much to learn.

 

[JK75gal]

Honestly for best results I’d be cleaning that thing bi-weekly for best results.. or leave the sponges/floss out and just run it as carbon reactor and water movement.

Apreciate it, will up the cleaning time for sure.