I have several questions about some nitrate issues in my tank.
48 gallon tank, 14 gallon sump
Reef w/ softies & anemones
2 clownfish (2-3”), YWG, BI-color Blenny, Orchid Dottyback, cleaner shrimp
CUC: 10 or so hermits, a heap of micro brittle stars, 2 scutus/elephant snails, 10+ vibex narcissis, a handful each of Cerinths, Nerite and Astrea snails. Plus our very trusty Turbo.
salinity 1.028 ppm ( working this down, but it always leans a little high )
PH 8.2. Nitrite 0. Amm 0 Cal 400-450
Nitrate - 80-140 in the red
KH - 138ppm ( I think? )
Test kit : API
High nitrates over the last 3-4 months. Water changes make a small difference but it returns back to the high red within a week or two.
Confusingly everything looks splendid in the tank. Only noticeable change is some skeleton showing on the oldest Frogspawn but still has full extension. We might have lost some invertebrates but it’s difficult to say. Other note: one of the hammers has been putting out long polyps ( not stingers )
All the corals are growing and the anemones have doubled in size. Fish appear healthy.
potential causes?
-Skimmer stopped working for several weeks. Got it working again about 2 months ago but it hasn’t been working quite the same.
- We’ve been using tap water ( I know ) for our tank for the last 3 years. Our LFS uses local tap and has no issues. Per local salt water install/maintenance person the tap water in my neighborhood has more nitrate issues around this time of the year. Our water comes from reservoirs that over the summer empty and become more sediment-y (?). When I test the tap it has 5-10 nitrates.
- we were feeding daily or every other day. Usually 1 block of spirulina brine shrimp or coral gumbo, occasionally both but 1/2 blocks. We’ve reduced to 3x a week.
-Tank additions : we added the yellow watchman goby, blenny and dottyback all around Feb 2022. We added the Rainbow bubble tip Jan 2022. Sebae anemone added May 2022.
-Fragging. We fragged our Kenya tree about a month ago. In retrospect we should have waited for water conditions to be better. The frags completely melted overnight adding to the nitrate issue.
-Within the last 2 weeks we now have some algae issues that have developed. We almost never have had algae blooms or issues in the tank before. Green hairy algae on the rocks that the CUC doesn’t appear to be cleaning.
-we tried to add chaeto to the refugium but it’s all melted so I’m not sure what’s wrong there. 12 hours plant light on pink. Added 24 hour white light but now there’s improper algae growth too… Gracilaria and calupera in the DT and Refugium is doing grand.
In the last couple of months we’ve done 6 or so 15 gal water changes. Changed feeding schedule & started being better about turning off flow for feeding. Started using RODI water from LFS for top offs and water changes. Added 3 cups of chaeto to refugium.
I would really appreciate some opinions and ideas on what steps to take next.
Would it be beneficial to strain out additional liquid and nitrates from their frozen food before feeding?
Dead head on Frogspawn is about 2 years old
48 gallon tank, 14 gallon sump
Reef w/ softies & anemones
2 clownfish (2-3”), YWG, BI-color Blenny, Orchid Dottyback, cleaner shrimp
CUC: 10 or so hermits, a heap of micro brittle stars, 2 scutus/elephant snails, 10+ vibex narcissis, a handful each of Cerinths, Nerite and Astrea snails. Plus our very trusty Turbo.
salinity 1.028 ppm ( working this down, but it always leans a little high )
PH 8.2. Nitrite 0. Amm 0 Cal 400-450
Nitrate - 80-140 in the red
KH - 138ppm ( I think? )
Test kit : API
High nitrates over the last 3-4 months. Water changes make a small difference but it returns back to the high red within a week or two.
Confusingly everything looks splendid in the tank. Only noticeable change is some skeleton showing on the oldest Frogspawn but still has full extension. We might have lost some invertebrates but it’s difficult to say. Other note: one of the hammers has been putting out long polyps ( not stingers )
All the corals are growing and the anemones have doubled in size. Fish appear healthy.
potential causes?
-Skimmer stopped working for several weeks. Got it working again about 2 months ago but it hasn’t been working quite the same.
- We’ve been using tap water ( I know ) for our tank for the last 3 years. Our LFS uses local tap and has no issues. Per local salt water install/maintenance person the tap water in my neighborhood has more nitrate issues around this time of the year. Our water comes from reservoirs that over the summer empty and become more sediment-y (?). When I test the tap it has 5-10 nitrates.
- we were feeding daily or every other day. Usually 1 block of spirulina brine shrimp or coral gumbo, occasionally both but 1/2 blocks. We’ve reduced to 3x a week.
-Tank additions : we added the yellow watchman goby, blenny and dottyback all around Feb 2022. We added the Rainbow bubble tip Jan 2022. Sebae anemone added May 2022.
-Fragging. We fragged our Kenya tree about a month ago. In retrospect we should have waited for water conditions to be better. The frags completely melted overnight adding to the nitrate issue.
-Within the last 2 weeks we now have some algae issues that have developed. We almost never have had algae blooms or issues in the tank before. Green hairy algae on the rocks that the CUC doesn’t appear to be cleaning.
-we tried to add chaeto to the refugium but it’s all melted so I’m not sure what’s wrong there. 12 hours plant light on pink. Added 24 hour white light but now there’s improper algae growth too… Gracilaria and calupera in the DT and Refugium is doing grand.
In the last couple of months we’ve done 6 or so 15 gal water changes. Changed feeding schedule & started being better about turning off flow for feeding. Started using RODI water from LFS for top offs and water changes. Added 3 cups of chaeto to refugium.
I would really appreciate some opinions and ideas on what steps to take next.
Would it be beneficial to strain out additional liquid and nitrates from their frozen food before feeding?
- I was recommended a rv filter to clean up our tap water. Has anyone had any experience with this?
- Would it be beneficial to strain out additional liquid and nitrates from their frozen food before feeding?
- I may just need help with refugium/sump/skimmer in general. Not sure why it’s not picking up as many proteins (foam) and why the water doesn’t spin as much anymore in the chamber. Why is all the chaeto dying? I think I’m using too much light/wrong light?
- I may just need help with refugium/sump/skimmer in general. Not sure why it’s not picking up as many proteins (foam) and why the water doesn’t spin as much anymore in the chamber. Why is all the chaeto dying? I think I’m using too much light/wrong light
- Rodi water - I know you’re gonna bring it up so please let me know if this is an avenue I need to take but it’s not really in my budget at this time.
- Test kit - type/expired?
Dead head on Frogspawn is about 2 years old