Nitrates through the roof help

[JEREMY HELMINIAK]

I have rodi system so that's not a issue, I have added a media reactor to the system just over a week ago, over the last month have changed 90 gallons of water in a 150 gallon system, and nitrates will not come down from between 80ppm and 140ppm any help would be appreciated. I have also reduced feeding drastically to twice every other day or every three days some times small bio load of only 8 fish. Sump skimmer kessil lights nitrites are at 0 ph is 8 temp is always between 77 and 78 degrees calcium 440 havent done a recent mag test waiting on a new test kit.

 

[tgrick]

How old is the tank?
How do the tank inhabitants look? It's a high level but it may not be a problem at this time.
Bacteria in a bottle does wonders to lower Nitrate. I use the smallest Biopellet from Reef Octopus also. I have probably use half the amount of media they suggest as I use it to help and not eliminate Nitrates. I try to keep Nitrates below 10 and ALL my corals and fish are very happy. I've had it go higher without issue as well.
Can your system support a refugium?

 

[JEREMY HELMINIAK]

How old is the tank?
How do the tank inhabitants look? It's a high level but it may not be a problem at this time.
Bacteria in a bottle does wonders to lower Nitrate. I use the smallest Biopellet from Reef Octopus also. I have probably use half the amount of media they suggest as I use it to help and not eliminate Nitrates. I try to keep Nitrates below 10 and ALL my corals and fish are very happy. I've had it go higher without issue as well.
Can your system support a refugium?

This tank itself is only a few months old, however the rock and fish are from a 5 year old 125 gallon tank, I just moved livestock into a tank, fish all seem to be fine but all my coral are looking horrible.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

What testing method are you using? What kind of coral in your system? And what's your alkalinity? 80+ nitrates may not really be an issue.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

Also did you move the sand bed from your old tank to the new one? You could be experiencing die off from the rock and sand causing a spike in nitrates

 

[RobZilla04]

Insufficient bacteria population to process the nitrogen cycle. Either when you transferred the rock, and if you did the substrate, or after you had a significant die off of bacteria. Might be wise to use a bacteria in a bottle supplement, as already mentioned, to kick start the population again.

 

[SPR1968]

Hi Jeremy and welcome to R2R

You mention RODI so I’m assuming this is producing 0 TDS RODI water.

The easiest way to get nitrate down is by doing large water changes of say 20-25% and several of them over a period of days/weeks to fit in with your lifestyle. 25% water change means 25% Nitrate reduction and shouldn’t upset the tank chemistry to much as long as the new water is matched to a reasonable level.

The other things to look into are methods of biological filtration and their are many, including carbon dosing for example Red Sea’s Nopox. I use this in combination with Seachem Matrix to create a biological filtration system to remove nutrients including Nitrate from the system. I’ve found Seachem Matrix very effective and I’ve tried several methods including Marine Pure, Brightwell NO3 bricks........

Corals wont like very high Nitrate but equally they don’t like phosphate at high levels so I would check we’re you are there as well with a phosphate reading. A good target is 0.03ppm so very low.

 

[tgrick]

I suspect it's a mini cycle. I would add bacteria ASAP. Dr. Tim also has the gel bacteria which I find work well also.

What coral types look off? Soft? SPS or LPS?

 

[JEREMY HELMINIAK]

Also did you move the sand bed from your old tank to the new one? You could be experiencing die off from the rock and sand causing a spike in nitrates

Alk was 12 last time I tested it which was a couple weeks ago but the nitrate issue has been ongoing for over a month now, fish are fine coral acans zoas leathers and a Duncan are not really opening up like they were 2,3 months ago. Nitrates have been the only thing I've noticed that have gone out of whack considerably.

 

[JEREMY HELMINIAK]

Insufficient bacteria population to process the nitrogen cycle. Either when you transferred the rock, and if you did the substrate, or after you had a significant die off of bacteria. Might be wise to use a bacteria in a bottle supplement, as already mentioned, to kick start the population again.

Used new sanded and used 2 bottles of dr Tim's bacteria when I moved to this tank

 

[JEREMY HELMINIAK]

I have nopox havent noticed a difference since I started using it, I also have a media reactor with carbon in it.

 

[lapin]

Start looking at the many ways to reduce nitrates like stated above . Looks like everyone beat me to the post. Some involve increasing bacteria to process nitrate and some ways are for exporting it.

 

[lapin]

I have nopox havent noticed a difference since I started using it, I also have a media reactor with carbon in it.

Nopox will take some time to work.
Carbon will not reduce nitrate.

 

[Andrewalex11]

Rapid changes in your system could have a slight adverse affect on your livestock, in my opinion you could try carbon dosing with vinegar to give your bacterial population a real boost to help naturally process the waste in your tank. Along with this small water changes very frequently over a period of time will be a huge help as well.

I highly suggest you read this article to learn about nitrates and carbon dosing:
http://www.reefedition.com/nitrate-in-the-reef-aquarium/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lets-talk-about-carbon-dosing.72925/

 

[Bfactor84]

Did you verify your nitrate levels with another test kit or at your local LFS? faulty/expired test kits should be ruled out too.

 

[JEREMY HELMINIAK]

I do also have dr Tim's Pearl's added into my media reactor to help with the nitrates.

 

[JEREMY HELMINIAK]

I've changed out almost 100% of the water in my system over the last month already.

 

[JEREMY HELMINIAK]

Did you verify your nitrate levels with another test kit or at your local LFS? faulty/expired test kits should be ruled out too.

No I havent because my local shop is two and a half hours away, but this is a new test kit I've checked it with water in another tank.

 

[tgrick]

I think it's a mini cycle you are I and it will resolve itself with time. Bacteria in a bottle would be my attack plan. I would be careful with bio pellets and use LESS than recommended. My approach is always less is more and seems to avoid other issues. Do you run marine pure or other types of bacteria media in the sump? This might be a very critical component...marine pure or those Brightwell media blocks in the sump.

 

[JEREMY HELMINIAK]

I think it's a mini cycle you are I and it will resolve itself with time. Bacteria in a bottle would be my attack plan. I would be careful with bio pellets and use LESS than recommended. My approach is always less is more and seems to avoid other issues. Do you run marine pure or other types of bacteria media in the sump? This might be a very critical component...marine pure or those Brightwell media blocks in the sump.

Yes I have the marine pure bio balls in a chamber of my sump .