Nitrates - where to go from here

[clown and friends]

Hi all,

I have a 25 lagoon tank and got super aggressive with nitrate reduction a few months ago, 24/7 skimming and frequent water changes. Ended up with 0's on both nitrates and phosphates and had a huge dino outbreak. Cue shutting down the skimmer, getting a UV sterilizer and beginning the dirty water method and everything has cleared up and the tank looks great again. My nitrates now sit around 10 ppm and are slowly moving up. I am not sure where to go from here to control them. I ideally would like to keep them in the 5-10 ppm range for coral health but don't want to do water changes more than every 2 weeks or so. Will the biweekly water changes be enough? Should I just turn the skimmer back on? Should I skim like 12 on 12 off? I've considered a refugium in the back 2nd chamber as well, what are peoples thoughts on that? I'm just at a loss on how to control nitrates rather than bring them down to 0 cause that is the only method I know how to do well.

 

[BestMomEver]

I really don’t test nitrate that often. If I see a little algae, I’ll dose some NoPox. Feed less, do a water change and let your tank catch up on its own.

Edit... refugiums are great. It’ll help.

 

[LIreefguy]

I would turn skimmer on and see what that does first

Would leave on for 24. It’s great for oxygen exchange too

 

[clown and friends]

I really don’t test nitrate that often. If I see a little algae, I’ll dose some NoPox. Feed less, do a water change and let your tank catch up on its own.

Edit... refugiums are great. It’ll help.

The question is will it help or move them to 0? Guess there is no way to know until I try it.

 

[Dan_P]

Hi all,

I have a 25 lagoon tank and got super aggressive with nitrate reduction a few months ago, 24/7 skimming and frequent water changes. Ended up with 0's on both nitrates and phosphates and had a huge dino outbreak. Cue shutting down the skimmer, getting a UV sterilizer and beginning the dirty water method and everything has cleared up and the tank looks great again. My nitrates now sit around 10 ppm and are slowly moving up. I am not sure where to go from here to control them. I ideally would like to keep them in the 5-10 ppm range for coral health but don't want to do water changes more than every 2 weeks or so. Will the biweekly water changes be enough? Should I just turn the skimmer back on? Should I skim like 12 on 12 off? I've considered a refugium in the back 2nd chamber as well, what are peoples thoughts on that? I'm just at a loss on how to control nitrates rather than bring them down to 0 cause that is the only method I know how to do well.

Skimmer use will not significantly reduce nitrate concentration. In addition, most skimmers are set to remove a drier skimmate which means a slower rate of dissolved organic carbon removal than wet skimming. Run your skimmer 24 hours a day with confidence that nitrate concentration will be unaffected.

You have three choices for nitrate removal: bacteria, algae and water change. Water change is the most straightforward. In the bacteria approach, bacteria in the aquarium are encouraged to consume nitrate by feeding them everyday (dosed with organic carbon like ethanol or vinegar). In another version of the bacteria approach, the coil denitrator, aquarium water is slowly pumped through tubing that grows anaerobic bacteria that remove nitrate. For the algae approach, aquarium water is pumped through a container where algae is being grown. Good circulation and sufficient lighting are needed. In a system that is not overstocked (rare), the system will develop a population of denitrifying bacteria that will keep nitrates under control.

 

[Waters]

I would turn the skimmer back on (and leave it on), and just start doing regular water changes, while testing nitrate levels. Adjust your water change frequency and amounts (and feedings) based on those numbers.