What contribute to my high level of nitrate and what can I do to fix it?

[ggwp1111]

Recently I got a pretty awesome deal on live stock so I brought home some fishes but didn't have extra fund laying around to upgrade to bigger tank until at least to the end of Jan. I thought about setting up a 40g breeder tank as temporary tank but I currently have the AIO 20g so I don't have all the equipment needed to go normal cheap route with a regular tank.

Right now I have a 20 gallons AIO with 2 clowns (2"), hippo tang (3"), flame angel (2"), yellow gobby, blue damsel, 3 turbo snails, 5 scarlet hermit, an urchin, pistol shrimp and cleaner shrimp.

I know I overstocked the tank, that's why I ramped up on clean up crews and do 25% water change every week. My ammonia is between 0 - 0.25 and nitrite is 0. So i don't know why my nitrate is so high, usually around 15 to 19. Usually with water change I can bring it down to 9-10 but it will go back up again. I do notice the fishes move their mouth faster while breathing when nitrate is high. But other than that, they are healthy and eating. I feed them one cube of frozen brine shrimp on the morning and evening. They usually eat all the food within 3 minutes.

I'm racking my brain but couldn't figure out what is causing it because the ammonia and nitrite indicates that the bacteria in the tank and biofilter do their job. I have no coral and no algae issue. For ammonia and nitrite, i used API saltwater test. For nitrate i use Hanna test. I know the most logical thing is upgrade the tank size but for now I can't afford to, so what would be a temporary ways to lower nitrate level?

 

[Aspect]

Wow you have all of those in a 20 gallon tank? That's the reason your nutrients are so high.

 

[ggwp1111]

Wow you have all of those in a 20 gallon tank? That's the reason your nutrients are so high.

Yea the guy gave me a deal for the hippo tang, gobby, pistol shrimp, flame angel, clown and cleaner shrimp for $35. It was too much of a good deal to pass on.

 

[bushdoc]

You seem to have what I would called FOWLR, no corals tank. One of my tank is like that too. My Nitrate was recently in 50s and I only lowered it with multiple water changes, sand vacuuming and eventually carbon dosing, because I had GHA growth. My fish were fine, so should be your fish, unless your ammonia level is real, which I doubt. Your urchin may suffer though.
i
It takes several months to develop sufficient population of denitrifying bacteria and you need sizable live rock for that.
I initially didn’t notice size of your tank, mea culpa. I think you need to start thinking about getting bigger house for your fish. Also havy breathing maybe signs of lack of oxygen, not excess of Nitrates.

 

[Aspect]

Yea the guy gave me a deal for the hippo tang, gobby, pistol shrimp, flame angel, clown and cleaner shrimp for $35. It was too much of a good deal to pass on.

Won't be a good deal if they all die

 

[ggwp1111]

You seem to have what I would called FOWLR, no corals tank. One of my tank is like that too. My Nitrate was recently in 50s and I only lowered it with multiple water changes, sand vacuuming and eventually carbon dosing, because I had GHA growth. My fish were fine, so should be your fish, unless your ammonia level is real, which I doubt. Your urchin may suffer though.
i
It takes several months to develop sufficient population of denitrifying bacteria and you need sizable live rock for that.

Yea I have no coral. No algae issue. Just high nitrate

 

[829282610]

That’s a lot of fish. I’d cut back on those and find some new homes for the bigger fish at least. Increasing your bio load quickly has a negative effect, especially on such a small system. Larger WC’s will help export nutrients. also your feeding Too much. Once a day or every other should be just fine. The ammonia is an issue as well. Good luck

 

[ggwp1111]

That’s a lot of fish. I’d cut back on those and find some new homes for the bigger fish at least. Increasing your bio load quickly has a negative effect, especially on such a small system. Larger WC’s will help export nutrients. also your feeding Too much. Once a day or every other should be just fine. The ammonia is an issue as well. Good luck

I didnt realize that was too much feeding. I might try to cut back and perhaps rehoming some of the fishes.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

agree, too many fish in that small tank.

Should not have a tang in a 20 gallon, even if on special even if it was free, the tank is too small for a tang/

 

[ggwp1111]

Won't be a good deal if they all die

I was planning to only keep them temporarily until the end of Jan when I have my bonus and upgrade to the Nuvo 80 SR

 

[ggwp1111]

agree, too many fish in that small tank.

Should not have a tang in a 20 gallon, even if on special even if it was free, the tank is too small for a tang/

Yea the plan is upgrading to the 80 gallon at the end of Jan.

 

[MarineandReef Jaron]

Nitrate is much harder to filter out of an aquarium without help. Denitrifying bacteria that remove nitrate require lower oxygen environments as well as large amounts of organic carbon to grow. There are really only 3 ways I have found to deal with nitrates.

1. Algae Filtration
2. Organic Carbon Dosing
3. Lots of Water Changes

In a tank your size option 3 is the easiest. If you change a 5 gallon bucket every week you should make a good dent in the nitrate levels and you won't need to buy any new equipment.

 

[JZ199]

How old is the tank and how much rock do you have and what are you running for filtration? One cube seems like a ton to be feeding twice a day, also are you defrosting the cube or just throwing the whole thing in the tank?

It is definitely overstocked so it will be a losing battle, with adding a ton of clean up crew you have to keep in mind that they also produce waste, which will in return continue to contribute to your issue.

 

[ggwp1111]

How old is the tank and how much rock do you have and what are you running for filtration? One cube seems like a ton to be feeding twice a day, also are you defrosting the cube or just throwing the whole thing in the tank?

It is definitely overstocked so it will be a losing battle, with adding a ton of clean up crew you have to keep in mind that they also produce waste, which will in return continue to contribute to your issue.

The tank itself has been a year old. Originally I have the 2 clowns, the blue damsel and 3 turbo snail in there with like 10lbs of live rock. No coral. Usually my nitrate is around 4-5 before the extra stocks this week. As far as filtration, I have a small protein skimmer, activated charcoal, bio media and phosphate filter.

 

[MarineandReef Jaron]

How often are you changing water now? You likely just need to up your water change game.