Where are the nitrates coming from?

[Reefer_madness78]

My tank is 9 months old. I've had nitrates consistently around 20.(red sea test) but for awhile now they have been between 20 and 50 (test jumps 20 to 50 and it looks somewhere in between) i run a canister filter that I clean every week at wc ( rinse biomedia with tank water, rinse or change floss and rinse canister itself) i do 10g wc every week (tank has 57g) last week i put in a nitrate pad and I had been running biomedia on bottom and then foam pad then floss per canister filter instructions. I reversed that last week also. I don't overfeed. I have only two clowns and I drop only a few pellets at a time and they get almost all of them. I even had to let tank go fallow for 76 days and didn't feed tank and nitrates were still the same. I know some say canister filter but I clean that think good every week and even the hoses when they look dirty. Whats the deal?

 

[Rubberfrog]

What do you have for substrate and rock?

 

[Reefer_madness78]

What do you have for substrate and rock?

I have about a 2 inch sand bed and I don't know how many pounds of rock

 

[Rubberfrog]

I have about a 2 inch sand bed and I don't know how many pounds of rock

Tell me more about the rock. Did you cycle the rock, or just drop it in when you got it?

 

[Reefer_madness78]

Tell me more about the rock. Did you cycle the rock, or just drop it in when you got it?

I put everything in and cycled tank

 

[Rubberfrog]

It's possible you have decaying organic matter breaking down on the rock. A lot of guys "cure" their rock in a tub for a month or more. Was it live rock or dry rock?

 

[Reefer_madness78]

It's possible you have decaying organic matter breaking down on the rock. A lot of guys "cure" their rock in a tub for a month or more. Was it live rock or dry rock?

Dry rock. This is a pic about a month into cycle.

 

[Rubberfrog]

That looks like a pretty normal cycle. I don't see any die off.

Assuming you are keeping those canisters clean and not over feeding, I'm a little stumped. Those nitrates are coming from somewhere.

 

[Deschutes541]

Try getting a turkey baster and blowing off the detritus from the live rock. Do you vacuum the sand bed?

Do you have a CUC?

 

[Reefer_madness78]

Try getting a turkey baster and blowing off the detritus from the live rock. Do you vacuum the sand bed?

Do you have a CUC?

I've stirred the sand bed once before. I have 1 emerald crab 1 trochus snail 1 nassarius 1 tiger conch and 5 blue leg hermits. I know its not alot of cuc but the don't seem to have much to eat. They come running id I drop an algae pellet in there lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

Can be:
Poor filtration
Over feeding
Something spoiling in the tank
Keeping too many fish in a tank

wTer changes alleviate this as well as adding a pouch of chemipure elite which will keep phosphate and nitrate in check

 

[Reefer_madness78]

Can be:
Poor filtration
Over feeding
Something spoiling in the tank
Keeping too many fish in a tank

wTer changes alleviate this as well as adding a pouch of chemipure elite which will keep phosphate and nitrate in check

I have been feeding reef roids 2x a week for a month or so to raise phosphate (and for corals too) my phosphate were at 0.02 and I wanted to raise a little. They are now at 0.06

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have been feeding reef roids 2x a week for a month or so to raise phosphate (and for corals too) my phosphate were at 0.02 and I wanted to raise a little. They are now at 0.06

That may be your source right there

 

[Deschutes541]

I've stirred the sand bed once before. I have 1 emerald crab 1 trochus snail 1 nassarius 1 tiger conch and 5 blue leg hermits. I know its not alot of cuc but the don't seem to have much to eat. They come running id I drop an algae pellet in there lol

Stirred or actually vacuumed? I'd suggest vacuuming the sandbed. You'll be shocked at the amount of gunk that comes out. Maybe do 15% of the sand bed during your weekly water changes.

I see you mentioned feeding Reef Roids. That will absolutely increase your nitrates maybe cut back to feeding once a week.

 

[Rubberfrog]

You didn't mention reefroids earlier. You said just a few pellets for the clowns.

 

[Reefer_madness78]

You didn't mention reefroids earlier. You said just a few pellets for the clowns.

I thought reef roids would raise phosphate not nitrate. The nitrates were still 20 before I started reef roids. It may have went up some because of reef roids but it was 20 during fallow and no feeding. I'm going to do a 40% wc this week and see if that helps and see if it goes up again.

 

[Reefer_madness78]

Stirred or actually vacuumed? I'd suggest vacuuming the sandbed. You'll be shocked at the amount of gunk that comes out. Maybe do 15% of the sand bed during your weekly water changes.

I see you mentioned feeding Reef Roids. That will absolutely increase your nitrates maybe cut back to feeding once a week.

I haven't tried to vacuum. How do you do it without sucking up the sand?

 

[Lasse]

Have you measured your nitrites? Which red sea test do you use - the normal or the Pro. If nitrates goes up and down quickly - there is normally an interference taking place. Nitrite interference is huge among most nitrate tests.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

i put in a nitrate pad

What does that mean to you?

FWIW, there is no material that is going to bind nitrate out of seawater. Such filters, if they work at all, do so by binding and exporting organic matter before it can break down. If it is not collecting substantial organic mater, it isn't helping.

 

[Deschutes541]

I haven't tried to vacuum. How do you do it without sucking up the sand?

Assuming you have something similar to this, it isn't too terribly complicated.

Just fold the hose over itself to constrict the water flow when you start sucking up too much sand. There is a point were you're vacuuming detritus but not sand. You'll need to squeeze and release at certain times to manage the flow. Let me know if that doesn't make sense.