why are nitrates so high??

[rwesurfn]

i have a fairly new tank,

29 gal
30 lbs. LR
about 3 inches oolitoc aragonite
1 inch or so of live sand
rock was cured at LFS and has lots of coraline algae
bakpak IIR skimmer
fluval 304 running carbon only for a few days (normally run it empty just to help w/circulation


nitrites 0
nitrates 5
amonia 0

1 small true perc
1 royal gramma
several hermits
6 or 8 snails
my question is ....why are nitrates high and what can i do to keep them lower??

 

[rwesurfn]

also alkalinity is 6.5.....is this good, bad???

 

[Will C1]

alkilinity needs to be twice that, how new is the tank? it sounds like its still cycling.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

alkilinity needs to be twice that, how new is the tank? it sounds like its still cycling.

No, this is not right. Alkalinity should be about 3.5 or so. Natural Sea water hve Alkalinity of 2.9. If you measure Alkalinity by the German unit dKH, it should be at about 9.5 or so. Natural sea water have dKH of about 8.
Your Alkalinity of 6.5 is a littla high. I like to keep mine at about 4.

How new is fairly new? If you seed tha sand bed with living creatures, your Nitrates will be 0 is about 4-6 weeks. Another problem is that if you keep a new sand bed in a tank with very high Ca and Alkalinity (like 6.5 in your case) your sand bed solidify to form a chunk of rock which will not work to lower nitrates. Change water to lower Alkalinity and Ca.
What is your Calcium level? Check your sand bed to make sure it have not become a chunk of rock.
Minh Nguyen

 

[Will C1]

alkilinity needs to be twice that, how new is the tank? it sounds like its still cycling.

No, this is not right. Alkalinity should be about 3.5 or so. Natural Sea water hve Alkalinity of 2.9. If you measure Alkalinity by the German unit dKH, it should be at about 9.5 or so. Natural sea water have dKH of about 8.
Your Alkalinity of 6.5 is a littla high. I like to keep mine at about 4.

How new is fairly new? If you seed tha sand bed with living creatures, your Nitrates will be 0 is about 4-6 weeks. Another problem is that if you keep a new sand bed in a tank with very high Ca and Alkalinity (like 6.5 in your case) your sand bed solidify to form a chunk of rock which will not work to lower nitrates. Change water to lower Alkalinity and Ca.
What is your Calcium level? Check your sand bed to make sure it have not become a chunk of rock.
Minh Nguyen

im sorry i thought he was measuring in DKH i like to keep mine at 12.

 

[rwesurfn]

tank is just a few months old, how do i get my alkalinity down?.....do not have a calcium test kit yet
yes i measured in meq/l

could it be from my tap water?
PH is about 8.1
salinity is about 1.023

 

[investigator1]

I agree the alk should be at 12 dkh.