Totally frustrated Nitrate

[Galvan]

Galvan again. have had my tank for 19 months. have a 75 gallon, 5 animals, 90lbs of LR about 2-3 inch sand bed. 1 protein filter came with sump pro 75 wet dry.

Just can not get my nitrated down elow 20ppm, usually reading in the 40-80pp range. I have never seen my nitrate down to 5.0 or 0ppm. I'm keeping my tank clean, bi-weekly water changes 10 % and then one monthly at 20%. Once a month during water change I remove the water from sump to get any sand or accumulatd mess so my sump is total cleaned. I do have a large sponge in the sump to keep the air bubbles at a minimum and it filters the water one more time before the return pump. I'm just taking a a reading and see that my PH is at about 8.0, my alkalinity is b/w 80-100. I just did a 20% water change on Sunday night and took my nitrate reading it is b/w 40-80. I do not understand why. overfeeding is one but I have been trying be carefull with this. Really apprecaite your thougths.

have-
1 yellow tang
1 blue tang
1 coral beauty
1 maroon clown
1 royal gramma

1 brain coral
1 carpet coral
1 frog spawn
fiji leather

 

[Nautilus1]

do u have bioballs in the wet dry? what is inside the wed dry?

 

[melas]

have you gotten a second opinion? nitrate test kits do go bad and IME this happens quite often. take a sample to your LFS and get them to test it. even when you buy a "brand new" test kit it may have been sitting around for two years before you picked it up . . . if its not the test kit then you need to look at areas that are accumulating detritus in your aquarium. your wet dry filter is certainly a possible culprit. bio balls are unecessary in a reef (live rock does more filtration than bio balls ever could) and they tend to be "nitrate traps". Also look at the areas under your rock for "dead spots" trapping detritus. Check your overflows for accumulated debris as well. Good luck!

 

[Galvan]

I do not have bio balls in the sump, using pieces of live rock. attaching pic of sump. This is a pic from about 6-8 months ago when nitrate levels were exceeding 80ppm. I now clean the sponge filter once a month and also clean the sump by removing all the water and wipe clean the bottom of the sump with paper towels. also purchased many sponge filters to replace the sponge every 3rd month. The top filter I change every 2 weeks.
also use a turkey baster to blow off detritus on the rock work but do not go anything underneath the rock. 2nd pic of my tank with rock work.

 

[melas]

try getting rid of the sponges . . . they too can become nitrate factories. i still strongly believe your test kit may be the real problem here . . . have you tried another kit???

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

Galvan, I have too agree with melas and test kits can sometimes be out of date in which can give you inaccurate readings.

Galvan, I like to ask you of something> In the bottom photo at the top right corner your a type of timer, can you show me a site with this timer? I am asking because later on when my reef tanks are ready, I will need timers for the other timer I had on the 180 is a problem when one now lives in what I call the boom docks for I used to live in a city area here in NC and now I live where the next house is about a half mile down the road and here we have power flickers all the time and I not be able to use the one I have for the computerized memory of it would need to be restored. Thanks

 

[dnorton1978]

Galvan,


Something I see nobody has mentioned yet is your water for water changes.

Are you using tap, or well water.

Hopefully You are using RO/DI water. Let me know.

 

[pcardone]

I think the sand is the culprit

 

[Galvan]

wow! what is this about. is not one of the Requisite a sand base bottom.. what else is there. too much work..

 

[Galvan]

with the sump that I have can I get rid of the sponges and not have air bubbles.? I belive that I will get the air bubbles if I get rid of the sponges. I sure would like to get rid of them but air bubbles becomes a concern.

 

[shavo]

I had the same problem as you I could not get nitrates down no matter what i did. they were over 40 so I bought this product, (sulfer Denitrater) from midwest aquatics and my nitrates were at zero in two weeks and have not gone up since. now 7 months later. you also put calcium in there and it releases while taking down the nitrates. it has worked like a charm, if you want to invest the money it seriously worked for me

follow the link

www.midwestaquatic.com

 

[melas]

look up the use of sump baffles on this site and you can see what others have done to prevent bubbles from entering their tank without the use of sponges. the chemical removal of nitrates will not fix your problem . . . only puts a bandaid on it. try lowering your nitrates naturally. good luck!

 

[dnorton1978]

the chemical removal of nitrates will not fix your problem . . . only puts a bandaid on it. try lowering your nitrates naturally. good luck!

What he said. I agree. Natural is better, thatn chemicals. Think about any medication you have ever taken?? It always has side affects.

 

[Anonymous]

with the sump that I have can I get rid of the sponges and not have air bubbles.? I belive that I will get the air bubbles if I get rid of the sponges. I sure would like to get rid of them but air bubbles becomes a concern.

You could always give it a try and put the sponges back if you get bubbles.

 

[Ben1]

I would do a few things, one get rid of the sponge and add a second acrylic baffle from Home depot or lowes. Cut it and glue it in place with some weld on.

Second I would knock out the left baffle in the sump and take out all the LR and upgrade that skimmer. Just from the picture I can see it is pretty useless, no contact time and skinny tube. I use a ASM G3 on my 75 and feel it is a nice fit for a 75 gal tank.

The sand may be an issue if the flow in your tank is low. You may have some extremely packed detritus in your sand bed from not enough flow in the main tank. If the main flow was dispersed enough and the detritus doesnt settle as fast this takes longer then in a low flow tank. If you were overfeeding in the past you may want to sand blast your bed over the next 10 water changes in sections about 10% each time. Have a syphon started already and suck out the cloud of detritus that comes out.

What test kit are you using?
How much turnover do you have in your tank?
Are you using RO/DI?


There are some chemical products out there that will work but you need to fix the root of the problem first. Ones like NO3 minus will work but they work by feeding a bacteria that latches on the N03 and allows it to be skimmed out. This isnt a good long term solution unless you fix the problem.

 

[Galvan]

I'm using RO by filling 5 gallon water bottles the mills set up through the city. Kit is the saltwater master liquid test kit. few questions. in knocking out the left baffle is that going to make my sump weaker. If I get the ASM G3 can you tell if it will fit in the sump that I have pictured. About where do I install the 2nd baffle, not fimiliar with this procedure, I can do the work but not sure where to install.
About the Sand, what do you mean by sand blast do you mean just by using a turkey baster and then syphon what I can pick up? Would I also be removing Sand where at some time or another will have to add Sand. I do use turkey baster to on my LR and syphon what I can.

I have not lost any fish until recently I lost my green mandarin, he just stopped eating. had him for about 1.5 years. all other fish look great.

 

[dnorton1978]

My opinion is no the G3 will not fit. The g3 needs to be put into a custom or large home made sumo of some sort. THose G3's are huge. I ordered on, and sent is back do to the size.

 

[pwj1286]

I would take out the sponges and the live rock. IMO nothing in the sump but glass is the best sump style.

If you get micro bubbles, its because that sump is not ment to not have its orignal items (bio balls, sponges, ect) and I would design a new sump or atleast mod the sump you have now.
_________________
Neuromuscular Diseases Forum

 

[dbsherwood]

I agree with the posts above and think a new kit and checking your tap water are import--if your tap water has nitrates, frequent water changes may in fact be adding to the problem, as you could be adding in nitrates.

I also agree that you should get rid of the sponges and use baffles. Third, what type of lighting regimen do you have going on? One more controversial approach is to crank up your lighting, let some algae grow, reduce your feeding of the tangs, and let them work off your nitrate problem. Along these lines, I do think it important that you make certain you're not feeding too much, as that can be a big nitrate contributor.

Good luck.

 

[Ben1]

I have my G3 in a 20 gal long sump, fits just fine.

The other baffle you would add could go on either end of the exsisting one but I would put it on the right. This way the water flows under-over and gives a nice spot for the bubbles to escape. The knocking out of the other baffle wouldnt hurt the sump as long as you dont crack the acrylic when you take it out.

The kit you are using is junk, get a salifert kit which is affordable and high quality.

The sand blasting can be done with a turkey baster or with a small powerhead.

The flow in the main tank is important with a sandbed. IME when using sand a decent bottom flow is required to keep it functioning properly for years. You may consider adding some seios...