Old Reef, new Keeper-- very high NITRATE !!!

[netjamer]

Greetings:

I am new to the hobby of reef keeping. But I came into an old reef tank -- complete- it has been running for about 2 years. It is a micro reef-- I left everything intact- just added some new substrate--(crushed coral) -- Everything looks fine-- but I just tested my water...nitrite=0, PH at 8.2, Amonia at .25; SG is 1.022--- but the NITRATES are off the chart--- really off the chart 80-160 ppm...

Is this normal-- or should I stop typing and change some water?

please help .

netjamer. turned reefkeeper. 8O

 

[reefann]

What type of kit are you using and how old?
Make sure you have some RO/DI water and do a large change.
What are the inhabitants?

 

[netjamer]

The tank is a 30 gal cube. I don't know everything in it, just moved it in on Saturday-- I have kept and still keep discus, and would say I'm a very experienced freshwater guy-- this is my first stab at salt anything- let alone a reef....

I have lots of corals--- the big ones are frog spawn and elegant-- also have large fan worms, mushroom thingies in lots of colors, lots of polyips etc.( oh--nothing dangerous, that I did ask)....the entire contents of the old reef was moved into a new tank- I upgraded the skimmer to a prizm-- and added a canister filter-- previously the tank was run on a lonely skilter 200.(put old media into the new filter too).. Have new VHO lights... added 2 fish-- damsel and a blenny.. have many small snails, and 5-6 hermit crabs-- I even see some small clams or oysters?- not sure which-- ohh also a small sideways crab-- 1/2 inch-- I think he lives in one of the rocks-- I'd guess I have 20-30 lbs of live rock... Been doing alot of reading these last few days- just learned about live rock on Saturday-- but I got plenty..

The tank just went through at least a 50% water change 3 days ago-- during transport-- I added ( had too) fresh mixed water into the 15 galons or so of existing water that I did bring over...

what gives with the nitrates?

Is the sky high nitrate a huge concern? was very surprised at the reading- so I did the test twice-- same results..

 

[ElMonoCalvo]

Check your water source for a high nitrate reading. I learned the hard way that without a good water filtration unit that the water you get out of the tap is often high in nitrates.

 

[reefann]

Could be your test kit?????

 

[reefann]

BTW do the corals seem open and have expanded polyps? Does anything seem to be showing signs of stress?

 

[netjamer]

some reading says that test kits are very inaccurate in measuring nitrates. I have a brand new salt master kit-- aquarium pharmaceuticles is the brand....

I did a 10% change last nite-- with NSW bought a box just in case....
The corals all open up within 30 min on lights on... To my eye- nothing looks remotely stressed....

I live in the mountains on southern NY state... We have our own well, so I have no chlorine... My tap water is incredibly soft, only 2-3 PPM in hardnesss right from the tap..(the dicsus could survive in toilet water) Never tested it for nitrate, btw can I use the saltwater kit of freshwater?

I will do some more test tonight- will check the bottled seawater- if that reads similar I will conclude that my test kit is off.....

I have read that nitrate should read as close to zero as possible--- is this correct?>

btw- thanks-- and this seems a great forum..
have a pic to post-- but the file is too large- I can e-mail it thought....

 

[Anonymous]

Use photoshop or similar to "shrink" photo to 650X650 pixles (or so).

We all like to see pictures!!!

 

[Anonymous]

I had some trouble with a test kit that always showed nitrates off the charts. I got rid of it and bought nitrate kits from 2 different mfg and go by the mean value of the 2.