10ppm isn't too bad. I don't know if it's my ritteri or if it's something else. On this 115g I also have my Calfo-recommended-DSB-in-a-bucket (which is a joke BTW, don't ever bother trying one of these). Both were in a 90g previously ("both" as in "the ritteri was
in the 90g and the RDSB was
run on the 90g) and that tank too, also had chronic nitrate problems. (And when I say "chronic nitrate problems" I mean "readings very consistently above 30ppm". I'm not sure how I managed to let this tank get to 75ppm, I really let things slide apparently
) Whether it's the ritteri that puts an incredible bioload on a system, or the RDSB is itself a source of nitrate due to something or other bound to the sand itself, I can't say .. both theories seem equally plausible to me at this point. I would have to check my tank logs because this goes back quite a few years now, but I think that there is a pattern of whatever tank I keep my ritteri in, tends to have higher nitrates than my other tanks. But this could be coincidence, it could also be due to the fact that these have always been secondary tanks and as such, not running as high-dollar-value equipment as the primary tanks usually get.
My next tank will be BB altogether. I'm happy to hear the positive results with BB, very encouraging.