40 ppm nitrate is big, 90 ppm is huge. If you are looking at delicate corals you should aim to be under 10 ppm. I'm not into the bio pellet rage as I have heard too many negative reviews and have seen too many tanks with massive cyano outbreaks from using them. Imo, a little elbow grease will get you the same results.
Nitrate is created by organic breakdown. Basically you need to d a better job cleaning your tank and the nitrate will come down. However, your live rock and sandbed will leech nitrate for quite some time. You need to prevent organic breakdown from happening. Do you have any bio media in your filters? Bioballs, ceramic rings, anything like that? If so, you need to slowly remove these by 1/4 each week until they are all gone. How about sponges or pads? Any sponges/pads need to be replaced (not rinsed) every week at least.
Next, take a look at the sandbed. How deep is it? The deeper it is the more likely it is to collect detritus. If the sandbed is really old and has never been cleaned I would suggest removing it. Removal can be fatal to the tank if precautions aren't taken...ask if you want more info.
Next, take a peek at powerheads. Is detritus settling on the sand anywhere? If so, add powerheads or adjust current powerheads to blow there so detritus can't settle there anymore.
Then start feeding your fish less, and make sure you just feed a little at a time so it doesn't blow all over the tank. Switch to pellets instead of flake or frozen. When feeding frozen thaw in a cup of water, and then strain the food so that dirty water goes down the drain instead of in your tank.
Finally, if you have a heavy bioload, consider finding homes for a fish or two. What do you want more? Corals or fish?
__________________
~ Mindy
SPS fanatic.
|