Reducing Nitrates

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Gripenfelter

What kind of skimmer do you have?

My old skimmer produced 1/2 cup of crap per week.

New one pulls 1 L of dark green matter every day. I found my nitrate count was higher if I turned it down to only pull out black crap.

Also I would do weekly 5% water changes instead of one big 20% one at the end of the month.

What food are you feeding the fish?

If your tank is fairly well stocked you might want to consider a refugium.

I don't know what kind of skimmer it is,... an old one, so it may not be the best. And not sure if I have it dialed right.

As for feeding, while I am careful that the fish eat all that I give them, I do feed them about 4 times a day, which I know is a lot. I added some new fish a number of months ago, incl delicate butterfly fish (which took a while to train), and want to make sure they are well fed and healthy. They have fattened up pretty good already and will be cutting back to one feeding a day in the future.

As I have mentioned, I want to try the bio pellet route, and maybe vodka dosing, just to see how it works. It is an old tank, and will be resetting in the future, and maybe sooner if this doesn't do it.

I do have a refugium, with lots of Chaeto, but it doesn't grow very quickly for some reason. My phosphates are not too high (last time I checked), but my nitrate is always very high.

[fishytime]

How old and what brand are your test kits?

[Gripenfelter]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

I don't know what kind of skimmer it is,... an old one, so it may not be the best. And not sure if I have it dialed right.

As for feeding, while I am careful that the fish eat all that I give them, I do feed them about 4 times a day, which I know is a lot. I added some new fish a number of months ago, incl delicate butterfly fish (which took a while to train), and want to make sure they are well fed and healthy. They have fattened up pretty good already and will be cutting back to one feeding a day in the future.

As I have mentioned, I want to try the bio pellet route, and maybe vodka dosing, just to see how it works. It is an old tank, and will be resetting in the future, and maybe sooner if this doesn't do it.

I do have a refugium, with lots of Chaeto, but it doesn't grow very quickly for some reason. My phosphates are not too high (last time I checked), but my nitrate is always very high.

I have 21 fish. I feed them once a day. 2 pinches of spectrum pellets and a sheet of seaweed.

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by fishytime

I agree with Denny, more and larger water changes.......the solution doesnt lie in a bottle.....also 1/2 cup a week is diddly squat for skimmate, what kind of skimmer is it?.....my BK will produce that much in a day!

</ego-stroke-a-thon>

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by lastlight

</ego-stroke-a-thon>

oh, your just bitter you sold yours

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by fishytime

oh, your just bitter you sold yours

Well no kidding =)

[martinmcnally]

I battled with Nitrates for a LONG time. Tried everything from lights to sand to rock to skimmer etc. I was recommended bio-pellets. Tried one brand and it didnt make any difference then i tried Vertex Bio-Pellets, after about 3-4 months my Nirtates fell to zero and have never risen since. I think a good skimmer is a big part of the equation too though.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by fishytime

How old and what brand are your test kits?

About 6 months at most old. I have other tanks, too, and they test differently, plus have tried it on new SW, and nitrates come out zero, so I think they are quite accurate. I use the API test kit.

One thing I learned a long time ago, is that you need to follow directions on the test kit very carefully. Specifically, you need to shake the bottles and vial for at least 30 seconds after bottle #1 and then at least 1 minute after bottle #2 and let it sit for a few minutes after. If you don't do that, you will get a false low reading. Which is what may be happening to some people who think they have low nitrates.

Walter

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by martinmcnally

I battled with Nitrates for a LONG time. Tried everything from lights to sand to rock to skimmer etc. I was recommended bio-pellets. Tried one brand and it didnt make any difference then i tried Vertex Bio-Pellets, after about 3-4 months my Nirtates fell to zero and have never risen since. I think a good skimmer is a big part of the equation too though.

Good to hear, and that is what I have heard from a few others. I just bought a Vertex reactor,and the Vertex Pro-bio pellets. I haven't set it up yet, and still doing research before I start. Seems like the most important thing is to start up slow, so that is what I am planning.

Have had more than one person tell me though, to start with slow vodka dosing first, and then the bio pellets with the reactor. So might try that too.

I don't think my skimmer is working right though, judging by what little skimmate I get, and from what I have heard from others. Will see what it does once I start the carbon dosing.

[Reef Pilot]

I've been running the Vertex bio pellets for about 5 months now, and have seen my nitrates gradually go down from a high of 100 to 20 with my latest test just today. My tank looks much better now, with rocks and sand bed surfaces fairly clean, and hair algae has completely disappeared.

I have a very old mature 100g tank (10 years running), which I inherited when we bought the house about a year and a half ago. The tank was a real mess, overgrown with soft corals, lots of detritus everywhere, and full of all kinds of algae. I was scrubbing the rocks with a toothbrush and vacuuming the sand every 2nd week at least. It helped a bit, but my nitrates stayed consistently high, usually at least 80. I was changing 20% water monthly, and still do the same. I have quite a few fish (always hungry) and I feed them quite a bit, probably about 4 times a day, although small amounts at a time.

Amazingly, my fish and the corals didn't seem to mind the high nitrates, and always seemed quite happy. I had to do some major trimming of my corals, as they took over my whole tank right to the surface water. Now my fish have more room to swim, too. I dose a lot of calcium and alk buffer, too, to keep those parameters up.

My plan going forward is actually to reset this tank, and I am in the process of setting up a new 135g downstairs so I can transfer the fish and corals during. I am planning to go either bare bottom, or a very thin sand bed. Then I want to try my hand with more fancy corals like SPS and Zoas.

But I wanted to see if these bio pellets work, and would have to say they definitely do, judging from the results. I should mention that I also used MB7, and started off very gradually with the amount of bio pellets in my media reactor. That kept me from having any cyano or other undesirable effects from the bio pellets.

Anyway, just a FYI, in case anyone else is thinking of going this route.