Help Nitrate Issue

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firstlight10

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Dec 28, 2003
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Niantic, CT
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My 20 gallon tank seems to have a nitrate problem. It stabilized after I cycled the tank but went back up to 30ppm this week. I have been doing 25% water changes weekly. Neither ammonia nor nitrite has went up since the tank cycled. Where is this nitrate coming from? Should I be using a gravel cleaner and sucking water from under the sand?

Tank Specs
20 gallon
16 pounds live rock
5 pounds live sand
HOB power filter
Maxijet 600 powerhead
4 Mexican turbo snails
2 Blue Green Chromis
 
r u using tap water?
cuz tap water can have nitrates
 
Agreed. What is your source water? What "media" are you using in your HOB?
 
My water is tap water conditioned with Aqua Safe, salt used is Instant Ocean. I am going to mix up a batch of saltwater tonight and test it for nitrates, I'll post the results here. As far as media in my HOB I am using 1/2 cup of carbon plus the sponge that came with the filter. Is there a different media type I should be using?
 
firstlight10 said:
My water is tap water conditioned with Aqua Safe, salt used is Instant Ocean. I am going to mix up a batch of saltwater tonight and test it for nitrates, I'll post the results here. As far as media in my HOB I am using 1/2 cup of carbon plus the sponge that came with the filter. Is there a different media type I should be using?
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For a HOB running on a SW tank, I'd opt for LR rubble. RO water is always a much safer bet over tap. Is this a FOWLR or reef tank?
 
The tank is currently a fish only but I want to make it into a reef in the near future. I'll try swapping out the carbon for LR rubble and see if that makes any difference. I can't justify the cost of an RO system when I only have 1 tank setup. I am planning to get one in the future when I get more tanks.
 
firstlight10 said:
The tank is currently a fish only but I want to make it into a reef in the near future. I'll try swapping out the carbon for LR rubble and see if that makes any difference. I can't justify the cost of an RO system when I only have 1 tank setup. I am planning to get one in the future when I get more tanks.
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Get rid of that sponge too. I can understand about not getting an RO system yet. I only have one because I got it as a gift for Xmas. :) I also have a 20 and was buying water from the local grocery store machine or the LFS for awhile.
 
cellodaisy said:
Maybe I'm missing something. Isn't nitrate the end result of the biological filter?

waste > ammonia > nitrite > nitrate

So the nitrate is coming from everything working fine, you just have to get rid of it via water changes and live plants.
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yes but in a reef tank, the nitrates should be low
the high nitrates are from him using tap water
 
Yes if you want to go reef... nitrates should not read over 5 ..heck we want 0 readings if we can do it...same with phosphates.

RO unit too expensive I understand... it pays for itself though so plan on buying one later

You can get RO water from water supply stores... Water To Go a local store here and they have a 12 stage filtration with UV sterilizer... 50 cents a gallon =) Good stuff

Your nitrates will not go down till you change the water out with RO water...Test your tap water with your test kit... seriously... you will see you are only replacing heavy nitrate water with lower nitrate water...so you are not necessarily impacting it at all just slowing down the build up.

Also having a skimmer will help...it will remove the D.O.C's that decay into the crap we want out in the first place... again something to purchase later since budget is an issue.

Also when you feed those two fish make sure its enough so that it is gone from the water in 5 min (my little rule)...if you still see food floating around you over did it. Another Nitrate Phosphate source.
 
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