HUGE Nitrate Spike!

[Ken_Allen]

I believe one of my fish died and I can't find it anywhere. I would have to pick up the rocks and move all my corals to find it because it hid underneath.

My Nitrates went from 0 last night to about 20ppm today!

I think that's why my corals are recessed.

I did a partial water change earlier, but I still have 20ppm. Should I do another water change?

My skimmer isn't really going crazy much right now, should it be?

 

[fsn77]

Another water change can help, but only if it's close to 50% Even then, if the dead fish is still decaying (quite likely) the nitrate levels will continue to climb / be persistant until the dead fish is removed or completely decays.

 

[Ken_Allen]

Another water change can help, but only if it's close to 50% Even then, if the dead fish is still decaying (quite likely) the nitrate levels will continue to climb / be persistant until the dead fish is removed or completely decays.

it seems to be gone. I have 10 crabs, a coral banded shrimp, and snails. I think they ate it already.

 

[Dan06]

It's possible they consumed the fish. I know people who purposely keep a ton of crabs and rave about not having to tear apart their rock to get to a lost fish.

It's likely it was polluting the tank while they consumed it too, but it's also still possible it's still there.

What size tank do you have? If you notice the nitrates keep rising, you may have no choice but to break into the tank.