Nitrate high....what do I do???

[rdefino]

My story is: A feww weeks agaon i had just about everything die off in my tank. 75gal FOWLR. Not sure if it was because i stirred all the sand at the bottom or what. But eveything died but the snow eel. After a couple of weks the eel is fine and the readings are great. So I pick up 4 damsels. They are fine for a week and the readings are great. i pick up a very small lion fish and a little puffer, readings are still great. Now 5 days later I check the readings and all are fine but the nitrate. they are way way up there. Basicly the worst reading on the rea sea chart. So I doa 20gal water change. I wake up today, a damsel is dead. Nitrate reading still very high. what should I do, and what can I do? HELP

thanks

 

[Oliver]

water changes, refugium are two things you can do. How high are the nitrates?

 

[rdefino]

I forget what the number are but on my redsea chart it's the highest. How often should I do the water changes, everyday? Also, I have to ask, what's a refugium?

thanks for the reply

 

[dimebag420]

Depending on how high the nitrates are I would do about 10-15 gallons weekly this will help clear out those nitrates. Second dont add any fish till u get them down. Also a refugium is a sump that sits next to the aquarium or underneath that contains numerous types of coulpra and other plants that absorb nitrates and other pollutants in your water. I used this to get the nitrates to 0 in my 50 gallon reef tank. Hope this helps dont worry about that eel i lost an entire tank cause i did the same thing and the eel surived it all. Just try to do minimum feeding for the eel. Good luck!!!!!

 

[Erik314]

I believe your tank needs to cycle through and stabilize. Try to add some Algone into your filter to remove ammonia before it converts to nitrate to reduce the load. Refugium is a long term solution and plants needs to grow to reduce nitrate. Next you can expect an green algae bloom in your tank. Reduce feeding, add some algae eaters (snails, emerald crabs, hermit crabs). Weekly water changes 10% until you have stabilized your tank. Goo luck.

 

[FloridaBoy]

IMHO the nitrates did not kill your damsel. Buying groups of damsels almost always results in only one survivor. Previous posts calling for planted refugiums are good advice; plant filters will indeed reduce nutrients/nitrates... however nitrate is seldom a fish killer; try slowing down and adding only one fish every 3-4 weeks. In fact, you are going to have plenty of bioload with a growing eel, lionfish and puffer; all of them require heavy protein food so you could stop now with those three only and have lower nitrates, less maintenance and three happier fish in your 4 foot tank. This assuming the lion does what is natural and eats the remaining damsels if you leave them in.