I am having problems with my nitrate levels, they are around 80, in a 110 gallon tank, all other levels are good. Fish are 2 clown fish, purplefire fish, pajama cardinal, 2 damsels, mimic tang, sailfin tang, 2 cleaner shrimp, sea urchin, sea anemone, coral, mushrooms, and snails and crabs. Our filtration is 2 emperor 400, and a Venturi-protein skimmer. Tank has been up three months. Have sone several water changes, still fighting nitrate levels. We don't use RO water.
Nitrate problems
- Thread starter cocoaperry
- Start date
Do you have a refugium? if so, you could put some macroalgae in there to help keeping the nitrates down. If you don't, put some macroalgae carefully in tank, it might expand rapidly so you have to control it so it doesn't ruin your corals. Start using RO water. 10% of 110 would be 11 gallons, so you can buy 2 five gallon water containers and find a store where they have the machine where you can refill your container for like 39 cents a gallon, you could even get 4 container and I do 20% water changes. Or you just can buy RO/DI filter. I would also recommend to stop using the filter (they become nitrates factories) or clean the sponges, or whatever your filter uses, very often.
ganjero said:
What is a refugium? Also, thank you for your help, we have already lost our lawnmower blenny and a starfish.
I'm no expert, I'm just learning myself, and I've been tring to learn more about refugiums and how to use them. The best source I've found so far is a book called "Reef Invertebrates" by Calfo and Fenner. It's give you enough of an idea that you can ask really specific questions and get more useful answers. Their discussion on refugiums and what to put in them is 20 pages long & you just won't get that detail on line, though for specific questions you can't be these forums.
Cheers and good luck with it,
Sean
Cheers and good luck with it,
Sean