Skimmer and High Nitrates.....

[Domboski]

My ETSS 750 (modified with Becketts) powered by a Sequence 4200 is creating a liquid skimmate that is green. I am wondering if the high nitrates (50PPM) are causing this or the flow through the skimmer needs to be adjusted? It is only suds going into the collection cup. If it is the high nitrates, should I let it go until the Nitrates go down?

Hopefully this information will cover some of your questions:

~ 210 gallon system (150 gallon tank, 40 gallon above tank refugium and 20 gallon sump)
~ All params are good except Nitrates and Phosphates are high
~ System has been running for over a year (skimmer is a new addition though)
~ Medium to high Bio load (DSB with chaeto in refuge)


Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Tim]

Is the skimmate dark or light? How often do you do water changes?

 

[Deanos]

Posts by members here, more familiar with the workings of skimmers, report that skimmers do not remove nitrates, only the organics which degrade into nitrates.

In the context of your question: If your nitrates are high, your skimmer needs adjustment or upgrading. We have a few current threads in the Advanced Reefs forum addressing methods to reduce nitrates.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

dom

i'm no expert on skimmers. but it sounds like your skimmer needs to be tuned. the way describe it, you are skimming wet.

also the foods and number of times you feed may be a reason for your nitrates. you just set up the 150 so it may be going through a cycle.

the phosphates are a reason your seahorse tank has that algae break out. i would just concentrate on water changes. 10-20% but more frequently.

 

[meschaefer]

You said that the skimmer is a new addition. Since it won't pull out nitrates, only the organics that break down into nitrates, you need to do some water changes. Hoepfully thse skimmer will keep the nitrate levels from rising.

 

[jackson6745]

Dom if your nitrates and phosphates are high then your system is not able to process the waste of your bioload. Properly adjusting your skimmer will help to keep nitrates down in the long run but will not fix your current problem. Post a pic of your skimmer neck and bubble concetration if possible.

-The corrective measures that I would take would first be to run phosban in a reactor to lower your phosphates. IME phosphates are much more lethal to your corals.

-Keep doing large water changes (20%) to dilute the wastes in your tank. Nitrates should slowly come down.

-Revaluate your system. Find out where the waste is coming from and try your best to correct it. Do you have too many fish? Are you feeding too much? Are there a lot of dead spots that collect detritus? How dirty is your fuge?

- I would also use a lot of carbon change every 2 weeks and micron filter bags changed every 2-3 days. This will help clear your water and also remove excess wastes.

A pic of your whole system would help

 

[scarf_ace1981]

yeah put that brand spankin new reactor to work.:wink1:

 

[Domboski]

Thanks everyone! The reason for the high nitrates and phosphates is simply I was not using a proper skimmer. I know through water changes and the new skimmer I will eliminate the problem. I guess my real question was does high nitrates make the "suds" more wet or have an effect on the skimmate production? Consistency of the water (i.e. simialr to when people medicate thier tanks)? Reading through posts in the past about running wet vs dry skimmate answered a lot of my questions prior to this post.

Answers to your Q's:

1- Is the skimmate dark or light? How often do you do water changes? Light green. Lately a lot of water changes. I can tell the Nitrates are going down but haven't tested them in the last 3 days.

2- I will post pictures in a couple of hours.

thanks for your help thus far!

 

[Tim]

Sounds like your skimming wet......

 

[Deanos]

IMO, nitrates will not change how the skimmer performs. Also, how can you tell nitrates are going down without testing?

 

[DonCisco]

Using the pinky method? You stick your pinky in the skimmate, take a taste and you can determine amount of nitrate in the system. I recommend that everyone does that...

 

[Domboski]

IMO, nitrates will not change how the skimmer performs. Also, how can you tell nitrates are going down without testing?

I can always tell by the shrooms. They are closed when the nitrates are up and the last two days they have opened up full. All corals are in the above tank refugium.

Nasty Don!

See below pictures.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Using the pinky method? You stick your pinky in the skimmate, take a taste and you can determine amount of nitrate in the system. I recommend that everyone does that...

can you come over to test the nitrate in my system. My test kits are not accurate. HAHAHA:tongue1:

 

[scarf_ace1981]

i would agree the nitrates won't afffect skimmer performance. i seriously think it's a matter of adjusting the skimmer.

was there a point in time where you were happy w/ the way the skimmer worked?

have you checked your pump to make sure it's woking properly?

hope everything works out.

 

[Domboski]

It was working perfect and then I woke up to over 20 gallons of water leaked through the overflow cup. It seemed that suddenly the pump stepped it up a notch. Sequence felt that the pump should be run with no resistance. When I do that, it runs real wet. I guess I'll have to keep it running with a bit of resistence and hope it doesn't overflow like that again.

 

[DonCisco]

oh wow, 20 gallons of skimmate all over? sorry to hear that, over the weekend if you have a chance you should run the skimmer a lil dryer, and see if it starts pulling darker skimmate.

 

[kimoyo]

Hey Dom,

Your sohal looks awesome .

~ System has been running for over a year (skimmer is a new addition though)

Didn't you just change up your entire system?

 

[Domboski]

Yeah Paul. The skimmer seems to be working much better now. It must of been a freak accident.

I love the Sohal! Thanks again for the fish!

 

[pecan2phat]

Looks like you need to clean your reaction chamber more often. The crud will impede the skimmer performance.

Strange how your reaction chamber is collecting so much crud from the pic. Most skimmers have this on the neck riser, is it possible that your water level within the reaction chamber is too low thus causing the crud to accumulate in the top half of the reaction chamber?

 

[Domboski]

That is a possibility. The reason I keep it lower is because it runs too wet. Any recomendation or tip on where the level of the water should be per the pic above?