How can I keep Nitrates DOWN

[rockdiver]

I have a FOWLR 125gallon tank with 4 Sm. clowns(babys) 1 Lg. Naso Tang 1 Dragon Wrasse 1 Sm Med Puffer. @ 50lbs of rock and 2 Anomines 2-125watt MH and 1 Ancintic 40watt.
NO sand bed just a dusting. I use a wet dry filter(Amerclear) with 2 skimmers & with bio-balls

.
All my levels are 0 or EXCEPT nitrates witch are right now 80ppm BUT after a water change they go down to 15ppm never lower I am happy with 10-15 ppm nitrates but they go up quickly.
I feed 2 times a day, the tank is 4 months old rock is 2 months old NO coraline on it yet.
Is the nitrates high because of the bio balls??? I want to convert to LR in the filter but how do I do it? will it help? having a deep sand bed help??(need to get rid of the wrasse if I go deep sand bed)
If I go deep bed would the cloudyness hurt the fish?
NEED HELP costing $$$$ doing water changes (salt)
not to metion bad for fish.

DIVER
GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 

[Boss_512]

rock diver
HOW much are you feeding them each time?
I had the same problem once it was becous I
was feeding them to much.
Not having a sand bed dosen't help eather.
Thatsben my experianc. You might want to check with others though.

 

[SPC]

Diver, I think the best way to reduce nitrates is to use a refugium with an algae (caulerpa) export method. I have a sump/refugium combo and have been very happy with my nitrate levels.
Steve

 

[lawndoctor]

I agree with the others that there may be too much source material going into the water and, if so, you will need to address the source of the problem rather than its symptoms. Having said that, you may want to consider using a denitrator called the "Nitragon." It is a simple tube with two hoses, goes in the sump, requires very little maintenance, and is relatively inexpensive. There was a thread recently discussing it and this subject. "That Fish Place" sells this dentirator. I use it and my nitrates are always zero. I have a 4" DSB, but no refugium (would if I had room for it). Good luck.

 

[2poor2reef]

I would agree with what others have said. There are four ways to reduce nitrates: skim ammonia out of the water before it can break down into nitrite/nitrate; increase the anaerobic areas where de-nitrifying bacteria live and break down nitrate; use macroalgae which utilize nitrate and remove excess algae regularly; use some other denitrator mechanism such as the product mentioned by lawndoctor.

IME if you use a wet/dry with bioballs then much of the ammonia is broken down before the skimmer gets a chance to remove it from the water column so it increases the eventual production of nitrates. I would remove the bioballs incrementally and establish a large refugium with dsb and macroalgae if at all possible. Otherwise try a product like lawndoctor mentions. You shouldn't feed more (or less) than necessary but I think that until you get an effective filter that can handle the nitrate you aren't going to be able to eliminate the problem. To me, that would be a dsb/macroalgae refugium.

[ September 13, 2001: Message edited by: 2poor2reef ]

 

[playfair]

50# of rock in a 125gal is not very much... If you don't want to add the sand bed (and even if you do), I'd definitely add another 100lbs of FULLY CURED live rock to help your denitrification, then slowly remove the bio balls.

 

[BradB]

Add sand, even if you don't go DSB, every grain will help. This is not an all or nothing decision.

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"need to get rid of the wrasse if I go deep sand bed"

Why get rid of the wrass? Yes, they eat microfauna, but 1 wrass in 125 gallons with sand is much much more filtration than a glass bottom.

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"If I go deep bed would the cloudyness hurt the fish?"

Sand gets stirred up in the ocean all the time, and I have never heard of a problem with sandy water.

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If you skimmers aren't removing a good deal of crude, consider tuning them.

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You also have a relatively new tank - are you 100% sure the rock is fully cured? Even if it is, filtration tends to get better as your tank establishes itself.

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IMHO removing bioballs, adding plants, lowering feeding, and more rock will help - but not as much as sand.

 

[esmithiii]

I am not sure how your nitrates can go from 80ppm to 15ppm with a water change. Are you sure your test kit is OK? BTW to go from 80ppm to 15ppm you would need to change close to 100gal all at once.

E

 

[suckair]

If you can get it I would get some south down play sand from your local Home depot. The deeper the fine sand bed the better. Is more inportant than the ammount of rock you have IMO. I would also lose the bio ball wet dry system as mentioned earlier for the same reasons, and I would make sure your skimmer is working well.

I can over feed my system to death but I havfe a refugium half as big as my tank, beckett skimming, and two real deep sand beds.

Over all the DSB solution is considered one of the cheepest "if you can get south down" and best methods for long term control. A mixture of all of this really helps but no one specific solution is required for nutrient export of your nitrates.

good luck.
Randall
aka suckair

 

[bradwent]

I have recently switched my wet/dry and taken all of the bio-balls out with the intention of having a DSB. I have aquired 300# of Southdown and want to swap? my crushed coral for the sand. The problem I have is what to do. The CC seems to have a fair amount of life growing in it, about 1 1/2 inches in a 72 us gal. Should I remove all the CC and replace with sand? Will this start a small cycle? It also seems as a lot of work to remove all the LR, corals and fish to get to all the CC and if it causes a cycle...Any ideas would be appreciated and thanks for all help during these trying times.

System specs are:
72 US gal
lots of internal water circulation via PH's
external circulation to a sump
Red Sea Classic skimmer (marginal performance)
60# LR
purple tang, 2 maroon clowns, lawnmower blenny, blue/green chromis
many different mushrooms and polyps that are thriving, growing and multiplying
open brain that is doing well
haven't tested water lately but a/n/n = 0/0/10
am prob forgetting something but...