Nitrate advise

[KevFish]

I've a 90L jewel that I've had as a FO tank for years but over past year and half have converted to a reef.

Keeping the nitrate under control is my main problem and am looking for advice. Currently changing about 10% water per week.

I've a good amount of live rock and am running a Prizm skimmer + a DIY coil filter.

I took out my canister filter as a felt it was adding to the problem.

Inhabitants are 2 clowns a largeish blue damsel and a blue green chromis. 5 hermit crabs, 2 turbo snails and and sand sifting star.
Corels: Toadstool, mushroom, Xenia, Colt coral and a Green Star Polyp.

Lighting - 2 tubes 1 x actinic 420 1 x reef sun 50/50
salinity 1.027
nitrate 12ppm

Everything seems happy enough, although as I cut back the feeding the clowns like to nibble at the Toadstool which it doesn't appreciate much...

My guess is that the load is too much for the size of tank and have been thinking about getting a bigger one but any tips gratefully received.

 

[ChrisRD]

What sort of substrate in the tank?
How often do you have to empty the skimmer cup?
What pumps/powerheads are you using for circulation?
What do you use for source water (ie. tap, RO/DI, etc.)?

 

[KevFish]

Substrate is just thin layer of sand (not live).
Power heads x 3
I empty the skimmer about once every 2 weeks but it's never full.
Water is from LFS ROI and am using reef crystal so no nitrate getting in this way.

 

[ChrisRD]

A better skimmer would be the easiest fix IMO. Sounds like the one you have isn't doing much (that model is notorious for that). Maybe try doing a search to see if there are any mods to improve its performance...

IMO you have a full bioload in there and without a good skimmer, you'll likely have to do fairly big, frequent water changes to keep up you water quality. You could try doing a couple of 50% water changes to get things headed in the right direction and then do 20% per week instead of 10%.

Also, be sure to get any detritus out of the rockwork with a powerhead whenever you do a water change (let it settle and syphon it out).

 

[FinalPhaze987]

Also, be sure to get any detritus out of the rockwork with a powerhead whenever you do a water change (let it settle and syphon it out).

This is some of the best advise i received...i have about 2 lbs per gal in our tank with tons of nooks and crannies... blew off the rock and siphoned it out the next day while doing a water change....1 week later we saw a drastic change in our nitrate levels..

also, if your budget permits, i feel another skimmer will help with the problem

have you considered a DSB? we rely on a DSB, heavy skimming, live rock, and a decent size fuge to keep our pretty low...so our main methods are basically biological...

hope this helps...good luck with the nitrates...

 

[IslandCrow]

I'm not sure what the availability is in the UK. . .though I think both of these are actually made in Europe, check out either an ASM or Octopus skimmer. I have an Octopus which I really like, and they both seem to be some of the better skimmers in that price range. Something like a Euroreef skimmer would be the next step up.
Otherwise, I don't see any significant issues with your setup. You're not overstocked, so as long as you're not overfeeding, that's not the problem. It also sounds like you have plenty of rock, and FinalPhaze gives some good advice as far as keeping those relatively detritus free.
You may also want to try running carbon. Your canister filter should work great for that, as long as you clean it out regularly. I have absolutely no proof that carbon has any direct or indirect effect on nitrates, but I was in the same situation as you with nitrates from 5-15 ppm. Within two weeks of running carbon, my nitrates were undetectable. . .and that was with a pretty cheap skimmer.

 

[KevFish]

Thanks for all that, very helpful, I'll give all that a go.

When i've stired the sand a bit to try and syphon off detritus before, on my rock I've got loads of small red tubes that then fire out tenticles and I decided that this was then causing more waste than I was getting rid of so I stopped.....

Would you run a DSB in the main Tank or a Sump (Don't have a sump at present not enough room in the small stand to house one.

Also forgive my ignorance but what is a fuge?

 

[FinalPhaze987]

Thanks for all that, very helpful, I'll give all that a go.
Also forgive my ignorance but what is a fuge?[/quot

fuge is short for refugieum. its a seperate tank where you can grow macro algaes and keep other invertebrates you wouldnt normally keep in the display tank..its normally inline with the filtration system but ive also seen hang on back style ones...

a couple friends of mine do not like DSBs in the display tank so they run it in their fuge..miracle mud is another option but i have no information or experience with the stuff, only what i hear...

...it also helps with micro crustacian populations because it gives them a place to flourish with no natural predators. this helps if your looking to get fish like mandarin gobies, plus its pretty cool looking at all the little life forms crawling around that you normally wouldnt see..(i get pretty bored at home)

growing macroalgae in a fuge IMO helps keep our nitrates low. as you trim off the excess growth you remove the nutrients it soaks up...

Ive never tested this by removing the algae or anything but something has to be fueling the growth of them. Phosphates may be the cause but i know we keep those levels fairly low with water changes..overall i feel it may be worth a shot...you can construct one youself out of another tank if your fairly handy or purchase a ready made one...look up Mr.X's build, he has a perfect example of a fuge that wont hurt your wallet..