Nitrates out of control!

[vangoghfish]

feeling on api test kits? recommened brand?

 

[jsvokowest]

wow you guys are great i finally got to check out the posts ( father is having a medical issue) .so gonna try to answer them one by one

tank was set up since march 15 this year

source water was nitrate 0 tds unknown but the nutrysystem should be free no?

vodka dosing i looked into it but i would hate to throw any extra things in there that really dont belong for the sake of the live stock. this should be a natural process and would love to be able to keep it that way.

had a red sea test kit give me a flase ammonia reading which led to me calling the dep to check the ammonia level in the drinking water. not the source water for tank but i have a kid and don;t need ammonia in the water. turns out kit was bad. oops. api kit proved more accurate. kit was thrown out.

cleaning out the shed i found two old filters for some easy set inflatable pools i had for the kid. cleaned it out real well and bought some new hoses for it and the paper filter. so here is the idea. perhaps the vodka would be better in the tank as now the thoughts are getting weirder.lol after rermoving the bio balls i filter the water through the filter it is only 540 gph . wont do it in the main tank but in the back where no one gets hurt. while stirring up the crushed coral. what do you think yes or no heading for a further nightmare.

 

[jsvokowest]

also i did rinse off the bio balls the last water change in the old water and sucked everything out of thr chamber where they are held. but how far can i go before getting into a mini cycle. i would like to keep the NH3 at 0 and No2 0.1 if not lower to not stress the inhabitants out any more. noticed one of the clowns is getting a blackish color on the dorsal?

 

[Dre]

You said the nitrate was in the red that mean it's a possibility nitrate could well be at 120mg/l .So if you make a 50% water change the nitrate would be at 60mg/l and so on.Use two different name nitrate test kits ,make large water change,feed less untill you get things under controll and [don't worry too much corals and fish can tolerate some nitrate].I don't use a wet dry filter on my reef because i heard they are nirtrate factories.By the way how is the goniapora doing?

What is your nitrate reading now?Be patient you will get the hang of it over time.Don't add any more animals until you get things under control. Your wet dry with out the balls and a skimmer should be enough remember filters can do but so much your tank and equipments will need human intervention.Feed less,test your water and weekly mantainance should get you on the right track.And remember to feed your goniapora they can be pain in the a...

 

[alfani]

first take out all your bio-balls, they are not suppose to be taken out to clean ... how long you have your tank, it might be cycling ...

 

[h2o]

Double check the test kit use different kit, just to be sure .

 

[jsvokowest]

this is the third kit i used. now and still in between 20 and 50 never actually hitting the red.. since the tank was initially started in march i have done weekly water changes of 20 % cleaned the filter pads daily. salinity etc.the only thing is since the nitrates climbed i have never seen the goni so healthy as from when i brought it home. go figure. the only reason the bio balls were rinsed in the old water was out of the advice of the lfs.but they will be coming out this weekend. i had to get my dad into the er on wed so the tank takes a backseat till now. Dre on a personal note thanks so much for your help can see just by your noticing the goni in another thread you are a real benefit to this site. and also thanks to all i have some water aerating for a week now at 0 across the board and will be doing another 40 gall change as wekk as sucking the sump part into the filter to get whatever is in that water column back there out. might replace the balls with some cured rubble to add to the rock density in the tank.any outcomes i will be sure to share. thanks guys

 

[Dre]

Do some additional research on care for your goni they are very beautifull but sometimes they do well for the first 6 months then die suddenly.The red and purple ones do much better.On your next water change remove some of your crushed coral place it in a half gal of clean water for 24 hours and test for nitrate and see what happens.

 

[jsvokowest]

makes sense cause i gotta find this issue got my rodi ready to order and still lookin for a nice 4" footprint skimmer that would kick a## would venturi, airstone or counter pressure be the best. sfter this project is modifying the hood for fans and then still in the back of my head why i was sold a 36 in lunar aqualight when there was a48" there but told they are the same ony 100 bucks cheaper. the lfs did the right thingbut i quiestion some of the shortcuts to sting me in.thnaks dre and if you can come up with any other advice i am checking this religiously brfore i begin.do you think some of the bio or all at one shot. and the plate coral is loding arms should i separate that to avoid polluting further or leave it for food. read they will grow from the skelaton in time.

 

[Reefers Paradise]

ok first check nitrates at watter source, second check ur nitrates in the salt water mix ur doing ur changes with. if all thats good do major water changes ur corals and fish will be fine. or add a denitrifier,refugium with 24 hr light on some macro algae, you could add brighwell aquatics bactor 7 and reef bio fuel this method will help just alittle dump any bio balls slowly remove them day by day add more sand for a deeper sand bed more live rock in ur sump/refugium let me know if i can help out anymore

 

[Dre]

A big skimmer doesn't necessarily mean it's gona be more effective on your tank.Do research on all equipment before you buy every tank is different.Most times you don't need a whole lot for gadgets to keep your animals alive and healthy.Keep it simple and use common sence,lots of reading and record keeping.As far as plate corals do you mean looseing arms?I never owned one take it out and test before /after. The bio balls take out all and test for ammonia weekly as well as nitrite.

 

[jsvokowest]

dre as far as the plate coral it is almost bare skelaton now found last night the long nose butterfly developed a taste for it with the lower feedings. i was at out all day with the health thing but came back and managed to polish the water using the paper filter and pool pump i was talking about. amonia is still 0 nitrate 0.1 no3 between 20 and 50. ph 8.2 but the temp was a t 82 so i got some fans on it now. tomorrow if i can i am going to religiously take out a handful of the bioballs daily until thery are all out. also gonna do another 30 % water change tomorrow and test that substrate. once the bio balls are all out i am gonna add some live rock rubble to the back there. my only concern is will my nitrites spike if i am not converting it to nitrate as fast. i couldn;t ask for much less of a nh3 and n02 reading. i was noticiing that skimmers are sometimes rated in what application u are using them for and as you increase from fish only to reef the gallon rating diminishes. so if the skimmer i have is rated for a 90 gal and is designed for i believe a fish only maybe i need to increase dueto the added corals and rock. as far as a denitrator etc i think that might just instigate poor husbandry.better to avoid the nitrates all together than to deal with them when the are high. but i think if i add some actual macroalgae to do it naturally. will keep you posted. thanks

 

[Amberjack]

I would love to know how your Goniopora is doing. Definitely an advanced aquarist species. I miss mine BIG TIME !! They don't live much over a year in captivity so most members here at The Atlanta Reef Club stay clear. ARC has had some members keep them up to 3 years. Definitely loose the Bio-balls and replace with liverock rubble.

 

[mandown123]

Hi
I had a wetdry on my 30 with no real problems, but had red cyano and decent hair algae. Switched to a fuge and added hair algae, chaeto and caluerpa and a sand bed with live rock rubble, snails, tiny hermits. It is disgusting in there now, like a soup of algae and critters, pods and stuff.

I haven't changed the water in like two months and tested zero nitrates last night. Get rid of the bio balls and build a fuge. P.S. my protein skimmer pump died months ago so i run skimmerless for now. zero nitrates. The algae soup/gross refugium is the key.

 

[jsvokowest]

i have pulled about 10 handfuls of the bio balls so far. the nitrites went up to 0.25 and then drop within a day. so i guess a few more days and i will see. the nitrates also dropped to 20. the goni took a hit when i was in the bahamas as it was nocked over and left for 3 days. but my two clowns are hosting it now and i see the larger one go get food and then place one of the goni's ends in its mouth and the goni is slowly returning. at the beginning it was only extending about an inch (about a month ago) but now it is about 4 inches each arm again. guess that is just a dumb luck perk. still shopping for a better skimmer for the tank as i am only pulling green water. but the lfs are confusiong the heck out of me. the back of the tank has a 30 gallon sump in the overflow and handles approx 900 gallons an hour. but the skimmer chamber is only 4 x4 so i am looking for the highest rated skimmer to fit in there. was hopong someone had something like that or at least seen it. would like one rated for around 200-250 gallons to handle an extra bio load.

 

[mandown123]

are you going to make a fuge with algae? also, they make good hang on back skimmers, so don't feel limited necessarily by the small space.

 

[jsvokowest]

would really love to keep everything contained in the one tank since there is a 30 gall sump in the rear of the tank. if i go with the sump don;t know what i will do with the empty space back there. maybe stuff some algae or just live rock rubble. the current values are about half the bioballs are out the nh3 is 0 no2 0.2 and no3 20 without changing the water yet gonna do that tomorrow because of the no2 rise.
still with the skimmer only producing a green skim i think i would rather upgrade since i think the airlift berlin is over rated. looking at counter current or venturi. don;t know whats better.and obviously the lfs want to just sell whats in stock. not going to waste time with the sea clone junk. not very impressive

 

[mandown123]

take a picture of what you have, we can all brainstorm.
Do a nice size water change you'll drop the levels.

Perhaps try adjusting the bubbles/water level to run your skimmer dryer. If it is the green liquid, maybe give it some more bubbling action. Get that black sludge.

 

[jsvokowest]

i pulled the tube all the way up and increased the luft pump to max and still just the green. ok here go the pics let the brainstorming begin, for i am completely comfused. i was looking at the sumps on lifereef and even jeff honestly agreed that the use of an in the cabinet sump is going to be juyst as effective and the skimmer seems to be the issue. the skimmer compartment is only 4x4 until it tapers off at the left corner. thanks guysa

 

[jsvokowest]

current skimmer recommended by tenecor

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/prskimmers/gr/aaprberlinairli.htm
gone through about 20 airstones since march. not looking to go this route if i can avoid it.