nitrate level is crazy high yet tank is fine? how...HELP!!!

[ryangrieder]

hello, this is my first post. I work at my mothers pet store and set up a salt water tank. i have a 72g bow reef tank. the tank has been running for about 3 years now. filtration is a simple wet/dry with a skimmer, UV, reactor, XL biowheel and small hang on to pick up large particles. i have about 60 or so pounds or rock, about 15-20 peices of coral and about 9 fish. i have not had a fish/coral die in about 2 years. everything in the tank seems great, coral keeps growing, clowns lay babies every now and then in my rose anemone, snails reproduce like crazy, everything perfect. EXCEPT NITRATES! im sure most of you have used the classic API test kit. just take a look at the pictures below. well over 160 according to the chart. i have used about 10 test kits as well, all of them maxed out. water changed for about half a year non stop does nothing. never moved in ppm. i took out all the sponges in my filter, hooked up a refugium, tried every product out there, even bought an RO unit and drained half the tank a year ago and used new RO water(tank set up origionally with RO) i even test the RO water and it says 0ppm nitrate. ONE TIME a chemical from marinedepot worked called no NO3 or something actually worked! i was down to 40 the next day. by the next day 80ppm, then 120ppm, and so on. i got like 15 bottles and it would do the same. mixed everything up like RO and that chemical. nothing works. plenty of flow in the tank. so the past year i just gave up. everything happen so screw it. except i cant grow coralife algae. calcium level 440. magnesium level great. everything thing great. im sure the nitrates is holding back. i stopped the feeding to like 2-3 times a week for a few months even to try to get nitrate down and coraline algae to grow but nope. cant get it. the coraline algae that i origionally had from rock stays and does not die but i cant grow more. purple up, purple tech, kalkwasser, 2 step calcium chemical, i used it all. ANY IDEAS??????? i gave up, please help.

here are a few pics of the tank and filter. and a few cool pics of my coral from my new 1 watt LEDS i just rigged up.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

The wet/dry might be the culprit.

 

[ryangrieder]

well in my wet dry sump i now have for media about 25 pounds of crushed live rock and about a handfull of bio balls, i use to have alot of bio balls but i never saw the reason for them so i took most out. and one top layer of corallife pad. that blue/white pad. mojority is live rock though. do you think i should change something. i also have an old tidepool 2 sump.

 

[pdnyc69]

bio balls suck. i used to have a nitrate problem. take them out. but do so slowly. if you remove them to fast you can re-cycle your tank. also get a clean up crew in there. i would do 100 hermits and 100 snails. also nitrates is y some of your corals etc have a brownish tint

 

[ryangrieder]

ok ill just get rid of the bio balls slowly, i never though they did anything as it is. do you reccomend anything else? i try to stay with just live rock and rubble rock. right now i also have around 50 nassarrius snails, they breed all the time, 25-30 turbo snails, few mexican turbos, margarita snails and red trocious, few cerith snails and about 25-40 red legs. maybe ill get more hermits tomorrow.

 

[pdnyc69]

i would pick up 100 if you can afford it. there is probably food rotting in that live rock. hermits will get them out

 

[pdnyc69]

also anything with a sponge can and will hold nitrates in them over time.

 

[cthoughts1]

Strange.. a result like that happened to me once.. turned out it was an old test kit I had. I bought a new test kit and everything was fine. How old are your test kits?

 

[anthony27]

nice looking tank.. the wet dry looks a little crazy whats going on in there lol. all in all amazing tank I like it alot wonderful aqua scaping

 

[reefman]

try using a more reliable brand of test kit

 

[ryangrieder]

well my test kit is about 2 months old. ive used the kordon, red sea, sechem, and a few odd ball ones i tried cause they were expensive so i was hoping they were good and accurate. all of them maxed out.

the sump does look crazy going on i know. its kinda simple though. i have a big overflow box with 3 rows of diffrent types of live rock. then in the first section where the water enters is my heater, skimmer, and a poly reactor with de nitrate in it. then second section use to have a sponge top with bio balls and live rock, but now is just a new layer of nitrate pad, then a large chemi-pure and alot of live rock with about 50 hermit crabs in it. the last section has my pump, a hang on filter which is rarely running, use to use it for quick clean ups, and my pump for my UV sterlizer and return line going back into the second section. thats pretty much it. today i bought a AQUA c skimmer and a bunch more hermit crabs and cleaners.

what test kits do you guys reccomend and do u think i am doing something wrong in my filter? any suggestions would be great

 

[cthoughts1]

I think if your nitrates were so hi, at the very least your cleaner shrimp would have been dead.. I think the test kits you're using may be to blame here.. Nice looking tank btw..

 

[Dre]

You didn't mentioned how often you make water changes and the kind of substrate you have in there.Take off the bio wheel and if you have bio balls take them all out and put some chaeto or caulerpa in the refuge.Feed your fish less or even skip a day or two .Make weekly 25 to 30% water change.Experienced reefers do not use API test kits but that doesn't mean your nitrate is not high.B-Ionic Cal/Alk give me a lot of caroline algae but i think you should get the nitrate down first and get a PH monitor first because it raises PH and there is no way a PH test kit can give you an accurate reading through out the days trust me on this one.

 

[Awibrandy]

Try testing with a salifert test kit, and please be sure to follow the directions carefully.
My gf had a shaking problem, and could never add the correct drops to the test therefor she would always get false readings. She couldn't help it, it was a physical problem.
After you have used a good reliable test kit if you still have the same high reading we can begin to see what can be done.

I find it hard to believe that you have such high nitrates, and still have the animals that you have. With trates that high there shouldn't be anything living in your tank other then perhaps the damsel.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Yes use a good test kit, and if they are still high do some small water changes ofer the time period of a week.