Hello everyone, I have been slowly noticing an increase to my nitrate levels, I have had this 180 Gallon Saltwater with a 100 Gallon refugium for a little over 6 years and have never had any issues with it, I have both corals and fish in it and I believe last I checked my it was 50ppg any Ideas on a good way to get a handle on this before it gets out of control would be much appreciated. Thanks!
High Nitrates
- Thread starter Sacboy20
- Start date
Water changes will remove your nitrate. Also check for little pockets of decaying mulm that might be contributing. What's the stock and feeding schedule like? Has anything changed that would cause your nitrAtes to be at risk for rising such as a new fish or extra feedings?
Please note that he mentioned this is a salt water tank we are talking about here...
The plants and or algae in your refugium 'eat' nitrates phosphates and a few other contaminents that form in your tank. Since your fish are likely growing, so is the amount of waste they produce. It seems that you had just enough plant/algae in your refugium to balance the waste your fish produced... but now with the bit of extra growth they produce a little bit more waste than your current plants/algae can handle.
There are several approaches you can take to put this in check...
Thoroughly clean the system... as mentioned if you have any organic matter in the system biodegrading, it will result in contaminents such as nitrates. This would include fish waste, dead fish, uneaten fish food, dead plant/algae matter and/or anything that is organic in nature.
Increase the volume of plant/algae in your refugium.
In the salt water world you have an Anaerobic Bacteria that 'eats' nitrates as well. This is a bacteria that lives in an area in your system that is deprrived of oxygen, such as deep in the sand bed. I'm unsure to what extent this bacteria alone can be relied on as the water flow to these areas is minimal.
There are also manufacturered products that absorb some contaminents such as nitrates. Be cautious with this approach though as many products claim to perform this task but very few actually do. So do your homework.
In the freshwater world we throw out that "do a water change" suggestion very quickly. Since the vast majority of us use simple tap water it's a safe, cheap and easy fix to many problems. But your salt water tank is a bit more fragile of an ecosystem that often reacts badly to parameter shifts that may take place during larger water changes. Not to mention your replacement water is more expensive than ours (usually RO water with salt and minterals added).
I'm familiar with salt water systems but am by no means an expert. So do seek advice from others with salt water experience.
The plants and or algae in your refugium 'eat' nitrates phosphates and a few other contaminents that form in your tank. Since your fish are likely growing, so is the amount of waste they produce. It seems that you had just enough plant/algae in your refugium to balance the waste your fish produced... but now with the bit of extra growth they produce a little bit more waste than your current plants/algae can handle.
There are several approaches you can take to put this in check...
Thoroughly clean the system... as mentioned if you have any organic matter in the system biodegrading, it will result in contaminents such as nitrates. This would include fish waste, dead fish, uneaten fish food, dead plant/algae matter and/or anything that is organic in nature.
Increase the volume of plant/algae in your refugium.
In the salt water world you have an Anaerobic Bacteria that 'eats' nitrates as well. This is a bacteria that lives in an area in your system that is deprrived of oxygen, such as deep in the sand bed. I'm unsure to what extent this bacteria alone can be relied on as the water flow to these areas is minimal.
There are also manufacturered products that absorb some contaminents such as nitrates. Be cautious with this approach though as many products claim to perform this task but very few actually do. So do your homework.
In the freshwater world we throw out that "do a water change" suggestion very quickly. Since the vast majority of us use simple tap water it's a safe, cheap and easy fix to many problems. But your salt water tank is a bit more fragile of an ecosystem that often reacts badly to parameter shifts that may take place during larger water changes. Not to mention your replacement water is more expensive than ours (usually RO water with salt and minterals added).
I'm familiar with salt water systems but am by no means an expert. So do seek advice from others with salt water experience.
I've been waiting for someone to objectively try a proper amount of Seachem Purigen to see the reduction in nitrates... you feel like being a guinea pig?
I do occasionally see "mulm" but it gathers under or in between them, it kind of looks like a gray substance on the sand, or at least I think thats what it is, I used to have a bunch of the halimeda plants gowing on the rocks but I think I over pruned it and it all died back (which may be a factor is the nitrates increasing) I have been slowly adding some more plants to the sump tank creating a refugium, and was thinking of adding another 50 gallong to the side of it for just plants, I much prefer the natural filtration to chemical, I have been looking at denitrators but that concept is still new to me and make me nervous. There is also a bacteria that my local fish store told me to use which I have been slowly adding to accumulate and its supposed to help also. I have been using the Seachem Purigen but I think I had it in there incorrectly, it was floating in my sump tank so I switched it into my Fulva filter so that the water would be forced through it. I also am considering my tesing kits may be contaminated, I was going to take a water sample into the fish store this weekend and see what they come out with.
Thanks all for you suggestions, Ill let you know how this goes, so many suggestions so hard to choose lol
Thanks all for you suggestions, Ill let you know how this goes, so many suggestions so hard to choose lol