My protein skimmer is a hang on the tank. Is there a chemical I can buy to reduce the nitrate level?
Reef Tank Nitrate Advice
- Thread starter brlaskowski
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Protein skimmers usually take a week or two, up to a month, really to get "broken in." When you're getting good black or dark-brown skimmate out of the cup, then it's doing what it's supposed to do. It's going to need more time to start working -- the instruction manual should indicate how long the "break-in" period is.
I'd avoid adding chemicals, and allow the skimmer time to really start working. Water changes are about all I'd do, at this point.
I'd avoid adding chemicals, and allow the skimmer time to really start working. Water changes are about all I'd do, at this point.
So I just tested my R/O water....it has nitrate level of around 10-15ppm. If that is the case, then my tank will never be under that. Is there a way to reduce the nitrate level in my R/O water?
Is this R/O water that you're making yourself, or are you getting it from a store?
If it's a store, I'd say switch stores -- R/O shouldn't have Nitrate at all.
If it's your own, then maybe you need new filters or something. I'm not familiar with the systems, because we buy our RO/DI -- anyone know if this is a sign of the system needing filter replacement?
Either way, there is bacteria in live rock which removes Nitrate -- I run a 180 reef with no Nitrate at all. So, the system should be able to take care of it. However, it would definitely be worth figuring out how to fix the source water so you're not adding Nitrate to the system with every water change.
If it's a store, I'd say switch stores -- R/O shouldn't have Nitrate at all.
If it's your own, then maybe you need new filters or something. I'm not familiar with the systems, because we buy our RO/DI -- anyone know if this is a sign of the system needing filter replacement?
Either way, there is bacteria in live rock which removes Nitrate -- I run a 180 reef with no Nitrate at all. So, the system should be able to take care of it. However, it would definitely be worth figuring out how to fix the source water so you're not adding Nitrate to the system with every water change.
If you are doing water changes with water that has nitrates in it, it will be very hard to get it out unless you run a nitrate media 24/7. I would up the LR to 1 lb per G to start with. By fixing these two issues, you should be able to get the nitrates to trace amounts.
I found out that I have nitrate in my water source. the reason my nitrate level was high because the water I was using contained approximately 10ppm of nitrate. Is there any other way to treat the water before going into the tank other than RO or DI?
brlaskowski;3753883; said:I found out that I have nitrate in my water source. the reason my nitrate level was high because the water I was using contained approximately 10ppm of nitrate. Is there any other way to treat the water before going into the tank other than RO or DI?
You can get Distilled water from the store. That is about the closest to RO water you will find. You can add prime into your tank to reduce the toxicity until you can get it out.
