Saltwater concern: Nitrate won't lower

[scottlanney]

Hi, I just started a saltwater setup 7 weeks ago. I currently have 4 types of triggers, a cow faced puffer, and a volitan lion. My tests are perfect except for my nitrates (70 not 0).....they are through the roof but the fish are great. I have done 4 20% H2O changes within the week but no change. I didn't get my skimmer working till about a week ago. How can I lower my nitrates without hurting my fish or starting over??????

Thanks for suggestions.....

 

[FLESHY]

Something is terribly wrong.

How big is your tank? What is your filtration system? How big are the fish? How efficiently are you feeding?

What sort of chemical filtration do you have? Im going to recommend that you go out and get a bag of purigen right now.

 

[geronimo69]

Something is terribly wrong.

How big is your tank? What is your filtration system? How big are the fish? How efficiently are you feeding?

What sort of chemical filtration do you have? Im going to recommend that you go out and get a bag of purigen right now.

Before you run out and buy anything... What's your water source?? Distilled? Tap? RODI? Could be that you have nitrates in your water before even adding to the tank....

 

[scottlanney]

I have a 55gal. Emperor 400, and I only feed them once per day. My H2O changes are with RO water. Most of the fish are small except for my Volitan who is medium in size and my Titan Trigger who is about 6 inches long.

 

[k0y0te]

from what i heard hob filter can be a nitrate factory. Do you have the biowheels on it? if so you might want to pull them off. The filter pads should be changed often. i have a FOWLR and using the emper 400. its mostly for current though. I have about 60 pounds of liverock and 60 lbs of livesand. I do a 30% water change weekly and my nitrates almost never show on the liquid test. which makes me wonder also. do u use strips or liquid test? also how old is the test kit? old test kits can give faulty reading.

 

[Otto_VonBacon]

Did you cycle fully before adding fish?

 

[Westie]

Try a different test kit. Worked for me

 

[Gprime]

doing water changes to frequently can also add to nitrate problems, if the salt is not mixed properly it can create small amounts of nitrate. but if its reading that high then its something else.

sounds like the tank was stocked to fast before they skimmer could properly break in.

 

[musicalocean]

Did you cycle fully before adding fish?

Yep, that was my 1st thought too. You can easily overwelm the bioload on a new tank & the trigger poo ALOT! How big is your sump? You may be able to put some benificial algae in there like chaeto.. It provides "refuge" for the little critters (pods) in your fuge/sump - it can also "absorb" excess nitrates too. some people keep it lit on an opposite light cycle as thier tank....i do kinda - I have a light i turn on here and there underneath.

 

[Ashlee]

4 Triggers
1 puffer
and 1 lion

Thats 6 fish that should all have larger tank than a 55 gallon themselves. I think you know the problem and it's very obvious. The reason the nitrate isn't coming down is because your test can only read to 70. Its probably well over the 100's. Why would you ever let it get that bad?