HELP! High Nitrate

[jmike50]

Good evening everyone,
I have high nitrates. I do my water changes. The funny thing is I have a ph of 8.0 to 8.2, ammonia 0.00 and nitrites are 0.00, what is wrong with this pic? Fish and coral are showing no stress/eating good at this time.
I was wondering if some of the de-nirate products really work? I have read about the seachem products and was leaning toward them. Thanks Mike:fish:
I have LR and Live sand in DT. The tank is a year old.

 

[heathlindner25]

more frequent larger water changes

 

[ralph atl]

heathlindner25;838035 wrote: more frequent larger water changes

barry_keith;838039 wrote: What Heath said!

Also get yourself some of seachem's matrix bio media, not the same as matrix carbon.

yup!

 

[jennm]

Define, "high" and what test kit you're using.

Have you been testing regularly? Nitrate does not typically spike "overnight" - usually it's a long-term buildup, typically from insufficient water changes. Even if water is changed regularly, if not "enough" is changed, the nitrate will climb over time.

Just as it doesn't get high overnight, it takes time to get it down again. Usually a series of small but frequent water changes, along with cleaning/changing of filter media, will get it down again.

Matrix and/or Denitrate will help - over time, they take time to become biologically active, however figuring out why the nitrate got high in the first place, and addressing that, is the other part of the solution to the problem.

Jenn

 

[jmike50]

Jenn, I use API Saltwater Master test kit. I got a reading of 160ppm. I test once a week and do my once a week water changes, but I do not clean/change my filter media often. I am going to get some Matrix and /or Denitrate tomorrow. thanks for the help everyone.

 

[picoreefguy]

also a temporary solution would be to use prime or alpha. i say temporary because it does not eliminate it. it just bindes it with another molequle making it less toxic. and also you want to find out the source. are you over feeding? is your bioload to high for the filtration you have? are your waterchanges too small or infrequent? these are all questions you should ask yourself

 

[jennm]

What was it the last time you tested? And when did you test last.

That test kit is suspect... I'd have the result verified with a test with another kit. That's crazy high and wouldn't happen within a week, or even a month, unless there was a huge die-off (which would have had ammonia and nitrite happen first).

Before you panic - have that result verified.

Jenn

 

[jmike50]

Thanks for the thoughts Picoreefguy. I feed my guys about 2-3 times a day. It is a 40 gal. w/skimmers, 1 Fluval canister filter, and two hang on the back filters with three stage filtering. I have 1 med. yellow damsel, 1 med. Blue fin damsel, 1 Convict damsel, 2 clown gobies, 1 feather duster, 1 chalice coral, and 1 kenya tree. Everyone seems happy. Just decided to test this evening and BAM! there it is. lol mike

 

[jennm]

Overfeeding. Picoreefguy nailed it.

That canister is probably not helping either.

When was the last time you tested nitrate?

 

[jmike50]

Thanks Jenn, will have my lfs..test it with their saltwater test kit.

Edit: Nirate was 0.00 this evening.

Edit: Sorry will TTYL have to take daughter to the ER. WIll re tset in the morning.

 

[heathlindner25]

jmike50;838052 wrote: Jenn, I use API Saltwater Master test kit. I got a reading of 160ppm. I test once a week and do my once a week water changes, but I do not clean/change my filter media often. I am going to get some Matrix and /or Denitrate tomorrow. thanks for the help everyone.

I change my filter media daily, there's your nitrate trap.

 

[jmike50]

Thanks again to everyone...it was a false reading...my test kit was old. Got a new onw today. Mike

 

[jef4y]

barry_keith;838326 wrote: Good, but I still suggest adding seachems matrix!

This and I'd pull off most if not all those mechanical filters unless you're cleaning them VERY regularly. A filter sock will work wonders for mechanical filtration and it's easy to see when they need cleaning.

 

[jennm]

API strikes again

Good advice too on the filtration changes.

Jenn

 

[heathlindner25]

jmike50;838063 wrote: Thanks Jenn, will have my lfs..test it with their saltwater test kit.

Edit: Nirate was 0.00 this evening.

Edit: Sorry will TTYL have to take daughter to the ER. WIll re tset in the morning.

So is your daughter ok ??

 

[jennm]

Whoa I didn't see that bit... echo that - is your daughter OK?

 

[jmike50]

Thanks for asking about my daughter everyone...she is doing better...she is a kidney stone manufacturer....also found a cyst on her pelvis....is going to her dr. tomorrow for further testing.

 

[heathlindner25]

God bless.

 

[jmike50]

Well everyone I am still puzzled,
I bought a new nirate test kit the other day..guess what...still get off the chart readings.....done what everyone suggested here? I am about ready to throw it out the door. Lfs still gets almost 0.00 reading for my nitrates. Fish, corals, and snails not showing stress. I got 3 hermit crabs from lfs and i noticed that one was dead today. I have noticed though I can not keep crabs, shrimp or anything like that to long till they die...but the snails keep on going like a timex watch...I don't know?

 

[heathlindner25]

Keep doing large frequent w/c