Nitrate help

[LaDonnaVonD]

I have a 60 gallon reef tank, it has a large leather, 2 torches, several mushrooms, zoas, and 3 duncans. The fish that cohabitate is 1 tang, 2 clowns, a small puffer, and a pajama cordinal. The Nitrate level has been really high. when I test the water and mix the chemical into the water and shack it for one minute it turns red. My husband has did 3 15 gallon water changes on the take in the past week and the nitrates still stay high. could someone help me figure out what is the issue, should I move some fish to other tanks? I have coral food, Ab+, reef roids, should I be putting more in there each day, or just once aweek? My reef tank so far I have lost 1 torch, my mandarin, and 1 pajama cordinal. My husband is saying its because the nitrates are high. .

sorry if I am all over the place, I just want to keep my reef tank in good standing.

 

[shanepike]

First thing I would do is take a water sample to an LFS and have them test it so that you can be sure of the reading. A lot of times, the test kit just isn't reading right for some reason. (Had that problem with alkalinity recently.)

Also, how often do you feed and how much each time?

 

[Arielneedscoralsanon]

I agree with Shane, double check your parameters to start. I also want to say, and it was in a WAY smaller tank so grain of salt here, but reef roids wrecked my water quality.. I’m not saying it’s a bad food BUT I did do a good bit of digging and asking around, and apparently it’s not uncommon because it is so darn nutrient dense. Now, I switched over to the home made frozen food Steve sells on here and it’s been a game changer. Water has been so stable for about 4 months since I did a tank swap and started only using the frozen. I find it to also be easier to dose my feeding because I can visually intake how much everything has had, vs a powder measurement if that makes sense? One other side note that’s not really to do with your problem, but I got exponentially more feeding response from everything single thing in my tank with the frozen meat food, which is a whole other bonus to it because it’s amazing to see. And I know my cuc is jumping on anything extra for a fact because I see it. I got so little reaction for the roids I am 99% sure most of it was just decaying in the water column and not even being used or eaten.

 

[project1004]

“when I test the water and mix the chemical into the water and shack it for one minute it turns red.”

This kinda tells me that you dont understand how to properly complete the testing.

I personally think how we test for parameters are most important part of the hobby.

Precision. Using same method (don’t wing it x.x). With deviations that are giving by each test kits, this becomes more important.
Honestly though, first 10yrs of my hobby, my testing was just that. Put water and shake…. Seriously very little time spent. Now it’s one of most cared time of my life. .

You will want to pin-point as why you have high nitrate. Usually from over feeding who knows…

 

[LaDonnaVonD]

“when I test the water and mix the chemical into the water and shack it for one minute it turns red.”

This kinda tells me that you dont understand how to properly complete the testing.

I personally think how we test for parameters are most important part of the hobby.

Precision. Using same method (don’t wing it x.x). With deviations that are giving by each test kits, this becomes more important.
Honestly though, first 10yrs of my hobby, my testing was just that. Put water and shake…. Seriously very little time spent. Now it’s one of most cared time of my life. .

You will want to pin-point as why you have high nitrate. Usually from over feeding who knows…

I’m reading the booklet and it says to shake vigorously for 1 minute. I’m not winging it.

 

[LaDonnaVonD]

I agree with Shane, double check your parameters to start. I also want to say, and it was in a WAY smaller tank so grain of salt here, but reef roids wrecked my water quality.. I’m not saying it’s a bad food BUT I did do a good bit of digging and asking around, and apparently it’s not uncommon because it is so darn nutrient dense. Now, I switched over to the home made frozen food Steve sells on here and it’s been a game changer. Water has been so stable for about 4 months since I did a tank swap and started only using the frozen. I find it to also be easier to dose my feeding because I can visually intake how much everything has had, vs a powder measurement if that makes sense? One other side note that’s not really to do with your problem, but I got exponentially more feeding response from everything single thing in my tank with the frozen meat food, which is a whole other bonus to it because it’s amazing to see. And I know my cuc is jumping on anything extra for a fact because I see it. I got so little reaction for the roids I am 99% sure most of it was just decaying in the water column and not even being used or eaten.

I’m definitely going to check all params and I’d be interested in the frozen meat food.

 

[LaDonnaVonD]

First thing I would do is take a water sample to an LFS and have them test it so that you can be sure of the reading. A lot of times, the test kit just isn't reading right for some reason. (Had that problem with alkalinity recently.)

Also, how often do you feed and how much each time?

I don’t even know why I didn’t think to take a water sample to my LFS.. sometimes my husband feeds twice a day I told him to pull back , he does frozen cubes, shrimp and pellets.

 

[shanepike]

I don’t even know why I didn’t think to take a water sample to my LFS.. sometimes my husband feeds twice a day I told him to pull back , he does frozen cubes, shrimp and pellets.

I would feed at least twice a day. That shouldn't be a problem. If nitrate is high, maybe it's just a matter of too much being fed?

 

[project1004]

If you are not controlling the amount of food you are feeding your tank, your number would also reflect that. You should feed exact same amount of the food daily so you can amp up or amp down as needed.

 

[90gDreams]

I'd reduce the volume of food being fed but not necessarily how often. I've made an effort to switch to feeding twice or more times a day and the fish seem happier. Definitely got fat little bellies most of the day now. I know "happiness" when describing fish is weird but they seem to operate on the whole at a lower level of stress and aggression. I took a bunch of the frozen cubes, the smaller type, and 3 different types at that and cut them in half. I put the mixed bag of half cubes in the freezer and feed half a cube 2-4 times a day. Absolute consistency is definitely ideal here but admittedly I'm not great at locking things down to be all that precise.

 

[project1004]

I guess lots a things in this hobby comes down to the portion control. It doesn’t have to be precise, just the same amount of food each day. Few days a week, I’ll give some more as treat. Extra feeding at lunch. Unfortunately I never do target feeding and that maybe why I can control the nutrient level easier. I’ve noticed, I can’t control the amount when target feeding and with the amount of corals that needs to be target feeder would be hard to manage.

In my case, because there is no feeding or dosing after the lights are out, I think it does slow down the growth of the corals as they tend to feed at night more but I don’t want to change my sleeping schedule. Now days, I turn off the filter rollers at night to help with this matter but I don’t know how much it helps.

 

[billyocean]

Whats being used to test? And no..you really dont need to add anything to the tank other than fish food. Pellets and especially an excess of pellets will raise nutrients significantly as well. Reef roids will raise p04 as well. Whats your export method of waste on the tank? And yes....I am writing a book with all these questions. Lol