Nitrates Won't Go Down (Need Help Please)

[deepblue]

Hey Everyone,

Need some pro help, I've had my tank for 2 years and overall didn't take good care of it. I got to the point where I was about to put it all up for sale. Then, shortly after, came to the conclusion that if I sell my stuff that I will probably have to divorce my wife to get back into the hobby again lol. So in short, I built a stand custom to my needs, drained my tank and before doing so moved all my live rock and 3-4 fish into clean new 25 gallon bins and brought the water level down to the sand bed on a 125 gallon 6' long tank so we could move it.

Once we moved it and placed everything back in and re-plumbed I went to the LFS (Pure Reef) and had them test my water. All in all everything was good except my Nitrates were through the roof (100ppm) if memory serves. So the recommendation was to do a couple of 20-30 gallon water changes with a day or so in between and to retest and see where I end up. The idea was that maybe I stirred lose detritus and other toxins that were previously trapped and that caused the spike.

Fast forward about 4-6 weeks, one very deep vacuuming of the sand bed, 6 x 20 gallon water changes, one 50% water change, all equipment cleaned (Pumps/Skimmer/Reactors), filters washed out with tank water, filter socks cleaned in hot water only in washing machine with nothing else in there (2 steam washes just to be sure) added fresh Purigen, added fresh Seachem Matrix, added a 20 gallon tank as a refugium with a actual grow light for the Chaeto (Softball size tumbling), added a MarinePure 4x8x8 block and have added Seachem Safe ever couple of days and my Nitrates will not go below 40-60ppm. I get my water from the RODI systems right outside the Publix and have tested the water in my containers after a fresh fill and everything reads 0.

Oddly, all my fish, now about 10 of them, are very healthy looking, eat well, and swim well. All my corals are full extended and growing heads very quickly as well. I've tested with strips, liquid, and the LFS. Coral wise I have a bunch of different zoas, two hammers, a couple of digis, and a couple palis.

What am I missing???

 

[snowmansnow]

1st test with another test kit

2nd be careful because regardless of what the number says if your stuff is happy... why screw with it.

If it really is that high (which seems crazy high to me) bring it down slow... again as long as everything is happy... be safe.

If you have that NO3 then something is producing it. Potentially your LR had some die off

Just my thoughts.

B

 

[deepblue]

Thanks B,

So the live rock was out of water for a little while so that did cross my mind as well. If that is the case, I can't imagine that it will cause high nitrates for a long time to come. What do you think?

Thanks again for your response and help.

 

[danh]

I'd say if your coral and fish look great what are you worried about? I haven't testing nitrate or phosphate in almost a year myself.



I agree with the LR possibility. How long was your rock out of the water when you moved it?

 

[snowmansnow]

Well, if it is the rock it will produce NO3 until it is gone... hard to tell. The only real way to tell would be to replace the rock I suppose.. or cook it, but that would take a few months normally .

 

[danh]

Sorry, I had my response written and didn't submit it. I'd say it's almost definitely the rock if it sat out. Keep up with big water changes, change out the rock, or keep your fingers crossed that your coral stays happy and you don't end up with algae issues .

 

[Adam]

If the live rock was out of the water for any meaningful length of time there was certainly die off. The good news is that because you're seeing nitrates the ammonia & nirtite is being converted. If you have no side effects like GHA, bryopsis, dieing coral and so on then just keep ding what you're doing with the water changes. You can also use DR Tim's Waste Away to help clean up the sludge and dead matter in the live rock. But as Brandon said don't do anything drastic to lower it, quick changes are never good.

I'm not sold on the marine pure blocks. I see too many reports of elevated aluminum. The Matrix is just going to help with ammonia and nitrite, don't think it will do much to lower NO3. But you have a fuge going, it will kick in on its own as the chaeto starts growing give it some time. Then you'll see the number start dropping.

How is your skimmer preforming?

 

[deepblue]

Thanks everyone.

@anit77, odd that you ask about the skimmer, it has been acting weird actually. It has been super stable but the last couple of days it has been going berserk every now and then.

Does that mean anything to you?

 

[Adam]

I figured that if there was decay in the rock the skimmer might be pulling a lot more extra than normal. What's happening when it goes berserk?

 

[deepblue]

Basically it’s flooding the cup, then I turn it down and readjust to keep it going after dumping the collection cup.

Sent from my iPhone

 

[Adam]

Well, running wet will help some but that sounds excessive. Is everything set on it the same as before? What model skimmer is it?

 

[dbradley]

Is your skimmer the same depth as it was prior to breakdown, it sounds too deep. (as @bcavalli taught me when mine was byzerk)

You can also buy nitrate mats that work great from the LFS, my nitrates were higher than yours and in 3 days thay were 0

 

[deepblue]

Thanks dbardley, I’ve never heard of a nitrate mat, what is that?

Sent from my iPhone

 

[dbradley]

Its a 1" thick mat that you can cut to size and put down in  your sump  (I cut and used whole mat)and basically absorbs nitrates, its super effective and they can be rinsed about every 6 weeks and reused. In my case I used for a month and threw away because nitrates were sooooo high (160+) during cycle. I did 3 water changes totaling 50% (10%, 15%  and 25%) and the mat, in a total of 4 days nitrates were zero. Mat was about $6. Not saying it will work in your case but it did in mine and I'm a believer.

 

[deepblue]

Thanks everyone for your help

 

[snowmansnow]

I'd suggest finding the issue. A NO3 mat or a NO3 block isn't a bad thing, but the input of NO3 is clearly greater than the uptake thus the problem. Whatever is putting NO3 into the system needs to be identified and fixed. My bet is still on the rocks.

 

[deepblue]

Agreed. So to be sure I need to swap out all of my love rock? Should I try to dose and wait it out or will this be a long and unending battle with many casualties lol?

Can I do base rock or do I need to replace with live rock?

Thanks for all the help on this.

 

[Adam]

No, don't replace the rock. What your going through is a mini cycle, it will pass. If you replace the rock you'll be going through all this again but worse. Just keep a closer eye on the level and do a water change or add a piece of filter mat to bring it down a litttle. Remember no fast changes and let the fuge start doing its job too.

Dropping quick wasn't a big deal for dbradley as he was just finishing his cycle. A more mature system does not like quick changes, you'll do more harm than good. It takes 3 to 4 times the time to fix something than it did to create the issue to begin with. If you keep doing what you are in a month, maybe 6 weeks, things will be better.

 

[FutureInterest]

I agree with above posters.  Don't chase the numbers too much.  High nitrate is not desirable but it's not the end of the world.

One thing that does help with nutrients in the water and just soaks up nitrates are clams.  Back when I had nitrate issues in my old tank, I put in 3 clams and they really went to work on it.  In addition they really made the tank look more stunning as they add colors that you just cannot get with corals alone.  I've heard that some people even put live clams from the grocery store in their sumps to filter the water and soak up nutrients.

 

[deepblue]

Thanks Future, I’ve always liked the way clans look. I’ll pick one up.

Sent from my iPhone