Nitrates high

Nitrates: 60
Nitrites: 0 (i've never got anything higher than 5)
Ammonia: 0
PH: 8.0
dkH: 12
Calcium: 600 (yeah I know, I cant get this to go down no matter what I do.)
Temp: 8.2
Salinity: 1.023


I changed washed bioballs, changed filter pads twice in the last couple weeks (including yesterday), cleaned out and refilled canister filter a week ago.

I added prime last night, 3x the dose, yet no drop.

I'm going to disconnect the canister filter right now 0847 12.18.09 and leave it off till sunday and see if that helps any.

I'm not sure what to do next. I guess I'll do a water change tonight, hopefully that helps.

Any suggestions?

 

Water changes of 20-30% spaced a couple days apart,so you don't shock anything,should do it.If your not using r/o or deionized water,test the water your using to make sure it doesen't have nitrates in it.I would keep the cannister running if it's cleaned well,including the hoses.Cut back on feeding if you haven't already,you could be maintaining the nitrate level by overfeeding.

 

Prime just binds to nitrate to make it non-toxic you may still be testing positive for it even if it's non-toxic (one reason I don't like using chemicals to fix this stuff).
I would just do water changes to drop the levels, also cleaning out your canister filter thoroughly is a good idea too in case there are some excess organics trapped in there generating nitrates as they decompose.

Do you have a refugium, or a deep sand bed, or a large amount of live rock to help with denitrification? You need some way of removing nitrates as they build up otherwise water changes are your only other option.

 

I have about 18% of my tank's physical volume worht of live rock. I put in a refiguim with live sand and algae a couple nights ago.

What you said about still testing positive for nitrates makes sense. I didn't think of it that way.

I'll do a 20% water change tonight and hopefully that will encourage a drop. I'm also going to vacuum the bioballs box area of the sump, see if there's anything down there causing trouble.

This is really annoying, my corals look like they wanan give up on life

 

get a good protein skimmer and try and let the water exit into your refugium. If not possible just get a good skimmer. It make tank keeping so sweet

 

not to steal answers here but i have a questions relating to this thread... if my tap water tests negative for nitrate... can I use it with no ill effects?

 

just because tap water contains no NO3 or NO2 it may contain other bad things right? RO/DI + UV Steralization ftw

 

I actually am waiting for fedex to deliver my new skimmer today, since fedex's service is terrible in this part of brooklyn (I can't really speak for anywhere else) I have to more or less sit in front the front door all day today hoping they actually show up. :-/

 

What are you feeding and how do you feed?

 

Waiting on a package myself. I have a gate that requires a code. Kills me having to sit around all day waiting for them sometimes.