High Nitrates

I noticed my nitrates are 30 ppm. I read the best thing to do is water changes.
I have a 60 gal, and usually change 5 gal once a week.

My question is, how often can i do 5 gal water changes without getting that new tank syndrome, but get my nitrates down asap

I've already cut my feeding times in half.


thanks in advance.

 

RipRep

30ppm is undesirable I agree but not critical in most reef tanks
doing water changes will reduce the nitrate levels ,but wont get you to the root cause of
the problem
cutting down the feedings will help IMO

5 gals in a 60 gallon tank is less than 10% which is fine for a routine water change IME
but will only lower your nitrates by 10% so they will be 27ppm instead of 30 (You wont notice it on many test kits to be honest)

if you did 20% water change (Im not saying you should or you need to ) your nitrates would come down to 23ppm - again not a massive noticeable difference

and by the time you did your next change they would be back up there again

describe
your present feeding regime
your tank set up
size -
how longs has it been running?
whats in it?
describe your filter system?

as IME the solutions to nitrate issues are often contained in the answers to those questions

Steve

 

Like the wise Steve Wright said... only with successive, larger water changes are you going to accomlish NO3 removal. 10% might be a great maintainance regimen but this is not maintainance. I would do upwards to 40% the first W/C. Then test the levels. From there I would do 30% and work my way down each change to a smaller percent IF the NO3 is coming down... I have done some massive changes be them at home, at a clients tank, or at the shop... You will be surprised how much you can take out if you have a healthy biological filter.

Do you use tap water?
What salt mix?
Skimmer?
And lastly what type of fish?

Ajsailing here had a nice little 75 that was battling NO3, he gave a few "bigger" fish away did a few heavy W/Cs and his NO3 dropped from almost 50ppm to 0 and his SPS colors went from brown to POPPING almost overnight, so its possible for a quick turnaround!
Happy cleaning!

 

Simply get yourself some zevoite sold under many different names Nitox is one that comes to mind or simply do a goggle for a Nitrate removal media then once you get a handle on them either modify your feeding amounts or food stuff I simply employ a NO3 coil myself ..I'd never do a 40% water change myself But thats me.. I do no water changes myself I filter and clean my water to meet my corals needs..

 

Steve,

I feed my clowns, chromis, and anthias once a day with New Life Spectrum Pellets, my Purple Tang once a day with Nori on a clip, and corals twice a weeks with frozen Coral Mix and Coral frenzy.

My Tank is a 60 gal long, mostly Softies and LPS, 75 lbs of rock, 40lbs of live sand and crushed coral.

Tank has been up since June 2008.

CPR bakpak skimmer and aquaclear 50 with chemi pure elite inside




Dr. Fragenstein,

I use R/O water previously with Instant ocean. Recently changed to Tropic Marin Pro Reef
Cpr bakpak
Pair of clarkiis, 3 chromis, purple tang, Bartlett Anthia, Watchman Goby/Pistol Shrimp


So would it be safe to do 5 gals once a day for a week?

Thanks,
Guys

 

Thanks Tangster

 

i am far newer to saltwater than you but in my fw experience i found that very small water changes made no difference, and i had a few overstocked tanks so the nitrates did get up there. I would recommend doing more like 10 gallons every day or about 15 every other. as for the nitrate levels u need to figure out the problem, but in the mean time just feed the fish less until you get the nitrates under control. make sure all of them get something to eat (hopefully the tang don't gobble everything up). fish can survive a long time being hungry

 

Me too!!!

I have that same problem right now, my nitrates went from 0-almost 40 after the move...the move produced a 50% or more water change, and we fished out a dead anemone from under a rock.

So the nitrates aren't BAD right now, but not good. And the LFS said I should use BioZyme so I bought it (geez I am gullible), and used it over the past few days with no results?

OKAY GUYS...I'm gonna take your advice and ditch the anemone tomorrow. I don't have enough experience and I don't think my lights are prime yet. I am going to perfect the tank and then get mushrooms and zoas!!!