NITRATES Arrgghh!

80 gallon

 

i suppose you could try. but cheato alone wont do miracles.... the added water volume will dilute youre current values and then if you add a deep sand bed that will help with the natural filtration as well but it wont happen over night.

 

frozen food (if you don't drain it) - depending on type and a sponge in a canister can definitely add nitrates (I am the nitrate queen - self-proclaimed not proud of it). Keep up the water changes and run the canister empty until you get the sump going.

 

is there a particular macro algae that you suggest?

 

im in switzerland so iv had a hard time getting my hands on a proper cheato turf. so i use caluerpa ( caulerpa sertularioides...i think..) and its working for me. some say its a ticking time bomb some say its not. iv had grape clauerpa way back in the days in my old set up, when i saw it was getting to large for my sump i would generusly trim it back, never had it go sexual.

my limb eating, croisant munching yellow belly tang wont really touch the stuff though, he will eat a couple leafes but its not his favorite algae, most of it will float around picked up by my yellow tang but even he is scpetical. so dispose accordigly if you dont have a critter who loves the stuff.

P.S: with the sertularioides i think i also got a couple of branches of serrulata, not sure how my tangs will react to it as im trying to let it grab a hold before i trim (that may be a new ID thread coming)

so to my understanding cheato is the way to go...but you know...adapt and survive and personally iv had good experience with caluerpa (knock on wood)

 

yes, chaeto is a great macro for a sump.

 

Are you feeding frozen food? I had nitrate issues in my last tank. What a pain!

I ditched my filter sponge, started rinsing my frozen food in ro water before feeding, did a good water change, and fed less often.

It will take time to get the nitrates lower but it will happen

 

Only rinse your frozen food if it says too on the package. Many frozen foods DO NOT need rinsing as it will strip good vitamins from the food source. If the package says do not rinse then dont. Nitrates depend on many factors all working together. You'll never be able to do one magical thing to rid the tank of nitrates. Your filtration has to be able to export your bioload effeciently or you'll always fight it. Bio pellets, quality skimmer, proper sized sump, different media, macro algae, all help to export nutrients. Don't look for a quick fix, instead focus on a long term plan to have great filtration to handle your bioload. Also, don't make your fish suffer by feeding less. My opinion is fish need to eat every day and depending on species some need multiple feedings a day. It's up to the aquarist to be responsible in providing a system to handle feeding a fish properly.

 

Great points.
Also someone said this and it just was a good reminder, food = nitrates. Also make sure portion size is correct, that keeps your fish fed but not overfeeding your tank. I am trying to balance that with smaller food portions throughout the day, going home at lunch is a great excuse for this... haha

 

and its strongly recommended zesty, not only depending on the species you keep. smaller feedings along the day are better than chucking a cube in the morning and foregtting about it, sadly mutiple feedings are not always possible....