Nitrate Problem

Hi

New aquarium up and running now for 10 weeks started off with ideal water conditions but last 2 weeks Nitrate levels have risen to 10+. There is lots of good live rock and live sand in the tank, several corals and 6 snails and 1 hermit crab but no fish so far. I have tried Tetra Aqua Nitrate Minus twice over the last two weeks but the Nitrate level remains around 10 any advice on getting this down please I want to get it as close to zero as possible before adding fish.

Also noticed on this Forum that all advice about lighting talks of MH or T5's I have LED's are they OK for keeping a reef tank, supplier recommended them.

thanks

David

 

Hi David,

Actually there are tons of thread on LED's and yes they do support corals. Perhaps you could provide the name/brand of fixture you have.

Nitrates of 10 in my opinion should not be of concern in such a young tank. To assist though what type of sump set up do you have including filtration such as a skimmer.

Have you performed a water change? Have you checked the nitrate level of your water source?

 

It's normal to get a nitrate spike in a new tank. 10 ain't that much and as long as you don't feed too much and your means of nutrient export are in order it should go down soon by itself. Some tanks run nitrate 10 as normal. If you have soft and LPS corals some actually prefer a little nitrate.
Any way I wouldn't sweat it unless NO3 starts to increase. Skip those commercial nitrate products. They are gimmicks that prey on newer people to the hobby. You will need a means of exporting the nutrients in a natural way like a refugium, biopellets, algae scrubber ect.
For immediate nitrate mitigation just do water changes.

 

Thanks Guys

The sump has live rock rubble in the inlet section a Bubble Magus Protein skimmer in the middle section and just a return pump in the third section, no room for a refugium i'm afraid. The LFS told me that with 30 kilo of live rock in a 50 gal tank I wouldn't need any additional filtration.

The lights are from LT Professional and have the following spec

Detail Specifications

LED Chip Brand - Cree/Bridgelux

LED Type - 3W High Efficiency LED

LED Quantity - 48PCS

Color Ratio - Full Spectrum

Emitting Color - Blue 450-465nm White 8000-10000K

Product Size - 900*302*44mm

Input Voltage - 85-264VAC

Working Current

700mA

Working Temperature - -10°C to 50°C

Working Frequency - 50/60HZ

Storage Temperature - -20°C to 70°C

Total Luminous Flux - 7200LM

Rated Power - 144W

Lifespan - 50,000Hours

Beam Angle - 120°

Mounting Methods - Adjustable pendant mounting sling
& Adjustable mounting bracket

All though the unit has mounting brackets I have actually adapted my solid oak unit so that the lights fit into the hood about 6'' above the water line.

have been changing 25ltrs of water every week since set up.

 

I personally dont like water changes that often on a new tank. Let the critters do their thing for a while. On my cycles I usally go a least a month to 6wks before my first water change.

The light looks like it could be fine for a reef Cree/Bridgelux are both good LEDs and it appears they are being driven at around 3w's. Start off with easier stuff and see how it does as you progress or if you have access to a par meter check out what you are getting and go from there.

 

Nitrates are not bad at that number. Although one wants to keep them low in order to keep certain corals, you don't need a super low nitrate level for fish. I agree with others in that you may want to allow your tank to mature a little and go about 2 weeks without a water change and see what levels you have at that point. It sounds like you're doing a great job and have made good decisions. Welcome to the hobby