Nitrate question

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by Ruminus, Jun 4, 2011.

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  1. Ruminus

    Ruminus Astrea Snail

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    Can anyone offer a suggestion on reducing my nitrates? I'm going to do a water change in a little bit (have to wait on my silly RO to make enough fresh water). But, while I was preparing, I did my weekly labs and came up with nitrates at 30ppm. Everything else is good (if you want the laundry list, I'll post it on request), but that's too high (or so I've been led to believe. Corrections welcome). TYIA!!
     
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  3. Crimson Ghost

    Crimson Ghost Blue Ringed Angel

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    water changes is the way to go, I wouldn;t be too concerned for a test result of 30 but of course you want to see that approach zero. Is the RO unit new? did you use to use tap water? over feeding is a big contributor, so you may want to cut back on the food.

    keep up with the water changes and I suspect you will be fine.
     
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  4. Ruminus

    Ruminus Astrea Snail

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    Thanks for the feedback. No, the RO unit is about 7 months old, but in my haste to get one I decided to get a household unit. It works great for cooking and drinking water, but in the volumes we need for aquaria, it just takes a long time. I think it's rated at something like 5 gpd. To answer your other question, no, never used tap in the salt tank. RO from the LFS before I installed the system I'm attempting to use (and upgrade shortly) now.
     
  5. Crimson Ghost

    Crimson Ghost Blue Ringed Angel

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    Home RO units are not only too slow but they are not as good as the other units and they should not be used for aquarium use.

    Keep up with the water changes and work on getting yourself a good RO/DI unit for the tank and I suspect you will be fine. Good luck !
     
  6. Ruminus

    Ruminus Astrea Snail

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    Thanks. I'll post a few pics of my beloved work in progress once the water change is done. It's a chemistry set, a wet zen garden loaded with little friends, and an addiction, all in one! (And my smilies aren't working, so... :p)
     
  7. rc_mcwaters3

    rc_mcwaters3 Clown Trigger

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    minw were at 180 for the longest time with out any huge visual effects but if you change most of the water slowly, such as change all the water but over a day or so of time slowly like a gallon an hour and it will really fix the problem or at least it worked for me.
     
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  9. rc_mcwaters3

    rc_mcwaters3 Clown Trigger

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  10. Ruminus

    Ruminus Astrea Snail

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    Thanks for the link. No one is acting funny, so I don't think I'll go quite that drastic just yet. In all reality, I've been very busy and jealously guarding my lazy time, so water changes have been, um, lacking. I'm lucky things are as good as they are. I'll just do 10% a week or so and cut back on the feedings (maybe once a day, small feeding instead of twice, or even every other) and clean the organics out of 1/4 or so of the bioballs and see how things go. :)
     
  11. rc_mcwaters3

    rc_mcwaters3 Clown Trigger

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    BTW how big is your tank?
     
  12. gabbagabbawill

    gabbagabbawill Pajama Cardinal

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    long-term, along with good RODI water, use biopellets with a good skimmer.