Resolved nitrates out of control! BC14 - day 2

Discussion in 'ASAP' started by bje, Jun 15, 2010.

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  1. bje

    bje Long-fin Bannerfish

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    something not right... two 50% water changes and its still registering 100 ppm of nitrate.

    im taking the water to another LFS to have tested to see what their results are. ive used two different test kits that are here and both show me 100ppm. i test my ro water it shows me 0. doesnt necessarily mean its accurate at all though. but after days of it being at 100ppm one would think the peppermint shrimp and other inverts would be toast.

    everythings fine with exception to a few corals. so im going to have this tested by a trusted LFS (the one i went to the other day was petco as they were the only place open)
     
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  3. djbonney138

    djbonney138 Peppermint Shrimp

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    That is a good. My initial reaction was the inaccuracy of the test kits. If Petco used their little test strips like mine does that could be part of problem. Do you know of any one with a Salifert test kit? Hopefully your other LFS will be more reliable. Good luck and keep us posted.
     
  4. bje

    bje Long-fin Bannerfish

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    alright, went to 2 different pet stores whom all told me the nitrates were between 30-40ppm. i bought a new test kit (API) and tested and sure enough its spot on at 40ppm. thankfully its not 100ppm. i retested with the old kit which is showing 100ppm. so 100ppm=40ppm in reality.

    at this point ive done four 50% water changes since monday, added chemi-pure elite, ripped out all compartments and cleaned them all twice, removed all filter floss.

    im going to have to pull the rock and 'shake' them out in a 20gal rubbermade i think. the 14gal biocube is too small to really do that in.

    if i run seachem purigen with chemi-pure elite will that be a problem?
     
  5. evolved

    evolved Wrasse Freak

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    I don't see how it would be, but I don't have any direct experience with either. Based off what they both contain, I don't see an issue.
     
  6. pgoodsell

    pgoodsell Horrid Stonefish

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    I have one question. How does the life stock look? Maybe her tanks has been a 40ppm for awhile and everything is used to it. 40ppm isn't an emergency IMO. Yes you'll want to get it down, but don't tear the whole tank apart for it. Unless things are starting to die, I say slow down.
     
  7. hasek1639

    hasek1639 Fire Shrimp

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    agreed i would say slow down i had a tank run for a long time at 30ppm and well everything was great.
     
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  9. bje

    bje Long-fin Bannerfish

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    for sure, its not even my tank. i had no intention of tearing it apart, the person that owns it gets back friday night so they can decide how to handle the 40ppm nitrate issue. if it rises back to 60 again ill just do another water change before they come back. keep bandaid'ing it till they decide what to do.

    the livestock for the most part is ok. the inverts are clearly not well but living. the fish are not showing any ill signs.
     
  10. bje

    bje Long-fin Bannerfish

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    appreciate everyones input on this matter. im going to close the issue as its at a manageable level now. (still to me 40ppm in a 14gal volume is way too high, but its not my decision to make)