How do I drop Nitrate levels effectively?

Humm-- I'll ask a question for the group.. Do you guys think fsukum could still be at the tail end of his/her cycle?? If the nitrates never came down off that I'm wondering if that is that case. I would do weekly water changes. 5 gallons for a few weeks and see what happens.. 30 is not dangerous. clearly not where you want it but I don't think you have a risk to your livestock at this time.

 

That was my thought too ( still at the end of my cycle).

I'll do a few weekly water changes and see what happens.

 

Its probably close to a normal level for a tank that has just finished cycling, just be careful with feeding that its being eaten by your fish and let the cuc scavenge, thats their job.

 

I would look into a quality skimmer and start there. If there aren't any inverts in the tank as far as coral goes I wouldn't sweat it for right now. Your bio filter will run it's course and nitrates will drop on their own. Water changes aren't much good for lowering nitrates because it will only drop them a small percent and they will come right back up.

 

for that size tank, would a 3 inch sand bed be a contributor to the nitrates?

 

I have several corals and they are growing wonderfullly.

It suprised me to see my nitrates that high with how everything has been growing.

I have wild fantasia growing (which I plan on eliminating soon) so my tank appears to be very healthy.

 

What would a skimmer cost me and how does it function......whats its main purpose? I have no knowledge on skimmers or fuge's.

I plan on upgrading to a 55 gallon tank in about a years time btw. I just figured I would try and learn the odds and ends of marine aquariums by starting small.

I just measured my sand bed and at it's peak it is 2 inches (sorry) and averages around 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches.

 

Personally I and most others will agree think that the bigger, the easier. Look into an aqua c remora or a octopus hang on skimmer.

 

Well money was a big concearn in the selection of the size of my tank. If I can manage a smaller tank then I can manage a larger one. So if I can over come issues in the smaller tank it will be easier for me in the future. It also prevents me from investing upwards of 1500 dollars into a tank when I had no dea what I was doing when I first started.

But thanks. I will do some research on skimmers.

 

Just as a clarification here. As I'm sure those who posted, know this, but the OP might not. To say that water changes don't lower nitrates is absolutely false. There is no better way to quickly lower nitrates than to change water. If you change 25% of your water, you immediately knock your nitrate level down by 25%.

That said, fsukum, you must know that a water change does absolutely nothing to address the problem--the cause of your high nitrates in the first place. As others have said too--the water change would be ineffective if the cause remains at large.

Again, I'm sure all knew this, but I wanted to clarify.