Nitrate prob... any one have any ideas???

I understand the moving the rock and such can mess with the hole system. But the system set for about 10 mounths before i did anything to it. As in moving the rock and such. The cleaning of the rock and such was done to try and drop the nitrate. The nitrate has been up for about the last 4 mounths if not more. When i say up, at time over 80 ppm. I do test no fewer then twice a week and keep a close eye on it. never have ammonia or NO2. I have coral and a LTA i would like to put into it. I thank the pump is a 2200gph in the sump. I also have to nice wave makers for flow.

 

I agree with about the bioballs. I'll pull them out. The system ran for 10 mounths with just the basic care and cleaning. Wasn't worried about the nitrate to much cause all i had was fish. But I want to get into coral and such. And it was only after we have tryed every thing we could thank of or had been told that the tank was messed with. As in the cleaning the rock and sand bed. I've been running GFO for the past 6 mounths or so. But I'm confused.. I understand the moving the rock and stuff will mess with it. But for as long as we have had it and been doing things as we are sapost to... is why?? The ammona and NO2 is always at 0ppm. we have no to very very little algee, the fish all seem fine and our sand star looks just fine as well. Besides the test kit, every one that looks at my tank or i talk to says its weard cause it dosn't have any of the sings of high nitrate. Is thare somthing eles that could be throwing my test off???

 

Have you checked your results against another kit?

Your right for the anemone and coral you want to get the nitrate down.

Have you looked into bio-pellets or microbacter7, just a thought. Do you have another tank that the LTA and coral are presently in?

 

We had had an older kit about a year old and thought the kit was going bad so bought a new one. We got the same results. The coral and LTA is over to a friends house in his 125gal tank. He has been doing this for a long time like 20years pluse and he cant figure it out eather.

 

biopellets look into them.

also bioballs tend to need periodic rinsing(with old tank water not fresh).

 

Bioballs may lead to excess nitrate regardless of how clean they are. This is due to a proximity association discussed in this article #5 These types of associations are common in bacterial populations. If one bacteria produces a product to be used by another, it works best when they are in close proximity.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm

pbtruck2000, the other suggestions in the article and this thread are also good. I would certainly take note Nitrates of 20ppm arn't the end of the world though, generally if there are no algae issues, nitrates aren't toxic to most corals until the hundreds and fish until 500ppm+, even over 3000ppm+ for some, such as damsels. The bigger issue is the overall tank health. The nitrates could be indicative of that, but the solution, should be to improve overall water quality, not just focus on the nitrates.

 

Do you have source for those numbers? I have seen a few fish and corals(soft) in tanks with 200+ nitrates, for a long time I have been looking at what levels most fish die when acclimated to them.

 

Off the top of my head, I don't remember the source for cnidarians, but I have certainly come across them in the past. I'll see what I can find. I also, know of a number of people running tanks in the 100s with no noticeable issues.

For the fish, you can try Pierce et al. "Nitrate Toxicity to Five Species of Marine Fish"

LC50 ranged from 573ppm for Planehead Filefish to over 3000ppm for the Beaugregory Damsel.

 

Also, I just want to mention. I am not brining this because I do not think nitrates are an issue. I think nitrates can be a very big issue at much lower levels than this. This is because they may exacerbate other problems. I am pointing this out because I think people should focus on the entire system health and not get tunnel vision on the nitrates.

 

Well I can tell you the over all "health" of the tank is fine. Our purple algae is starting to grow and spread, our fish are doing really well. We even have purple sponges growing in there. Like my husband is saying, the only issue that we have is the nitrates. Which we honestly find completly puzzled. Hopefully we'll figure it out. We really do appriciate all the advice and we will take it into consideration.