Inherited Tank High Nitrate

[jsvetlik]

Hi, I am new to the hobby and just last week I inherited a 65 gallon tank with sand and live rock from my brother-in-law.

Testing the last few days shows my ammonia levels to be at .50ppm, nitrites at 0 and my nitrates are off the charts. I am assuming that this is because the move agitated the sand. Should I start preforming water changes now to bring the nitrate levels down?

Why are my ammonia levels staying constant as opposed to cycling? Should I add some table shrimp to the tank to kick off a cycle?

Thanks Much,
Justin

[Palting]

Welcome to the forum, and welcome to our addiction!

First of, there are several stickies at the top of this forum. Reading them, and reading them some more, then reading them again, will greatly help your foray into reefkeeping.

You'll probably get better answers if you give us more info. How old is the tank? Did you just remove the water and move the tank, or did you remove everything, move the tank, then replaced the sand and rocks? Any livestock?

Not konwing the specifics, I'll give it a shot. Moving the tank disturbed detritus, causing the ammonia spike and the nitrate spike. This in turn caused more deaths, otherwise know as die-off, and an ongoing ammonia production.

No, you do not need to add shrimp. You already have ammonia, and nitrate, so your cycle is already running. You just happen to have ongoing ammonia production, as stated in the first paragraph.

What to do next. You'll get contrasting opinions. Here's mine. You have live rock, you have live sand, you have very high ammonia and very high nitrates. You don't want any more ammonia, you need to bring it down to stop any more die-off's. You already have sufficient bacterial range to transform the ammonia to nitrates. Do large water changes, and I mean large as in near 100% water changes. Get that ammonia down. Check after a few days. If the ammonia is still up, do another large water change. Keep doing it until your ammonia is zero. Once it's zero, start a little sham feeding daily. If the ammonia stays down, time to add CUC and fish. Tha is IMO. HTH!!

[Reefing Newbie]

Like Palting said, read lots! Go beyond the stickies, they are good but can't get everything. I would suggest reading books as well, there are several good ones, but they have a price tag. They are definantly worth it! You will save yourself from many problems by reading and rereading everything 5x :P

Now to the ammonia problem. You need to do very large water changes like Palting said too. They are your best bet. In most cases water changes are your friend, most every case. They help with out of control algae, chemical imbalances(like high ammonia), and chemical warfare between corals, nems, etc. Do waterchanges and keep an eye on any livestock that you have. We will need more info like what kind of fish, inverts, corals, CUC you have.

[jsvetlik]

@Palting and @Reefing Newbie thanks for your replies. I will definitely keep reading as many articles as I can! Any books that stand out among the rest?

To clarify my original post I have only the live rock and sand in the tank. My brother-in-law had been maintaining only the live rock for some time (several years) before he gave it to me.

When he brought it over he had removed the water and live rock but left the sand in the tank. The sand was not washed prior to setting the tank back up.

I will do as you have suggested and start preforming large water changes as soon as possible.

Thanks!

[fishgate]

Also I suggest RO/DI water. My tap water is 20-40ppm Nitrates. RO/DI is 0ppm.

[jsvetlik]

@fishgate Yes, I have been using only RO/DI water bought from my local grocery store. As my roommate is also setting up a tank we are looking at getting our own system.

[Reefing Newbie]

You will save money by getting your own system. Literally in one year's time of topping off evaporation I will have spent over $200 getting water from my lfs($0.30 per gallon). That is over double what I paid for my RO/DI unit, I got it from a reef club member for $100. So the sooner you can get the unit the better. It may be a little late but it is suggested that you get new sand when you buy a used set up, move your tank, or tear it down for any reason. The sandbed has the ability to hold a lot of detritus and nitrates. Keep up large water changes until you get those nitrates down and you should be good. When you aren't getting any more ammonia or nitrite then you should let it sit for a week before getting some snails for your CUC. You can have hermits, but I don't sugges them because they are inefficient and kill your snails for their shells.

[jsvetlik]

We ordered our RO/DI system last night, it should arrive in a few days! Also have a TDS meter and a refractometer coming.

It is not too late for me to change sand, currently my live rock is unsecured and I do not like that. Since I have some aquascaping to do in the near future I will be able to change the sand. At the rate I am going, (two forward, one back) it will be awhile before I even introduce my CUC. But I am not in a huge hurry.

[Reefing Newbie]

Taking it slow is the key to this hobby. Change the sand, do your aquascaping, and do some nice big water changes. You should be golden after that.

[G4546]

I agree with Reefing newbie as well as others, make sure you take your time and enjoy the small steps as well as the larger ones, keep reading and watching... You'll do great with a lot of patience