nitrates wont go down!!

[jayb12]

k so i got a new r.o unit and i decided to get water change happy cause my vodka dosing was not showing promising results after 3 months

i have about 250 gallons of total water. so far ive done 3 water changes of 50 gallons totaling 150 gallons of new water in less then a week.

before this my nitrates were 30-40

yesterday i was 30 and i did the last of my 50 gal water changes (used the rest of the salt i had) and today my nitrates are still 30!!!!!

whats going on here!!!!!

im using the api test kit thats about 2 months old.
i test my friends water with the same kit and he gets a reading of 10.


when i drain the water out of the tank i vacuum the sand and clean the sump vigerously. i only feed my fish every 3 days too

[kingfisher62]

Well triggers, groupers and lionfish are some of the "messiest" fish out there, meaning they eat a lot and poop a lot but on the other hand you have a huge tank. what do you feed them?
What type of filtration do you have?
Are you having problems with algae?

[Playa-1]

What do you have for live rock?
How much sand do you have in system?
What other filtration do you have?
How often do you clean mechanical filtration?
What and How much are you feeding?
Do you turn off the return pump when feeding?
What Protien Skimmer are you running?
How often do you normally do water changes besides the last week?
Do you have a Refugium?

[HOB]

Look up the DIY Sulfur Denitrator.
I also had nitrate problems in my 350 gal until I built one of these. It was rewarding seeing 0 nitrates coming out of the reactor in just over 2 weeks. I skipped the recirculating pump and just had one hole in at the top and one hole out at the bottom.

[nikon187]

It took Melev over a year for his nitrates to go down with vodka dosing, similar tank volume. i think you may have given up too soon. Also need Playa-1's questions answered to get a better understanding of your tank.

[sedor]

+1 it takes a long time for vodka dosing to start really working. Especially in cases where the nitrates were fairly high to begin with. I would just keep pushing forward and let the carbon source do its thing. Its a fact that eventually the vodka will win unless you are feeding so much that you get almost instant nitrates (which it sounds like that is far from the problem) or for some reason your rock is leaching NO3 and PO4 into the system, but that usually only happens with old rock that has sat in a tub with no heat or movement for ages.

[leochngyh]

have you test your newly mixed water? Some salt will have nitrate on its own.

[jayb12]

Originally Posted by sedor

+1 it takes a long time for vodka dosing to start really working. Especially in cases where the nitrates were fairly high to begin with. I would just keep pushing forward and let the carbon source do its thing. Its a fact that eventually the vodka will win unless you are feeding so much that you get almost instant nitrates (which it sounds like that is far from the problem) or for some reason your rock is leaching NO3 and PO4 into the system, but that usually only happens with old rock that has sat in a tub with no heat or movement for ages.

please elaborate on the rock situation.
i bought my rock from a private source, all 350lbs of it (most is in my sump) and it was in a massive rubbermaid tub with very little circulation. no clue how long it was sitting there but when i go there bi weekly for food the pile has not changed much (think he still has 1500lbs of it)

im off to work right now but ill answer all questions later.

[Frick-n-Frags]

when in doubt "starve it out" once a month dont feed the tank for a week, or even every other week. food=nitrates plain and simple(PO4 too)


LR in sump=nitrate factory = new twist on wet dry filter, but still NO3 straight into the water column from the bacteria on that rock


you probably need to upgrade your maintenance effectiveness. breaking down organics makes NO3

just throwing some mud at the wall for ideas........gl

[fishchef]

Cool tank. Great fish. If your getting 30 with all that bio-load your not doing too bad. Keep doing regular partials and enjoy your tank. I use MB7 to keep nitrates in check. Anything under 40 is not toxic.

[jayb12]

Originally Posted by fishchef

Cool tank. Great fish. If your getting 30 with all that bio-load your not doing too bad. Keep doing regular partials and enjoy your tank. I use MB7 to keep nitrates in check. Anything under 40 is not toxic.

im growing several sps in the tank thats why im tryin so hard to keep them down.

the live rock in my sump is on egg crate with water flowing heavily over them. there is a gap of about 3" on the bottom to let water a debris collect, then i lift the egg crate "box" out of the sump with the rock in it and clean the bottom of the sump.

sand is dolomite about 250lbs of it
skimmer is a vertex 280
im using a 30g refigum with chaeto
mechanical filteration is a sheet of that black foam and i clean out every 2-3 days. i wedge it in the bubble trap, works great.

i feed the predators a pretty clean diet, i feed raw shrimp, scallops, silver sides, and some times squid (not too often,it stinks too bad)


back to the rock leaching no3 and no4, this tank has been running since july, if the rock is infact the source of my nitrates will they eventually leech all out?
i dont have a huge algee problem but i do get diatom blooms on my sand bed, mind you i also have 1200 watts of Metal halides.

[jayb12]

Originally Posted by Frick-n-Frags

LR in sump=nitrate factory = new twist on wet dry filter, but still NO3 straight into the water column from the bacteria on that rock

can you explain that more please?

[serpentman]

Sulfur denitrators tend to reduce nitrate quickly and effectively. They do carry some risks but might be worth investigating.

Originally Posted by Frick-n-Frags

when in doubt "starve it out" once a month dont feed the tank for a week, or even every other week. food=nitrates plain and simple(PO4 too)


LR in sump=nitrate factory = new twist on wet dry filter, but still NO3 straight into the water column from the bacteria on that rock


you probably need to upgrade your maintenance effectiveness. breaking down organics makes NO3

just throwing some mud at the wall for ideas........gl

LR in the sump should behave no differently than in the tank assuming its not accumulating detritus.

[tektite]

Originally Posted by jayb12

back to the rock leaching no3 and no4, this tank has been running since july, if the rock is infact the source of my nitrates will they eventually leech all out?

I'm also curious on this because I have some older rock I'm starting a tank with.