necessity of reducing nitrates

m3rcury · 08/07/2006, 01:13 PM

since my aquarium cycled, i have had problems with nitrates. the only time i saw 0 nitrates was after being out of town for 1.5 weeks and the fish had no feeding. i have tried reduced feedings, macroalgea, weekly water changes, etc. the only thing i haven't tried is sugar dosing.

my nitrates stay around 20 ppm and aside from some minor growth of brown algea, i'm not seeing any effects of the nitrates on my tank. i have a wide assortment of corals in my tank from shrooms, leathers, and a kenya tree to montis, acros, and a just added BTA. i was most concerned about adding the BTA, but after 5 days, there is no sign of stress, it is eating agressively, no color loss, etc. basically, i can't see any indication that the nitrates are having a negative effect.

so, the question is whether i should consider sugar dosing just with the goal of reducing my nitrates. i was concerned that the sugar dosing might have more negative effects than the higher nitrates (especially the BTA). i know the debate over sugar dosing is fairly large, but how worried should i be about the nitrates?

some additional info about the tank:
40 breeder
250w MH (on for about 10 hours/day)
1 inch sand bed of fine particle sand
3 fish (fairy wrasse, coral beauty, royal gramma)
20 gallon sump
CSS skimmer
ATO
pH 7.7 - 8.0
AK 3.45
Ca 340
ammonia and nitrites 0
cheato macro in my sump, though no sand in the refuge

nickterp · 08/07/2006, 01:17 PM

Only thing off the top of my head could be your water source. If you are using just conditioned tap water than your nitrates may be from that. You could test your tap water for nitrates if thats what you are using.

If its not from your water source

, then frequent water changes can bring down nitrates manually until your tank can start handling the load on its own.

Good luck!

m3rcury · 08/07/2006, 01:33 PM

i use RO water for a 3-stage corallife RO unit. I've tested the nitrates from my RO unit and they are detectable, but around .5 or so.

i keep up with my water changes religiously, so hopefully that will continue to help.

Sk8r · 08/07/2006, 01:41 PM

Your alk and cal could come up a little. I don't have my paper handy for the alk, but I run mine at 8.3 on the other scale, and 400 for the cal. That's just fyi. The nitrate problem could be not enough food getting eaten. Bristleworms and hermits and snails would be good.

m3rcury · 08/07/2006, 01:45 PM

yeah, i have a ton of snails and hermits. apparently too many since some of the turbos have died from apparent starvation. i also try to be REALLY careful when i feed to only feed a little bit at one time so i can make sure they eat it all before adding another little bit, etc.

m3rcury · 08/07/2006, 05:48 PM

can anyone else comment on this?

MSAreef · 08/07/2006, 06:53 PM

You can try doing a larger water change to get the nitrates down. I agree with an earlier post, you should bring your PH, Alk and calcium up. I use Kent Superbuffer and Turbo Calcium. You also might want to adjust your skimmer. Do you get much skimmate? I would be wary about adding sugar. especially because your livestock is not showing signs of stress. Make sure you have adequate water flow and that there are no dead spots. Also, as far as clean up crews go, I like to have a couple nassarius snails. They are great detritous eaters.

08/07/2006, 01:13 PM	#1
m3rcury Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 325	necessity of reducing nitrates since my aquarium cycled, i have had problems with nitrates. the only time i saw 0 nitrates was after being out of town for 1.5 weeks and the fish had no feeding. i have tried reduced feedings, macroalgea, weekly water changes, etc. the only thing i haven't tried is sugar dosing. my nitrates stay around 20 ppm and aside from some minor growth of brown algea, i'm not seeing any effects of the nitrates on my tank. i have a wide assortment of corals in my tank from shrooms, leathers, and a kenya tree to montis, acros, and a just added BTA. i was most concerned about adding the BTA, but after 5 days, there is no sign of stress, it is eating agressively, no color loss, etc. basically, i can't see any indication that the nitrates are having a negative effect. so, the question is whether i should consider sugar dosing just with the goal of reducing my nitrates. i was concerned that the sugar dosing might have more negative effects than the higher nitrates (especially the BTA). i know the debate over sugar dosing is fairly large, but how worried should i be about the nitrates? some additional info about the tank: 40 breeder 250w MH (on for about 10 hours/day) 1 inch sand bed of fine particle sand 3 fish (fairy wrasse, coral beauty, royal gramma) 20 gallon sump CSS skimmer ATO pH 7.7 - 8.0 AK 3.45 Ca 340 ammonia and nitrites 0 cheato macro in my sump, though no sand in the refuge

08/07/2006, 01:41 PM	#4
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Your alk and cal could come up a little. I don't have my paper handy for the alk, but I run mine at 8.3 on the other scale, and 400 for the cal. That's just fyi. The nitrate problem could be not enough food getting eaten. Bristleworms and hermits and snails would be good. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

08/07/2006, 01:17 PM	#2
nickterp Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Virginia Posts: 263	Only thing off the top of my head could be your water source. If you are using just conditioned tap water than your nitrates may be from that. You could test your tap water for nitrates if thats what you are using. If its not from your water source , then frequent water changes can bring down nitrates manually until your tank can start handling the load on its own. Good luck!

08/07/2006, 01:33 PM	#3
m3rcury Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 325	i use RO water for a 3-stage corallife RO unit. I've tested the nitrates from my RO unit and they are detectable, but around .5 or so. i keep up with my water changes religiously, so hopefully that will continue to help.

08/07/2006, 01:45 PM	#5
m3rcury Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 325	yeah, i have a ton of snails and hermits. apparently too many since some of the turbos have died from apparent starvation. i also try to be REALLY careful when i feed to only feed a little bit at one time so i can make sure they eat it all before adding another little bit, etc.

08/07/2006, 05:48 PM	#6
m3rcury Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 325	can anyone else comment on this?

08/07/2006, 06:53 PM	#7
MSAreef Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Bay Area Posts: 176	You can try doing a larger water change to get the nitrates down. I agree with an earlier post, you should bring your PH, Alk and calcium up. I use Kent Superbuffer and Turbo Calcium. You also might want to adjust your skimmer. Do you get much skimmate? I would be wary about adding sugar. especially because your livestock is not showing signs of stress. Make sure you have adequate water flow and that there are no dead spots. Also, as far as clean up crews go, I like to have a couple nassarius snails. They are great detritous eaters.