High reef-tank nitrate levels..Any quick advice is appreciated!

[ymh1253]

I had just tested my 30 Gal.reef tanks water parameters..first time in 3 months, and the nitrates were very high measuring between 80 to 100 ppm. Luckily I had used a friends brand-new saltwater test kit, because my 2 year old kit was giving false readings. Anyways, everything in my tank, including corals, are doing seemingly great,
Ammonia is 0, pH 8.2, nitrites 0, nitrates betwen "80-100" ppm, and carbonate hardness is 12 drops. The equipment I use is.. a fluval 305 canister filter (just carbon), and also a millennium 3000 bio-filter wet-dry, and another double filter just for added water flow. I also have 2, 105 powerheads for added water circulation. I am using t-5 lighting, and a 100 watt heater. I have recently got a protein skimmer, and still ha vent used it because I thought the levels were good and being everything looks so healthy, I didn't want to  chance disrupting anything. I've had the tank for 3 years, trouble-free for the last 2 of them. A wake up call!, I've gotton lazy, and slowed down on the up-keep and now I have to correct the situation. I'm going to do a 5-7 Gal. water-change, change the filter mediums, and add the 100 Seaclone protein skimmer right away.  That should definitely reduce the nitrates to a safer level, and I'll follow up with regular small water-changes throughout the weeks, keeping an eye on the levels, until it narrows down. Tank inhabitants include, 2 Ocellaris clowns, a bi-color blenny, a scooter blenny,a yellow-tail blue demsel, and a domino demsel. Inverts include, 10 blue-legged hermit crabs, a reef lobster, a sea urchin,and a brittle sea-star. Corals include 2 button polyp colonies, a cabbage leather coral, and a mushroom coral. all of which seem to be flourishing. What are the highest Nitrate levels acceptable for a reef tank?. Any advice is appreciated! Thx

[az]

do 20-30% water change everyday, seaclone skimmers are no good btw. dont change filter media/carbon same day you do water change, vacuuming the gravel during water change would help a lot, lots of bad stuff in there for sure.

[ymh1253]

Thank for the help. I'll vaccume the sand and do a 25% waterchange right now, and change the filter medium in a day or so, and I'll continue doing water changes until the levels are stable again. Would it be a good idea adding the seaclone if it isint the best brand?. thx

[Darth]

I used a seaclone skimmer for many years (not knowing there was anything different about skimmers it worked well from what I thought it pulled out skimmate and what not. It was a pain to get it the settings right before it worked well. So after hearing so much about how these skimmers suck I decided to bite the bullet and get a new one, since i had no sump my options where a bit limited, I could have went with a coral life super skimmer but the reviews on that were just a bit better then the seaclone, so I went with octopus, price wasn't too bad. I hooked it up it started working right away, the skimate it pulled was nowhere near what the seaclone did, the seaclone was like tea, this stuff was like hyped up esspresso the smell was like low tide. if you need a good economical skimmer octopus and you will not be unhappy

[FocusFin]

Thank for the help. I'll vaccume the sand and do a 25% waterchange right now, and change the filter medium in a day or so, and I'll continue doing water changes until the levels are stable again. Would it be a good idea adding the seaclone if it isint the best brand?. thx

I wouldn't go poking around in your substrate, you might cause more problems than you solve. If you're dead set on vacuuming do sections over a period of two weeks that way you won't end up with an ammonia spike. Vacuuming of substrate should be done all of the time or not at all. Maybe get yourself a sand sifter starfish instead.

The waterchanges will help short-term but as anyone who's battled nitrates will tell you, you can get them down to zero one week and back up the next if you don't find the source.

You don't mention how much if any live rock you have. 30-60lbs of rock and a decent skimmer (Darth's right about the Octopus) is all you should need as your filters may be contributing to the nitrate problem.

Perhaps cut back on feeding and increase your flow to keep more of the crap suspended so that it can be removed by your skimmer.

[Hookup]

do 20-30% water change everyday, seaclone skimmers are no good btw. dont change filter media/carbon same day you do water change, vacuuming the gravel during water change would help a lot, lots of bad stuff in there for sure.

+1

You have softies in your tank and they like a dirty water.  Granted 100ppm is very "dirty" water, but you should not aim for 0ppm.  Maybe 20ppm would be good as a balancing point.

If you have the LR in your system, I'd ditch the bio-filter.  Its now very uncommon to see bio-filters on any salt system as they are linked to many issues, such as high nitrates.  I'll be honest, I'm not sure how to go about removing this from a mature system such as yours... bit at a time if thats possible?

[ymh1253]

I appreciate all the help people. thank you. I have also heard before that I should not vacuum my sand, so I might just start with water changes and invest in a good skimmer like the octopus. Until I am able to get a better skimmer, would it be a good idea to add the seaclone to the tank for the time being?  I will change all my filter medium through-out the week and hope that lowers the nitrate levels for the time being, hopefully I can pin-point the source of the problem and correct it.  Its so frustrating seeing everything in the tank look so healthy and happy, and yet have my water parim's so out of whack. Also, is there any recommendations on what I should use for medium in my fluval 305? such as maybe adding "Fluval lab series nitrate remover", all I have in my fluval now are the foam blocks, and biomax cubes, and carbon inserts in my millennium 3000 hang on filter. I will keep you'se informed of the progress. thx again.

[Hookup]

Do you have snails in your sand bed (I'm horrible with names) but the ones that go digging down and into the sand bed to keep it clean and turned over?  If not, I'd add a bunch of those starting with 1/gallon.

[Severum]

nassarius... 

[ymh1253]

No I have dont have any snails but I will invest in some. Just when you think things are getting bad...they get worse. somehow I had cracked the rim on the fluval cover while trying to snap it back together. It's somewhat of a hair line fracture so Im going to try and crazy glue it back in place. urgggggg. frustrating!

[ymh1253]

I had done a 25% water-change this morn, and had tested the nitrates tonight;reading between 30-40 ppm. I will change/add my fluval medium maybe tomorrow, then do another 20 water-change 2 days after. I'm going to add a seaclone skimmer tonight, and see if that will help to stabilize the nitrate levels again.  Hopefully not throwing anything else out of whack, because by looking at my tank, you would never think anything was alarming, or wrong with the water parim's.  I'm thinking insufficient filtration is the source of the nitrate spike, so I'll need to invest in a better skimmer like an octopus skimmer in the near future, and properly stack my fluval 305,Any advice on good filtration medium for my tank circumstances?

[Darth]

do you have live rock in the tank? I don't see a mention of it if so how much, how much flow are you using? what kind of pumps are they? whats in the canister? They are known to be a nitrate trap if you are using like bioballs and what not, I would just use it for running carbon. the seaclone is going to hurt, but it will take a few days to kick in. if there is not good enough flow in the tank there could be dead spots where the water isnt moving to well, which will leak nitrates back in as well

[ymh1253]

Sorry, all the equipment I use is in my first post. I'm using a fluval 305 canister filter with only foam pads and biomax currently, I also have a millennium 3000 hang-on biological filter with just carbon, and another empty double hang-on filter for added circulation. I have two 105 powerheads as well, so for a 30 Gal, I have plenty of circulation I think.  I have roughly 35 pounds of live rock and use sand substrate.  What did you mean when you mentioned the seaclone will hurt at first?. And for a reef tank is just carbon a pretty safe way to go?..thx

[Darth]

sorry typo had a brain fart I meant it wont hurt but it will take a few days to break in, I am not familiar with a 105 powerhead, most people use maxi-jets or koralia type, I am sure someone will correct me. I find a big difference between using power heads and hob filters, I think powerheads move water much better through the rocks, then having just water cascade into the tank that is just my opinion most don't use canister filters unelss they are running carbon and or phosban. As far as flow is concerned there are huge debates over how much is enough, or how much is too much, my tank I have about 3200 gph of flow on my 56 in just powerheads then I have my phosban reactor and an aquaclear 70 that I run carbon in. so maybe as I said there are just some dead spots
for carbon I run it for 3 days once a month

[salvini55]

Id say either take the canister filters and hang on back filters off the tank, or, only use them with activated carbon in the "trays" and change it once to twice a month. Ditch the sponges and media. The live rock alone is enough to filter the water and to be honest the mechanical filters are probably the cause of built up nutrience. I think it is a wise decision to get a better skimmer like an octopus. Im not sure what 105 powerheads are, I would shoot for a pair of Koralia 3's in a 30 gallon tank. Good flow, Good light and good water quality go a long way to a beautifull tank.

[ymh1253]

thx for the replies. I meant maxi-jet 105's. they work pretty well for my tank. I'll try just running carbon in my fluval and maybe replace the one empty double hob filter with the seaclone skimmer for the time being, until I am able to get an octopus. Im sure my filtration is excactly what through my levels off. I'll have to incorperate a better filtration system. thx again.

[salvini55]

good luck, keep us posted

[Darth]

I still don't think you have enough flow, 2 maxi at 106gph, plus the others you should be aiming for at least 30X flow per gph so that would be a min of 900gph, as I said my flow is about 55x and I still don't think it's enough, but run the skimmer it will def help.

[Hookup]

Glad to hear things are moving in the good direction again.  I'd caution you that you might be going fast on the changes... you've had great success for 3 years, and in just a few days you've dropped your nitrites from 100ppm to 30-40ppm.

Though it is positive, it's a big change.  I'd suggest waiting a week before doing the next change... (though adding the skimmer will be no issue as it is slow to ramp-up)

[ymh1253]

It makes sense to wait a little longer before my next water change, because like you said the tank has been running smooth for the last 2 years, and the tank inhabitants still look very active and healthy, despite the high nitrates.. so waiting a bit longer sounds reasonable. I will hook up the skimmer today and do another 25% w/c this weekend. I will also invest in a bigger powerhead, because the more flow the better.  thx again folks. Another unrelated question... How can I post pics on my posts or profiles?