Nitrate level too High.....:(

[jykel]

Hi....i have just done a test on my water level and the results have shown an alarming truth on my nitrate level....it is in the level of 100ppm region....however, there is no more space in my system to include a refugim or a sump....and also because i have a purple tang and a blue tang in the tank, growing plants will not help as they will only become food for the tangs....currently i am trying to use active carbon filter to see if it helps in reducing the nitrate level...

any bros out there able to advice me on what can be done to reduce the nitrate level to a much more acceptable level?? Pls advice

[pegasus1010]

do a water change asap.

[Kalib]

If budget allows, go for a denitrator. Water changes in the long run would cost you alot of money especially if the tank is big(3x1.5x1.5 and above).

[sps_dude]

bro.. what brand of test kit are u using...... some brand are notorious for giving false information....

[RAV-65]

suggest u stop feeding for 2 days, do a 50% water change if possible... u can read my tank thread to see how I battled no3 from 100ppm to <10ppm... but I suggest u go slow on the AZ-no3 that I used... I tink it contributed to the death of some of my blastos...

[kareen]

first of all, u must let us know what kind of tank u have. If fish only, not so alarming but is good to keep the nitrate low still..... The fastest way to bring down the nitrate is to change as much water as possible but the sensitive fish might not be able to take it so normally it is 10-20% water change regularly....

PS: Water change is still the best solution to keep everything in tact (nitrate, trace elements, etc) Salt mix is not that expensive when you buy the biggest packet. I have gone thru' this phase before and now I do regular water and my tank looks so much better than before.

[blueheaven]

Denitrator require very precise tuning and if it is not tuned correctly, you have to start all over again. Not worth the $ IMO.

Go for a more natural approach like DSB or refugium

[jykel]

Yo bros....Many thanks for your advice...some answers to your suggestions

1. i am using Tetra testing kit (it says on the box, always accurate..)

2. i have just done a water change last week (abt 10%) but there is still no drop in my nitrate level.

3. Details of my tank are as follows:

Dimensions: 4ft(L) x 2ft(W) x 3ft(H)

LS: 1 x Blue Tang

1 x Purple Tang

1 x Bluedevil Damselfish

3 x Clownfish (not sure of its exact breed though)

1 x Seaapple

1 x Starfish

1 x Turbo snail

2 x peppermint shrimps

1 x cleaner shrimp

Lots of liverocks.....

i have an overflow system with bioballs but no refugim. Could that be a cause as i have always heard that bioballs are sort of a nitrate factory...

by the way, which is a better option??Growing more plants in the overflow system to reduce nitrate??or start to have clams in the main tank??

[Vinoth]

Yo bros....Many thanks for your advice...some answers to your suggestions

1. i am using Tetra testing kit (it says on the box, always accurate..)

2.

If you are using tetra nitrate test kit means you have to divide the total value by 4.4. Pls check the box . Its not mentioned in the instruction sheet.

[Kalib]

i have an overflow system with bioballs but no refugim. Could that be a cause as i have always heard that bioballs are sort of a nitrate factory...

Bioballs supports only nitrification bacteria, so if there is insufficient methods of nitrate control within the setup, nitrate can buildup due to the use of bioballs as nitrification bacteria does not breakdown nitrates.

[damien]

use another test kit to confirm the results.

[Midman]

Jykel.....I'm not an expert here but what I relate here is what I've been thru battling with this high nitrate few months ago. I can understand how frustration it can be to see ur water parameter are not as your expectation. Well...I agree with RAV-65....do 50% water change.....apply AZ.NO3 with due care bcos some coral are sensitive to it if u must......ensure your skimmer is in high performance....myself even went slightly further....add surface skimmer.....what I can say is...this method works for me........remember to reduce feeding...more food means more waste.....the pees and the poos....hehehe

Good luck to you.......no offence pls just my ten cent opinion

[RAV-65]

Bro, if ur nitrate is 100ppm, by changing 10% water, there's still 90ppm... and if your tapwater got nitrates, like 5ppm??? it becomes a vicious cycle...

[FuEl]

Get your nitrate level confirmed by using a reputable marine test kit like salifert or minilabor test kits. No point going through all the hassle to solve a problem which might not be there. Happened to me in the past while I was using sera test kit. I can change 90% of my water in my 2ft last time & my nitrate level still remained the "same".

[Reefbum]

Yo bros....Many thanks for your advice...some answers to your suggestions

1. i am using Tetra testing kit (it says on the box, always accurate..)

2. i have just done a water change last week (abt 10%) but there is still no drop in my nitrate level.

3. Details of my tank are as follows:

Dimensions: 4ft(L) x 2ft(W) x 3ft(H)

LS: 1 x Blue Tang

1 x Purple Tang

1 x Bluedevil Damselfish

3 x Clownfish (not sure of its exact breed though)

1 x Seaapple

1 x Starfish

1 x Turbo snail

2 x peppermint shrimps

1 x cleaner shrimp

Lots of liverocks.....

Bro, changing only 10% of water will not bring down your nitrates very much coz the biological filtration continually producing nitrates.Me changing abt 30% weekly and it reduces only juz a bit abt 5ppm.As you have quite a number of LS, suggest you have a better skimmer to breakdown the DOCs before they got chance to go through the nitrogen cycle.Other ways of reducing nitrates already mentioned by the other bros here.

[jykel]

Get your nitrate level confirmed by using a reputable marine test kit like salifert or minilabor test kits. No point going through all the hassle to solve a problem which might not be there. Happened to me in the past while I was using sera test kit. I can change 90% of my water in my 2ft last time & my nitrate level still remained the "same".

Bro, will do as adviced and see if the new test kit still gives the same result...

[jykel]

bros...just learnt that there is this coil denitrator that seems to be effective in removing nitrates from my tank..anyone heard about this before??

Anyway, will also be trying out this method and see if it is really able to bring down the nitrate level (that is if the level is confirmed with another test kit)...

[Eric]

bros...just learnt that there is this coil denitrator that seems to be effective in removing nitrates from my tank..anyone heard about this before??

Anyway, will also be trying out this method and see if it is really able to bring down the nitrate level (that is if the level is confirmed with another test kit)...

Get rid of any detritus collective agent like bioballs,sponge filter..........or change/clean them every few days. Plus a good skimmer to rid the DOC.

controlled feeding and regular water change weekly will get your nitrate down in few months time.

[nim75sg]

bros...just learnt that there is this coil denitrator that seems to be effective in removing nitrates from my tank..anyone heard about this before??

Anyway, will also be trying out this method and see if it is really able to bring down the nitrate level (that is if the level is confirmed with another test kit)...

I am using one but it takes about 6 to 8 months for it to be effective and even longer if your current nitrate level is high.

The setback about this coil denitrator is that you need to "feed" the bacteria on a weekly basis either with Vodka or sugar.

Because of this feeding, I purchased the AquaMedic De-nitrator for another 6ft tank which don't requires any feeding due to the deniballs.

Here is the link of the coil denitrator: http://www.aquaripure.com

[LIM CHYE HUAT]

I am using one but it takes about 6 to 8 months for it to be effective and even longer if your current nitrate level is high.

The setback about this coil denitrator is that you need to "feed" the bacteria on a weekly basis either with Vodka or sugar.

Because of this feeding, I purchased the AquaMedic De-nitrator for another 6ft tank which don't requires any feeding due to the deniballs.

Here is the link of the coil denitrator: http://www.aquaripure.com

have you encounter problem with your aquamedic denitrator whereby the drip just stop by itself and you have to tune the valve again ? how to solve this then ?

[nim75sg]

Never encountered this problem as I am using a Dosing Pump for my AquaMedic Denitrator.

Did encountered this for the coil denitrator as I am using a valve to control the drip rate. This "stoppage" is usually from the pump deteriorating in performance .. just cleaned the pump impeller and it should solve this "stoppage".

[jykel]

I am using one but it takes about 6 to 8 months for it to be effective and even longer if your current nitrate level is high.

The setback about this coil denitrator is that you need to "feed" the bacteria on a weekly basis either with Vodka or sugar.

Because of this feeding, I purchased the AquaMedic De-nitrator for another 6ft tank which don't requires any feeding due to the deniballs.

Here is the link of the coil denitrator: http://www.aquaripure.com

Bro, for nitrate to be broken down into Nitrogen gas, i understand that there is a need for anerobic bacteria...however, i would like to know, if these bacterias are already in the tank (i.e. they will flourish automatically once a zero 02 condition is available...or i will have to specially culture them in a zero O2 enviromnent...???

[piglet]

about vodka.

had learned some stuffs 'from alanseah' - alan thanks for your time... >about using vodka to to regulate NO3 and PO4 .

As agreed with my tankmaker, this method > not suitable with system running on AquaMedic Denitrator. As AB denitrator depends on deniballs ; not Vodka or sugar. (thus vodka method.. out for me.. )

However .. it can be used on system that >runs on coil denitrator or system that > don't run any '' denitrator''.

This method.. similar to zeovit system.. using the carbon source for beneficial bacterial life to reduce no3 and po4 till low nutrition level...

the + and - are discuss in the following link.. >

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...25&pagenumber=2

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=24852

[nim75sg]

Absolutely correct .. plain flavour volka (no additives) and sugar are feeds only for coil denitrator only.

AquaMedic Denitrator uses denimar powder or deniballs.

[lightningstrike]

Absolutely correct .. plain flavour volka (no additives) and sugar are feeds only for coil denitrator only.

AquaMedic Denitrator uses denimar powder or deniballs.

i kiasu, i put both.