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Nitrates From Tapwater....

ervine

By ervine,
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ervine Newbie

ervine

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Hi guys,

I've been trying to battle nitrates for a few months now, and I've managed to pull it down from >20 to 10ppm but it has stopped there, I can't seem to go any futher down... I've removed all the coralchips and stuff, upgraded my skimmer, added sea lettuce, adjusted refugium timing....

Then, I finally (wonder why I didn't do this earlier) tested my tap water for nitrates... 10ppm... sigh...

Could this be the cause? If so I think there are several options, would like to know which is the most viable..

1. Stop it at the source

- get a RO unit, can someone tell me what the cost of this will be? Or if there are alternatives to this?

2. Get a DSB

- My current tank does not have a DSB, although I can place one in my refugium should the need arise, but the area of the fuge is rather small, approx 1ft by 0.8ft, will that be effective enough for my 1ft cube tank? (yes my little science experiment)

What are your opinions on this?

Thanks a bunch!

Ervine Lin

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FuEl Newbie

FuEl

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Aiya...if your tank is doing well..what is a miserable 10ppm of nitrates? I've seen amazingly nice reef tanks even at 50ppm of nitrates.

Sigh....eat full full nothing to do ah? :rolleyes:

Always something more important than fish.

http://reefbuilders.com/2012/03/08/sps-pico-reef/

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Matt06 Newbie

Matt06

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Our Singapore tap water should only have traces of Nitrates but not that high, I tested my tap water in my HDB and found no trace of Nitrates. However, Unlike FuEl mentioned, most reefers and experts advised that Nitrate for tank should not exceed 20ppm for fishes as well as 10ppm for corals. In natural sea water, nitrates seldom goes beyond 5ppm.

I suggest that you manage your feeding as well as making your water circulation better, as there should not be any "dead" zone in your tank. If you can, you might like to try Denitrator units.

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DeepBlue Newbie

DeepBlue

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have talked to Henry fr ML....he adviced me not to use tapwater just from the tap...even if you season it for a couple of days(get rid of chlorine).......wat U can get is the deionizer...or DI water...supposed to remove the nitrate or lower it.....it will set you back $29* for it....give him a call.... :)

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FuEl Newbie

FuEl

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It is commendable that you are trying to achieve close to 0 nitrates in the tank. :D

But in my opinion it also depends on the type of corals you are trying to keep. Soft corals can withstand nitrates better compared to hard corals. I find keeping nitrates in check very troublesome...so I stick to soft corals.

It's all up to the individual. Monitoring nitrate levels would drive me nuts....last time I had a 2 feet tank...every week I could change up to 50-70% of the water and the nitrate level would still be the same...very very frustrating. Got tired of it and stopped monitoring nitrates soon after...just monitored the health of my corals...if they look fine then I just leave the water as it is. :rolleyes:

Instead of a deioniser...you could use maybe a distiller? From what I know it only contains pure water...as the water is evaporated and condensed again. I don't think nitrates would evaporate right? Hehe.. ;)

Always something more important than fish.

http://reefbuilders.com/2012/03/08/sps-pico-reef/

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ervine Newbie

ervine

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Well u can call me obsessive lah.. but everyone wants the best for their tank right?

Anyway, I think the DI or RO or distiller is almost surely out of the question... student budget.. sigh... so after some consideration I think a DSB in the refugium might work... what I need to know is if it is enough of an area to have any effect, if no effect then no point also...

Actually I agree with fuel, don't try to fix what is not broken right? While the corals I have now look fine, in fact some are growing too fast... it's the blasted algae that I can't seem to stop/control...

I attributed it to nitrates when I had high nitrate levels... I'm unsure if 10ppm is still considered high for algae, or perhaps the algae has already ceased to grow anymore but just hasn't died off yet... (or will it ever die off)

Doubt its phosphates or silicates, I'm using phosguard.. not the best in the market but I'm sure it works... so that leaves nitrates...

Or maybe I should not dwell on the nitrates too much but instead focus on how i can eliminate the exisiting algae and hope that that would be the end of it....

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FuEl Newbie

FuEl

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Don't think it is the nitrates. Should be the phosphates. How long have you used the phosphate remover? You might want to replace it with Rowaphos or Contraphos? Phosphates are essential to make up DNA of all living things. So if you remove phosphates from your water...I'm sure your algae would already have a hard hard time surviving...even if there are nitrates and lots of light.

Always something more important than fish.

http://reefbuilders.com/2012/03/08/sps-pico-reef/

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ervine Newbie

ervine

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Don't think it is the nitrates. Should be the phosphates. How long have you used the phosphate remover? You might want to replace it with Rowaphos or Contraphos? Phosphates are essential to make up DNA of all living things. So if you remove phosphates from your water...I'm sure your algae would already have a hard hard time surviving...even if there are nitrates and lots of light.

Hm... have had it for 2 months? (was originally sea chem sea gel)... but changed it just last week

Think I might go try contraphos see how....

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bawater Newbie

bawater

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ervine, get a phosphate test kit to be sure of the levels. otherwise u won't know if anything is working.

As for your first question, employ all methods. A DSB,A refugium and a DI unit.

DSB would be the cheapest...but also take the longest to start (if your lucky by 6mths to a yr). You will need an area the same as your main tank to see the reduction capabilities of the sand bed when it starts to work.

A refugium will remove small amounts of nutrients and works as a support to the DSB.The bigger the refugium, the more it uptakes.

A DI unit will help in reducing the amount of nutrients you add in top off water & water changes. 10ppm is actually a little high for tapwater.(PUB site has 10ppm as the max allowed safe levels) high nitrates in drinking water can cause blue face babies (when newborn babies are not able to get enough oxygen into the blood.... or something like that)

i read 2ppm in my tapwater.

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williammuk Newbie

williammuk

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Hm.. how much water is it good for? I think the rate of flow is actually quite slow right?

Yes, you have to set the flow rate slow. It takes about an hour to fill up a 40 litre pail. The $75 DI tube is supposed to be rated for 1700 litres.

At the half-way mark, I brought a sample DI water to the LFS to test and found that there are already lots of impurities in the DI water.

I just had my DI tube recharged for about $55. This time, I'm going to have the DI water tested every 2 months just to be sure.

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DeepBlue Newbie

DeepBlue

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another option is u may want to buy sea water from tengah LFS. heard they are selling at $6. may have delivery service. Total cost: not sure...

LCK 1** going at $3 for one big jerrycan...quite worth it. using it for a year...no problem........................ :D

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