Re: Reduce Nitrate Level in Fish-only Tank

[tench1]

Hi all fellows Reefers!

I have headache with my 5ft Tank...

The nitrate level is >100ppm (Tested withSalifert Nitrate (NO3) Profi Test)

Super redish result...

Currently, these are my beloved pets living in it.

1. 1 x Sohal Tang

2. 1 x Naso Tang

3. 2 x Yellow Tangs

4. 2 x Purple Tangs

5. 1 x Sopras Tang

6. 1 x Unicorn Tang

7. 1 x Blue Tang

8. 1 x Emporer Angel

9. 1 x Regal

10. 2 x Wrasses

11. 3 x Nemo Crowns

12. 6 x Damsels (Blue and yellow)

13. 3 x Hermit crabs

14. 1 x Starfish

15. 1 x Doc wrasse

Currently growing chaeto in sump, and weekly changing of salt-mixed water doesnt seems to help much reducing the No3 Level...

Kindly drop me your valuable comments...to solve my problem.

Regads, Ten

[jackywongto]

Wow that is a lot of big fishes....

-Cut down feeding

-Do water changes more regularly. Try checking if the water source that you use to mix saltwater already contains nitrate. Need to use DI/ RO is it does.

-Are you using bio balls? need to remove slowly in phases if you are.they can only convert ammonia -> nitrite-> nitrate. You need more liverocks or DSB to complete the nitrogen cycle.

Observe if situation improves after the above.

In the meantime, you can try using polyfilter, seachem De-nitrate, seachem purigen to curb the nitrate level.

[comycus]

bro fish only tanks normally have higher nitrate levels, but best is to lower your nitrates to a more comfortable level. Can start off with dosing bacteria. I heard many good things about the 2 part dosing of microbacter 7 and vodka. Can check it out

[tench1]

Wow that is a lot of big fishes....

-Cut down feeding

-Do water changes more regularly. Try checking if the water source that you use to mix saltwater already contains nitrate. Need to use DI/ RO is it does.

-Are you using bio balls? need to remove slowly in phases if you are.they can only convert ammonia -> nitrite-> nitrate. You need more liverocks or DSB to complete the nitrogen cycle.

Observe if situation improves after the above.

In the meantime, you can try using polyfilter, seachem De-nitrate, seachem purigen to curb the nitrate level.

Not really that big Jacky, the biggest so far is my Blue Tang, close to 5 Inch. The Rest are pretty small.

- Feeding had been cut down from 3 times to 2 times daily. (Once in the AM, once in the Evening)

*They are forever hungry...

- For more regular water change, im gg to try this week. increasing water change from once to twice...

- Bio-balls were not present. Sump are filled with polyfilters,live-rocks and hermits.

- Had heard bad reviews from some reefers that using De-nitrate does help, but after a period of time, if stop using, NO3 will increase.

[raydiative]

wow... thats alot of poop machines that you have there! what you can do is to do more frequent water change... i suppose you are running a skimmer?

also getting a algae scrubber can help to reduce your nitrates as well... you may also like to get some mangroves.. =]

[comycus]

wow... thats alot of poop machines that you have there! what you can do is to do more frequent water change... i suppose you are running a skimmer?

also getting a algae scrubber can help to reduce your nitrates as well... you may also like to get some mangroves.. =]

I agree, scrubber + skimmer + refugium. Power pack! prob will do a great drop at controlling your nutrients. Can check out miracle mud if budget's not a problem.

[serravorte]

1st--> get a bloody good skimmer

2nd--> change the filter sponge weekly, ( as soon as u seen it become dirty)

3rd --> reduce feeding

4th --> get a wavemaker to blow ur tank bottom for dentritus

5th--> no more 5th, as the above 4 steps are just wat i did for my tank.. and just my penny cents..

Cheers and good luck in ur nitrate lvl bros..

[serravorte]

1st--> get a bloody good skimmer

2nd--> change the filter sponge weekly, ( as soon as u seen it become dirty)

3rd --> reduce feeding

4th --> get a wavemaker to blow ur tank bottom for dentritus

5th--> no more 5th, as the above 4 steps are just wat i did for my tank.. and just my penny cents..

Cheers and good luck in ur nitrate lvl bros..

[tench1]

bro fish only tanks normally have higher nitrate levels, but best is to lower your nitrates to a more comfortable level. Can start off with dosing bacteria. I heard many good things about the 2 part dosing of microbacter 7 and vodka. Can check it out

Yeap, had dosed a couple times of the microbacter +, when the tank was still cycling...

After fishes were introduced, stopped dosing.

Can i still dose after fish input?

[comycus]

Yeap, had dosed a couple times of the microbacter +, when the tank was still cycling...

After fishes were introduced, stopped dosing.

Can i still dose after fish input?

Of course! the typical sales pitch would be tt even though your bacteria is already established, dosing bac on a regular basis ensures that the correct strains of bacteria remain in ure system. You don't want only a 1 dominant strain of bacteria in your system. I say sales pitch because it's up to you whether you believe it and want to continue with dosing bacteria or not. Unless you take your LR and take lab tests, u won't know whether bacteria in your LR is sufficient or not right?

Theory wise, it makes sense to me

[tench1]

I agree, scrubber + skimmer + refugium. Power pack! prob will do a great drop at controlling your nutrients. Can check out miracle mud if budget's not a problem.

True, they are a bunch of hungry fishes, that can even poop while eating...

1. Skimmer - using DeLtec Skimmer Ap851

2. Sponge - yeah, will change every week

3. Reduce feeding - Will feed every AM and PM, twice a day

4. Wavemaker - Had 3 x Tunze Wavemakers in it for blowing the dead-area

5. Refugium - growing chaeto in my sump, had grown slightly since 1 month ago

6. Algae Scrubber - DIY project in process

7. Water Change - Improving from once weekly to twice weekly.

I welcome all cents/dollars advices! Keep them coming!

[tench1]

Of course! the typical sales pitch would be tt even though your bacteria is already established, dosing bac on a regular basis ensures that the correct strains of bacteria remain in ure system. You don't want only a 1 dominant strain of bacteria in your system. I say sales pitch because it's up to you whether you believe it and want to continue with dosing bacteria or not. Unless you take your LR and take lab tests, u won't know whether bacteria in your LR is sufficient or not right?

Theory wise, it makes sense to me

Comycus bro, thanks. Theory wise, it does make sense, but it can be rather expensive to dose bacterial all the time.

haha

[comycus]

Comycus bro, thanks. Theory wise, it does make sense, but it can be rather expensive to dose bacterial all the time.

haha

haha tt's why i said theory... I am still dosing bacteria now coz my tank's pretty new, might consider dosing less often in future when my tank matures.

Anyway, you sound like you got a war plan going on to combat nitrates! hahaa looking good

[RockyBoy]

Not sure if vodkha addition might help. Some reefers do..

Vodkha dosing info...

[jackywongto]

Not sure if vodkha addition might help. Some reefers do..

Vodkha dosing info...

Timing ust nice... i wanted to readup on this vodkha dosing thingy but no time... hehe

bookmarked the page.

[tench1]

Not sure if vodkha addition might help. Some reefers do..

Vodkha dosing info...

Rocky Bro, Thats a good reference reading for vodkha dosing. THANKS!

Will go back and check my vodkha collection this evening.

If the % is just right, i will try this method.

Ten

[jackywongto]

hey Tench,

check your nitrate reading before dosing (if you are going to do it).

interested to see how effective it is.

rgds

Jacky

[tench1]

hey Tench,

check your nitrate reading before dosing (if you are going to do it).

interested to see how effective it is.

rgds

Jacky

Jacky,

Sure do man.

But i m pretty sure that it will still be >100ppm...

The water parameter never failed to disppoint me..

Ten

[FuEl]

Unless you can increase the water volume, it will not help. The frank fact is that the tank is overstocked. Getting super efficient skimmers will not help either, skimmers cannot skim out ammonia which is secreted passively by the gills of your fish. 100+ppm of nitrates don't seem to harm fish much. If you really want to bring down the nitrates without reducing bioload or massive water changes, your only option would be a sulphur denitrator. You will need a large one to bring the levels down by any significant amount.

[sherman]

So far I think sulphur denitrator is the most effective to remove the high nitrate

[tench1]

Not sure if vodkha addition might help. Some reefers do..

Vodkha dosing info...

Checked, i have no pure vodkha 40%, only with apple, orange favor. (both 40%)

Can i add vodkha with favor?

Please advice...

Instead, i had added a dose of Bio-clean.

Nitrate before dose is still sure red... >100ppm

[jackywongto]

Checked, i have no pure vodkha 40%, only with apple, orange favor. (both 40%)

Can i add vodkha with favor?

Please advice...

Instead, i had added a dose of Bio-clean.

Nitrate before dose is still sure red... >100ppm

is the result suppose to be instant or gotta keep dosing small amounts every few days to see result?

[comycus]

is the result suppose to be instant or gotta keep dosing small amounts every few days to see result?

Bro, I don't think dosing bacteria will instantly bring down such a high amount of nitrates. My own experience after dosing bacteria and az-no3, took about 2-3 weeks to bring down nitrates from 50ppm to <5ppm.

Anyway dosing vodka needs to be done on a daily basis, so I also assume it would take some time to see the results. Prodibio products are dosed every 2 weeks, I believe the results will also take time.

[sherman]

You want fast result go for sulphur denitrator

Others all take time to see result.

[FuEl]

I would strongly advise against dosing of vodka to your tank directly. If you want to dose vodka, only do so in a denitrator unit.

If you dose it directly into your tank directly, the heterotrophic bacteria will outcompete your true nitrifying bacteria and your nitrifying efficiency will be greatly reduced. This will be dangerous considering your bioload.

http://www.biofilters.com/webfilt.htm

"In general, there are three types of aerobic microorganisms that colonize biofilters for aquaculture. Heterotrophic bacteria utilize the dissolved carbonaceous material as their food source. Nitrosomonos sp. bacteria utilize ammonia as a food source and produce nitrite as a waste product. Nitrospira sp. utilize nitrite as a food source and produce nitrates as a waste product. Nitrosomonos and Nitrospira will both grow and colonize the biofilter as long as there is a food source available. Unfortunately, both of these types of bacteria are relatively slow growing. Heterotrophic bacteria grow about 5 times faster and will out compete the other two types for space if food is available"

http://www.bioconlabs.com/autoheterobac.html