nitrate 160ppm

[mig]

Im a complete newbie to salt water marine life (2 days) We just set up my tank this week and I bought a bit of test equipment tonite and low and behold my nitrate level is at 160ppm. I also have this white web or moss all over my live rock and coral. I have a 90 gal with maybe a  25 gal lower tank. salt is 1.022. I'm quite worried how to correct this before it gets out of control.
We used mostly the old water ( tank was established for several years before I bought it) and added maybe 20 gals RO water and 5 gals tap water. I bought new sand also. I lost 5 fish in the move as well which was sad. tomorrow i'm gunna do a part water change...maybe 20 gals. hopefully that helps.

 

[dale]

when you move a tank you stir up all the old death and decay that was very slowly decomposing , now it has polluted your tank,,
now i would say you need multiple small water changes over the next couple of weeks or so with ro water starting with a fairly large one right away,, you are in a tough predicament right now if your numbers are that high.. not much could survive
for now i would tell you you need lots of ro water and and cleaning maintainenece and any media reactors you could afford ,, bio-pellets , phosphate remover, poss carbon,, and def a good skimmer, and im guessing no new additions for months!! it sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you and its a long process , patience is key and we can def help you along the way if you are willing to put in the effort...

good luck and welcome

 

[mig]

Thanks Dale. I see your in sarnia so thats cool. I did as much research as I could before we did the move but unfortunately we didnt have alot of time for preperation since I bought the setup at an auction and we had a time limit to have it removed. So far the fish and corals seem ok other than this white cloud/moss on alot of the rock. My skimmer isnt removing much of anything...not sure if its the skimmer issue or something else..not sure what kind it is. I'm not sure if my filter system is the best either although it worked for 8 years previous and the tank seemed very healthy before the move. It trickels through a filter floss material, then over rock.
How soon after adding salt to my RO water can I do my water change? I feel i'd like to change is asap but dont want to cause more trouble adding undisolved salt. I also have what i believe is called a reactor? (cylinder with water pumping through and new charcoal inside) My temp is about 82 which maybe on the high side. In this situation will warmer or colder water help/hinder my recovery?
Thanks for any help you or other on 'thefragtank' can provide

 

[monizb]

I would lower temp down to 78-79 and get a new skimmer the skimmer u have is a corallife and it's not working properly and for mixing water i would get ro water into your pails with power head and a small heater and add your salt make sure u keep it at same level as our display and temp as well and let sit for few hrs before doing water change even bump it up to 1.025 1.022 is little low


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[unibob]

I would be doing a large water change. With 160ppm nitrate, doing a 50% water change is still going to leave you with 80ppm nitrate. You will need to be doing water changes every other day to get it down.

What fish/coral are still alive in tank?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Duke]

sounds like everything is dying, you need to do huge water changes like it was said above, adding tap water is crazy too, chlorine kills everything, and even then its totally not a good thing to do. moving a tank this time of year takes some good planning, the water cannot fluxuate temperature wise and you are very limited in the amount of time you have to do it all if you arent setup to keep livestock somewhere during the process, at this point anything alive will be best taken somewhere theres a tank that can either hold it for you or take it from you, i would drain it and start over.

 

[TORX]

Ummm, hate to bring more bad news into the picture, but I think 160ppm is the highest the kit goes, it could be even higher :?

Unfortunately buying an established system actually is not a good thing unless you know how to move an established system. The guys here will be a great help, but please be patient and ready for more deaths. Slow and steady is the #1 rule in this hobby. There will be phases about a tank maturity that you will not like, such as diatoms, but just ask for advice and remember...patience.

 

[Poseidon]

if there is someone close to you who could hold the fish /livestock until you get this figured out that might be your best option as well.
rather than lose any more fish

ive moved several large tanks and even still it its very difficult to do properly, you should have joined the site before you bought it
we were even talking about the tank at that auction in Watford, and some members were even there who im sure would have been able to assist you.

 

[Pistol]

Try to find some AmquelPlus or regular Amquel, it will detoxify the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in the system while you get it sorted out.

 

[mig]

I did have experienced help for the move. I wasn't even going to bid on it unless I could get someone to help pre arranged that knew what they were doing. The guy that helped me accually set up the tank 8 years ago and has been maintaining it ever since. It just wasn't an ideal circumstance.
I have an offer from one of the members here to possibly hold my fish which is really awsume.. you guys are extremely helpful and I'm glad he hooked me up this forum. What concerns me about that is they've been moved enough and I wouldn't want to stress them out more. I just want to minimize further damage.
Lots of great advice given, much appreciated and I will proceed to implement what I can asap
Thx

 

[davesolo29]

Stress of an additional move or two would be much easier on the fish than stress of poor water quality. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mig]

So after quite a few 15-20 gal water changes, my nitrates are still at the top of the scale 160...I read up a bit on vodka doseing but it seems it can be a bit complicated. I decided i'm going to try another product called Nitra Guard. I need to pick up a couple air stones because the pellets need to be airated in the supplied bag.. so i'll keep a record here of how its working if anyone is interested. My fish and corals all seem to be doing great so far dispite the high Nitrate levels. Hopefully this will do the trick to get the nitrates down.

 

[curiousphil]

This article illustrates very clearly why 15-20gal water changes didn't make a big dent in your nitrates:

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/nitratecontrol/ss/sbsnitratereduction.htm

I highly recommend reading this... especially page 2.  I've had it bookmarked for a very long time.  Incredibly useful information to know.  Doing lots of 15-20% water changes intuitively seems like it should make a big difference, but this explains why it doesn't.

 

[pulpfiction1]

what exactly do you have for live stock?

 

[benzzz]

Just throwing this out there.... are you sure they are that high?

Have you got a second test kit to reassure?

 

[mig]

Interesting article curiousphil. I wasnt aware such a massive water change could be done. Benzzz i do accually have 2 test kits, although they are both the same brand ATI i think.. they both test the same result.. pulpfiction.. as for livestock, i have 5 fish.. a blue tang, PJ cardinal, 2 clowns, algae blenny, lots of snails, crabs, etc.. soft corals, 90g tank, 30g sump...this was a 8 year old setup that i bought and was recently moved. High Nitrates since the move. Not sure about stats before the move.

 

[sooley19]

you need a better test kit other than ATI.. you need a seachem or red sea.. it seems like a lot to spend on test kits but they are more accurate and you can get actual readings from them.. Another thing is you could do a hanna checker but that is a good chunk of change.. my advice for the nitra guard is work on lowering your nitrates first and than add it to your sump.. you have to have an attack plan to battle the problem first, basically weaken it down and than finish it off strong so to speak.. i know it says im a noobie but i've been in this hobby for about 4 years and its just tips and tricks you pick up from reading countless amounts of info from different sites and hobbyists that are most beneficial for us..

 

[benzzz]

Hey Sooley, glad to see you joined.

 

[curiousphil]

you need a better test kit other than ATI.. you need a seachem or red sea.. it seems like a lot to spend on test kits but they are more accurate and you can get actual readings from them.. Another thing is you could do a hanna checker but that is a good chunk of change.. my advice for the nitra guard is work on lowering your nitrates first and than add it to your sump.. you have to have an attack plan to battle the problem first, basically weaken it down and than finish it off strong so to speak.. i know it says im a noobie but i've been in this hobby for about 4 years and its just tips and tricks you pick up from reading countless amounts of info from different sites and hobbyists that are most beneficial for us..

While ATI isn't the best at giving accurate results, it's safe to say that if it's red your nitrates are damn high.  I've got the Red Sea kit, and it gives a much more accurate reading, but honestly if you just need a rough estimate where you are then the ATI is good enough.  For an example of what I mean, the ATI kit really falls to pieces when nitrates are above 40... it just becomes impossible to read due to the shades of red being so close.  But realistically, if the reading is that high then you know all you need to know:  the nitrates need to be reduced to reasonable levels.  Once the nitrates are down below 20 then you can use the more accurate kits to figure out exactly where you are and begin tuning them in to where you want.

 

[monizb]

I use salfert test kits

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk