Nitrates Need Help!!!!!!

[jgraeff]

my nitrates are like 60 and my cardinal died. i have a 30g with a 20g sump.

I plan to do a 10g change today but im not sure if that will be enought becaue i have about 50g in circulation. So i need some advice on how to get them down and fast please.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Only real fast way to get them down is water changes.
A fully cycled tank with enough live rock and perhaps a refugium can help keep them down. Tell us more about your system as soon as you get a chance.

 

[chend2]

They may not be the reason your cardinal died. I have had fish in nitrates as high as 250.

 

[warforged]

Taken from another site I sent him here because this is the best site I think for salt help:

its a 30g, with about 70lbs of live rock, i have ok lighting its a t-5 10k and a actnic blue bulb. I think they are 18 watts a piece not great but its ok. I feed pellets, frozen formula 2, and frozen mysis shrimp.

a pair of small clarki clowns, a green mandarin goby, large pajama cardinal, hermit crab, 6 turbo snails, 5 other snails, and a blood shrimp.

I told him to come to reef frontiers because his problems would need the most educated and advanced reefers on a site to help. And this site has them.

His sump fuge has a very large Cyano break out all over the glass and I mean all over. The sand bed seems like it even has a black patch ..pretty large one...diatoms? Cyano and diatoms probably. He also is dosing Fiji Gold to promote Coraline.

In conversation he admitted to overfeeding and my guess was hes got a build up of detritus material in the Fuge area...more than one would want... especially if the Micro algae and Cyano are both thriving. There seems to be too much. He's also admitted to tap water top off lately but is now using RO water. And has been changing water like mad.

Jgreff give them complete details on your entire water test. Your tank equipment ..every detail. Lights, Power heads, Sump model, etc etc.
Also show these guys your Pics of the Sump and tank...especially the fuge with all that growth.

Dinoflagellates however you spell it seems similar at a distance from Diatoms...its very possible what I think was Diatoms in the sand bad of the fuge could be that stuff.... and that is toxic to live stock.

Anyway...I leave it to you Jgreff. Give these people Details and pics. I am sure RF members will get you in the right direction. This is where I learned and get my help from vs the other site.

 

[jgraeff]

Ok i have a 30g with a 20g refuge. i have about a 3-4inch sand bed in both and about 70lbs of live rock. I have chaeto in the sump as well as a couple mangroves. I have 6 turbo snails, and 7 other kind i can't remember their name. I have a pair of clarki, a mandarin goby and a hermit crab, cardinal and tang both died.

tested water last night - nitrate-60ppm, nitrites- 0ppm ph 8.3, kh 180
sg 1.0024

i have a t-5 two bulb i think they are 18w 10k bulbs. One actnic.

My redslime is about half way gone since i put all of the snails and crab down there and much of the detritus is gone. I am also doing a 10g water change today and probably another either tomorrow or the next day depending on what you guys reccomend and thanks again warforged!

 

[jgraeff]

i wold post the images of my sump but i cannot figure it out for this forum.

 

[returnofsid]

In my opinion, your 2 fish died because your tank was severely over loaded. Even now, with the pair of Clarkis and the Mandarin Dragonette, you're at about the maximum, if not above the maximum bio-load. I hope you have TONS of copepods and it's a self sustaining population, or your Mandarin will be your next fatality.

Lots of water changes, using RO/DI is about the best way to lower your nitrates. If you aren't using RO/DI water, you may be introducing the nitrates into your system through your tap water.

I'd say the reason your nitrates were so high is probably a combination of your tank being so over loaded with too many fish and over feeding. A 30 gallon just can't handle that amount of fish and the food that amount of fish would need.

Do you have a skimmer? If not, get one!! That'll also help with nitrate reduction.

 

[jgraeff]

In my opinion, your 2 fish died because your tank was severely over loaded. Even now, with the pair of Clarkis and the Mandarin Dragonette, you're at about the maximum, if not above the maximum bio-load. I hope you have TONS of copepods and it's a self sustaining population, or your Mandarin will be your next fatality.

Lots of water changes, using RO/DI is about the best way to lower your nitrates. If you aren't using RO/DI water, you may be introducing the nitrates into your system through your tap water.

I'd say the reason your nitrates were so high is probably a combination of your tank being so over loaded with too many fish and over feeding. A 30 gallon just can't handle that amount of fish and the food that amount of fish would need.

Do you have a skimmer? If not, get one!! That'll also help with nitrate reduction.

Yes i have been using ro/di water for water changes. Im not sure i quite understand about the bio load? I thought that i could have that many fish, it was a small mimic tang and decent size cardinal and my mandarin is very small as well as the clarki clowns. Yes i do have copepods and it has been eating the mysis shrimp as well. I have a proclear 75 skimmer and it does a decent job. Im sure part of my problem was that i did top of my tank with treated tap once and will never do that again.

 

[jgraeff]

Extra info:

i use red sea coral pro salt and keep the sg around 1.024

i have a pro clear 75 skimmer

Emperor 400 filter

Overflow box 300gph

I have overfed and have corrected that since.

I feed fozen formula, pellets and mysis shrimp frozen.

I have added copepods for the mandarin and will again in a couple months so he doesnt' catch up to the reproducing.

 

[warforged]

Bioload is amount of live stock for Tank size.... like a single 1" fish in a 10 gallon very light bio load... 20 1" fish a heavy bio load =p

 

[jgraeff]

ok, so about how can i have in my tank its a 30g tall.

 

[returnofsid]

Whoever or whatever made you think you could have that many fish in a tank that size was seriously mistaken. Even now, with the pair of Clarkis and the Mandarin, IMO, you're at or above your maximum fish load.

No Tang, even the smallest specimen, should ever be housed in anything that small. It's not just about their body size. Tangs eat A LOT...and poop A LOT, creating ammonia and nitrates. Tangs also need LOTS of swimming room. A 30 gallon just can't provide any of the needs of any Tang.

2 or 3 small to medium sized fish will max out a 30 gallon tank. Clarkis can grow to be one of the largest species of Clowns, besides Maroons.

 

[jgraeff]

ok... well that sucks lol Thanks for the help i understand it now that makes sense.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Bio load is subjective and best judged tank by tank on a result basis. If your nitrates are high and fish are dying, than it is too high. Not being sarcastic, but pointing out that water testing by whatever method works, is the best adjudicator as to if you can add that one more fish.

You say your skimmer works well, but the results show that it is not pulling out wastes as fast as your tank produces them. Time to let the tank finish it's new nitrification cycle (they can happen over and over) and keep up massive water changes to help the survivors survive. At that point, other changes can be looked at such as better sump maintenance,more frequent but smaller feedings, better flow, increased live rock or fuge contents, better skimmer, etc.

 

[busdriver]

put more and or brighter lights on the fuge, so that the algea will grow faster.
watch more maderian! if it starts to get a sunken in belly then you will probably need to rehome it. I had one in my first reef. it was a 250 l (66 US gal) with 40-50 kilos of LR. While i was taking it down I traded half of my LR and the guy was suposed to get the other half when I had less/no fish. In 2-3 week my manderian was dead from lack of food. I noticed him swim'n less and less. He would somtimes eat frozen food, but it wasn't very often. I hear some people have better luck at getting them to eat frozen...
Also try to feed your tank once or twice a week for a bit. fish can go a week w/o eating, sometimes more.
as for your title, your Nitrates don't need any help it sounds like you have plenty of those
also, did you get any rock lately? I put 20 lbs in my 125 with a 50 gal sump. i already had a bit of rock and cheato in the sump, but my nitrates went up to 40-ish...
Bio-load is pretty much poop. every thing that has an input has an output. the more poop (fish or otherwise) the more bio-load....

 

[jgraeff]

i want to get new lights but cant afford them at this point in time. I have been watching hiim very closely. i haven't got any lately but had to move some in order to get my tang out which i think may have someting to do with the nitrates rising. I will keep doing changes until i get it down, and im pretty sure my skimmer works well, at first it was pulling out a ton of stuff but it has slowed down a bit now. I will back off the feeding for a bit.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Good luck pal, once things turn for the worse, you have your hands full on a daily basis. Be that as it may, the nitrate cycle will pass and you will be stronger are smarter from working though the pain.

Keep us updated and never be shy of asking ANY questions on Reef Frontiers. This is a fun place where respect is expected.

 

[warforged]

I LOVE RF! I am glad you took my advise to come here.. and

WELCOME TO REEF FRONTIERS!!!!!!

 

[jgraeff]

I LOVE RF! I am glad you took my advise to come here.. and

WELCOME TO REEF FRONTIERS!!!!!!

Thanks for the recommendation these guys know alot. I hope i can just get everything going right for a change.

 

[returnofsid]

You can. Just be patient, do your research and don't try to make drastic changes, except water changes!! I think the biggest mistake most reef keepers make is trying to go too fast. Go Slow!! Even when things are going downhill. Make changes one at a time, instead of a shotgun approach. That way you'll know which change actually made the difference.