nitrates?

[sx230]

ive been showing nitrate levels of 10ppm i started doing weekly 10% water changes to try and get undetected levels i whant to introduce sps coral in my bow front 47g tank keep healthy water conditons .in doing weekly water changes nitrates where still the same well today i went to my local pet store to purchase more water(ive been getting water from them for about 4yrs now)and decided to test there water on nitrate levels levels are the same as in my tank is this do to not filtering water properly?i just purchased hang on refugium to help whith nitrate and other benificial reasons.but all along some it came from local pet

 

[wrightme43]

The exact same thing happened to me. I bought my own rodi unit. Its alot cheaper in the long run to have your own unit. Just factor in gas, the value of your time, and having absolutely pure water when you want it, against the cost of thier water with nitrates in it.

 

[VINA DEL MAR]

ive been showing nitrate levels of 10ppm i started doing weekly 10% water changes to try and get undetected levels i whant to introduce sps coral in my bow front 47g tank keep healthy water conditons .in doing weekly water changes nitrates where still the same well today i went to my local pet store to purchase more water(ive been getting water from them for about 4yrs now)and decided to test there water on nitrate levels levels are the same as in my tank is this do to not filtering water properly?i just purchased hang on refugium to help whith nitrate and other benificial reasons.but all along some it came from local pet

Why you took 4 years to test that water.What brand of Nitrate test kit do you used to test your water?
Dont put any sps yet until those levels go down.
Let these people in the lfs know about it so they don't continue to sell bad water.

Vina Del Mar

 

[sx230]

i never would have thought that they would be selling bad water. my poor fish i reduced there food dramaticly to help solve the problem when i would be near my tank the fish would sworm around the top of my tank waiting for me to feed them and not to mention 140$ i spend yesterday on my refugium but the good thing (i hope) i will benefit from the refugium

 

[sx230]

Why you took 4 years to test that water.What brand of Nitrate test kit do you used to test your water?
Dont put any sps yet until those levels go down.
Let these people in the lfs know about it so they don't continue to sell bad water.

Vina Del Mar

im wondering about my test kit im using "wardley master professional kit" thats exactly whats written on the box

 

[liveforphysics]

I dose nitrate rich (80-100ppm) water from my cichlid tank into my reefs as top-off water. By the next day, the no3 is undectable again.

If you are having nitrate issues, I would quit skimming and setup a place to grow some cheatomophoria sp. In my experience this is best to do in a fuge lit by some warm color temp bulbs (2700-4200k). If you have a sump, throw a light on it and toss some cheato in.

If I ever did water changes, I would definately be down with getting some clean water with nitrates in it.

 

[kevinpo]

Hello Danny,
If the LFS is selling RO water then it typically has 5-10 ppm of TDS. DI filtering removes those down to 0 TDS. 10ppm nitrate reading is not a cause for alarm if the test kit is fairly accurate. Salifert makes one that works pretty well in the lower ranges (0-10ppm). Growing algae is a more cost effective way to export nitrates than water changes. Any type can be used but Chaetomorpha is the best IMO. A couple of clams also work well to reduce the small amount of nitrate you are reading, provided you have the proper lighting for them.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[sx230]

Hello Danny,
If the LFS is selling RO water then it typically has 5-10 ppm of TDS. DI filtering removes those down to 0 TDS. 10ppm nitrate reading is not a cause for alarm if the test kit is fairly accurate. Salifert makes one that works pretty well in the lower ranges (0-10ppm). Growing algae is a more cost effective way to export nitrates than water changes. Any type can be used but Chaetomorpha is the best IMO. A couple of clams also work well to reduce the small amount of nitrate you are reading, provided you have the proper lighting for them.

Regards,
Kevin

hi kevin glad to here from you.10ppm reading is the reason i put my order of frags on hold.so would be ok to introduce frags into my tank?i do have a croacia clam(hope i spelled that right)for about 2yrs now and doing very well.i just set up my hang on refu. i used miracle mud and purchased about 1cup of chaetomorpha (sphagetti )algae.not sure what tds is?im getting diffrent feed back on how long a should have refu. light on.i was thinking 8 to 9 hour starting at mid night.need your opinion thank you

 

[kevinpo]

Hi Danny,
TDS= Total Dissolved Solids. Clean DI water should read 0PPM TDS. TDS meters don't tell you what is in the water but if it reads 0 then you know the water is good to use.

I would light your refugium for a 12 hour photo period. Your nitrate reading should drop to 0 in about 2 weeks if you don't feed too heavy. If you are not having an algae problem in your tank at your current nitrate level then you can add corals. 10 PPM is not too bad unless you have a algae problem and are still testing 10 PPM.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[VINA DEL MAR]

I still feel that some sps corals are very sensitive to 10 ppm of nitrates.
With just 5 ppm a few of my sps corals did'nt grow or kept their colors.
Again some sps corals didn't mind those levels(10ppm)and continue to do well.
Can you try one or two sps frags first and see what happens?JMHO.

Vina Del Mar.

 

[sx230]

I still feel that some sps corals are very sensitive to 10 ppm of nitrates.
With just 5 ppm a few of my sps corals did'nt grow or kept their colors.
Again some sps corals didn't mind those levels(10ppm)and continue to do well.
Can you try one or two sps frags first and see what happens?JMHO.

Vina Del Mar.

i do have to 2 acros and orange monticap.monticap does have good growth when i first got the cap (about 1yr. ago)a frag 1/2 inch broke off so i glued it to a small piece of rock now its about 5inches.one of the acros i purchased is a wild colony.when i first got this acro it was white with neon green polyps now its got a tan color and some branches have bleached,over all not in good condition but it does look somewhat better now with little changes i made to my tank.i should have done lots of research before purchasing acros(i would not purchase a wild colony only captive raised)the other acro is purple 2inch frag whith green polyps that has not changed much very little growth this is probley do to my nitrates but purple coloring is still there .i will worry when this one starts to bleach keeping my fingers crossed