yet another "my nitrates are high" thread

[Haole]

Welcome to RF cr8signs, and don’t be embarrassed.
Yeah, it would be best if you took that blue/white filter pad out completely since you say you don’t clean it that often because it’s a pain to get to. This is more or less turning into a nitrate producer in itself when left in there for too long. You can clean your crushed coral bed with one of these.
http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_maintenance_gravel_cleaner.asp?CartId=
There are many different types out on the market so that link was just to show you a picture of some. It siphons the water out while tumbling the gravel within the larger diameter tube to dislodge the debris that has accumulated between the nooks and crannies. Use this when doing your water changes. In the long run you’d be better off with a finer grain of sand than crushed coral because this cleaning process will be a never ending situation. hth

 

[cr8signs]

Thanks Rob,
I do have a siphon like this and I do use it. I see people talk about vacuuming their sand beds, does this siphon work in the same way on the sand beds?

 

[Krish]

I agree with Rob totally and to add to what he said, many people have had nitrate issues due to using crushed corals due to all the tiny pockets between the grain where waste can settle and rott so regular vaccuming (same as siphoning like you asked) is required. Also, that blue filter pad is probably one of your primary sources of nitrates as well being left that long . Those things along with anything similar like sponges, filter socks and so forth should be either cleaned or changed ever 2-3 days at the most. By leaving them for long periods of time allows the waste that is trapped, time to rott and shoot up nitrates. Just a thought...

 

[Haole]

Yes it is true that a small amount of sand will get siphoned out when using one of these washers, especially with the finer oolitic type of sand substrates. Yet these finer substrates don’t need to be cleaned as aggressively as crushed coral because not much debris will get trapped between the smaller sand grains. Using a fanning motion over the sand bed to kick up the detritus is one method to do a light vacuum, and some people attach a small dowel of some sort sticking out of the end of their siphon hose to stir up just the upper half to one inch of substrate depth to minimize the amount of sand being siphoned out. And keep in mind this is only done in sections of the sand bed over the course of a few weekly water changes to minimize disrupting the biological activities that are occurring within the sand bed itself. Eventually you’ll be adding more sand as time goes by whether it is from dissolution or manual removal from vacuuming. Besides, adding a cup or two of new live sand once in a while helps to promote biodiversity.

 

[Scooterman]

My RO water is .2.

If your reading anything other than "0" your needing to replace filters, the RO alone won't cut it you need the Di to purify the water down to about 99% which RO alone can't filter out. The hobby TDS meters don't have the resolution to get the accuracy needed to determine exactly how many TDS are at this level. The white/blue floss filter should be cleaned every few days, if not it will hold nitrates quickly, If you can't keep it clean yank it.