HELP! Nitrate spike - things going down fast :(

[Jessie]

Ok, I have a 30g, 2 months old, cycled with used live rock and sand, fluval 306 (phosph & carbon & live rock). Salinity 1.025, pH 8.1, NH3 & NO2 are 0, NO3 is 15mg, PO4 0.1, Starry Blenny turned white & freaking out (now has 50% color back and is hiding), even clownfish went crazy! Hammer coral tucked up about 2hrs ago, and fuzzy green mushrooms are closing. Just got the Blenny and corals in the past 2 days...
Did a 10% water change - would have done more but that's all the RO water I had left...

Any home remedy available at 1am (besides water change) that can save this tank from biting the dust? If not, what would be the first thing I should do for the tank tomorrow? 50% water change?? What else besides Nitrate would do this.

Thanks in advance for any info, this saltwater reef keeping is more stressful than I had imagined :(

[Jessie]

* I just realized that my tuxedo urchin was near dead - he's never been a very healthy guy - could he poison my water? And cause things to go down so fast?

[Slyguy00]

Its only stressful in the beginning. You never mentioned what your ammonia levels are at. That is pretty high for nitrates but shouldn't be enough to kill fish. Also your tank is still pretty new, so it could be still cycling, or the rock that you got could have something that was living inside that didn't like the new tank and died in the rock, rotting and causing a spike. Im still pretty new myself, but IMO I would do at least a 50% water change, and test all levels of everything. Usually when one thing is out of whack, others are as well. If your urchin is dying or dead I would remove it from the tank also. I don't think they can poison a tank, but I could also be completely wrong.

[neoh]

check your temperature, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate again.

[Jessie]

Going to recheck levels now, clownfish are looking like they won't make it :( So so upsetting - everything was great, now in just hours nothing I good.

[Slyguy00]

Generally the best solution to most water condition problems is water changes. And the sooner you can do one the better. The longer you leave whatever it is in your tank the less likely it is things will survive.

[Jessie]

Thanks for your support, all levels are still the same, everything 0 except Nitrate at 0.15 and Phos at 0.1. Temp is 79 too. Strange thing that happened was I was spot feeding my new goniopora earlier and it excreted slime, 30 min later I had a huge rash on my arm, the slime went all over the tank. Wonder if that has anything to do with it. I guess I'll try to sleep for a bit, not much more I can do at 2:30am, I will do a 50% water change tomorrow, as early as I can get more RO water. Thanks a lot everyone.

[kien]

Your nitrate readings are a bit confusing, is that 15mg/L ? The second time you recorded 0.15. Is that with different units or the same units? You said they were the same which is why I'm a bit confused.

If I recall, 15mg/l is roughly 15ppm which normally should not have caused your tank to go south. More delicate corals (like sps) would not appreciate the high nitrate levels and prolonged exposure to high nitrates may be problematic to some fish, but you said this was a spike, suggesting that your nitrates were elevated recently. I would not be so quick to blame your nitrates for current issues.

If the blenny and the coral are new then they could just be trying to adjust to your tank. They could also have been sick already, and if they were then they may have introduced a pathogen into your tank.

[reeffish6]

have you tried vodka dosing? it's supposed to work but it takes about 2 weeks until the magic kicks in.

[Nate]

I would put money on this tank possibly being skimmer less, with a canister filter.

I would also bet that there is not enough surface agitation and there Is a buildup of protein (looks like oily residue) on surface of aquarium. Lowering your oxygen levels stressing fish. Add a powerhead just under the surface of water spraying upwards and I bet in 30
Mins the fish look better.

Nitrates in a 2 month period won't be high enough.


Don't try dosing vodka until things are going good for a while and you learn more.

[canadianbudz604]

What were u feeding the gonipora?

[mrhasan]

I am with Kien (15mg/l is nothing to cause such havoc) and Nate (never even think about carbon feeding that tank in its current stage).

Do a big water change; things will get sorted out automatically :) Unknown issue = water change. Even if it continues after big water change, you might have to start digging further to get the root.

[Jessie]

Okay, so I think I figured things out...
I was electrocuting the tank :0 I heard this clicking sound (like a static spark), very randomly and not overly often last night, and upon further inspection today, I moved a couple power lines (Hydor heater line and Hydor powerhead) and heard the click again. I unplugged and removed both items and all of a sudden my clowns are swimming around like they use to and Blenny seems a bit better. Thinking the "sting" on my arm isn't from the corals...also, I do have a Hydor nano slim skim (doesn't work very well, still oily on top of water). Well I hope I have figured out the problem for sure -still going to do a 50% water change for Nitrate sake. Thanks everyone for your expertise, it is so much appreciated!

[Rogue951]

My Korallias are prone to volt leakage after a while. Put in a grounding probe to help.
Only way I knew was that tingle on my arm.
Still get rid of them when I do but incase I don't notice in time the probe can get rid of it.

[neoh]

I was going to mention voltage, too.. dang.

Glad everything worked out. On a side note; I hope your running gfci!

[SoloSK71]

My Korallias are prone to volt leakage after a while. Put in a grounding probe to help.
Only way I knew was that tingle on my arm.
Still get rid of them when I do but incase I don't notice in time the probe can get rid of it.

Please do not use a ground probe. Use a GFCI instead. WAY safer.

Charles