Fighting High Nitrates

[raisemyrent]

Hi,

I have a 10gal nano (should be a mini!) that has been around since April. You can find my tank page for the early parts of the story. It took a while to cycle, but it has been established since May. I have a small frogspawn, a mushroom head and some zoafrags, plus 3 ricordeas... I also have a clown and a yellow watchman. And 2, I mean 3 (one appeared out of the blue) astrea snails.

Last time I tested, sometime in may/june, my nitrates wer 2ppm. Yesterday, I decided it was time to tend to my tank a bit more (I had been playing it by ear all along) and I tested everything possible. Nitrates are through the roof at 10ppm. I have a fair amount of live rock and all the pieces bar one were from established fish store tanks... the sand should be in good shape too.

I am over the gren algae bloom and seem to be recently winning the battle against cyano (had to syphon and cut the lights out for 3 days).

I have a rio nano skimmer at the back that has a surface skimmer attachment (cleans out the surface film)... it runs 24/7.

I immediately did a 2gal water change yesterday, but I didn't restest.

Any ideas as to why I may have such high nitrates? I feed every other day in small amounts (confirmed by my fish).
And also, on how to bring them down? I will keep doing water changes for the time being.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Delphinus]

10ppm is nowhere near through the roof. I personally wouldn't sweat it.

The short diatribe I have you though, is that small tanks are nowhere near as good at shedding nitrates as larger tanks. There simply isn't the surface area available to produce the bacterial cultures in sufficient volume to allow consumption to exceed production, short of having no fish in that tank.

One thing you can consider though is a chaeto fuge in a hang-on aquaclear filter lit by 9w PC's. The Coralife 2x9w PC fixture fits perfectly over top an Aquaclear 200 (I think I have the model# right, I'm not sure. One of the middle sized ones, not the really big one). It probably won't bring the NO3 right down to 0, but it would at least help with the reduction..

[raisemyrent]

thanks fro the reply, you're right, 10ppm isn't through the roof, I remember the breaking in days...

I was just surprised to see it higher than before, months after this was over. Either way, I think I will blame it on VERY inconsistent water changes on my behalf, and stick to a weekly schedule now.. I had been low on RO water supply because it had been causing issues wth my building's plumbing etc (haha leaving ladies out of hot water)... so I will be better from now on...

last but not least, does cyano feed on nitrates?

[Delphinus]

Basically yes... Usually a nitrate spike can bring on cyano, but the lovely thing about cyano is that even if NO3 is brought down to 0, it can hang on and linger forever. Sometimes it needs a real kick in the pants to get rid of it (ie. slime remover or lights out).

[raisemyrent]

yup, that's what I did to it, it was coming back overnight until I turned off the llights for a while... I think I will do it again as it seems to be regaining its ground... I will win this one...

unrelated: I nuked an aiptasia the other day with some concentrated kalk, and I actually enjoyed it... is that normal?

[Skimmerking]

if its such a small tank i would be doing 50% then.

[raisemyrent]

that make sense, but I can't match the temperature, so I'd induce temperature shock... maybe if I free up or buy a container and remove the heater from my tank temporarily onto the new water and go like that...

I'll try it... otherwise, I'm stuck to 20% daily or so

[Skimmerking]

dude a 100 W heater is not that much if you have that much invested into your tank just buy a heater ..save your self the hassel:neutral:

[Snaz]

that make sense, but I can't match the temperature, so I'd induce temperature shock... maybe if I free up or buy a container and remove the heater from my tank temporarily onto the new water and go like that...

I'll try it... otherwise, I'm stuck to 20% daily or so

I don't do this but I have read others who have. Take a couple of cups of mixed saltwater and nuke it in the microwave then use the hot water to raise the temp of your new mix.

[i have crabs]

I don't do this but I have read others who have. Take a couple of cups of mixed saltwater and nuke it in the microwave then use the hot water to raise the temp of your new mix.

i think i remember reading that you should never microwave saltwater, not shure the reason though.


10ppm dont sweat it, 2g water change would leave you with about 8ppm of nitrate, on a tank that size just do more waterchanges if your really concerned,

[raisemyrent]

thanks for the rpelies. I now crank up the heat in my apartment and let the mix sit for a bit (if it is fresh RO water it is cold)... it's very near tank temperature and it doesn't shock the system (the heater goes on but it goes down like haklf a degree).

I changed out just over 4 gallons (4 imperial gallons) yesterday and then tested for nitrate... my alkalinity was low before too but I dosed baking soda and the new water should help so I didn't test. Nitrate was now 2.5ppm... which means it had gone down by itself (I had changed 2 gallons from 10ppm, so mayb I had left it at 8 minimum)... which is a good sign. I am also still fighting cyano (purple), but it comes off easily and I have patience... just the other day I was remembering my green algae bloom a bit back and figured, this cyano thing doesn't stand a chance...

last but not least, I found a green algae patch in the back of one of my rocks, like the area of a cigarette pack, can't believe I hadn't seen it... I syphoned the long parts of it out, but then looked at it, and it looked back at me, and I nodded my head, and it nodded back...