High nitrates :(

[dynamite]

Hi, last time I tested my Nitrates which was a long time ago, I used to keep them at 0... (even tho I had some hair algae)
A few months ago I started to get hair algae and cyanide no matter what I did, but never checked my Nitrates or phosphates.
I was tired of my tank looking so ugly :evil: So last friday I went to my LFS to buy some biopellets, I showed the guy a few pictures of my tank but he said the problem was that I didn't have enough LR and that LR is suppose to be my natural filtration, he suggest me to start by adding 16lbs of LR.. and then to get 16 more.

I came home and changed the 10% of my water and now my water looks crystal clear like it never did before ;) So today I decided to check my parameters and I was surprised to see my Nitrates were between 20 and 40 (It's not a dark red and it's not a dark orange :neutral: It's in between) and my phosphates were at 0.03 tested with my Hanna Phosphate checker.

I only have 3 fish. The hair algae seems to be dying but I still have some cyanide in my old LR and base rock... I'm I having high nitrates because I just introduced LR to my tank? Do I need more LR? Thanks again! :D

Here's a picture of my tank, if you guys need any extra info just let me know, thanks in advance! :biggrin:

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g74/mauro_90/SAM_0077.jpg

[Wayne]

Live rock is the type of natural filtation that will convert ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrates. The only way to reduce nitrates is by water changes (10% weekly or 20% biweekly), nitrate absorbing material or N/P pellets; the first being the recommended way by most.

What size is your tank? It does look like you need some more live rock, usually 1lb per gallon is suggested :wink:

[dynamite]

Hey Wayne, thanks for your reply, I have a 90g. I really don't know how much LR I have in my tank lol.. But I'm planning to buy 30 more LBS :mrgreen: I want to keep an open minimalistic look and then start adding SPS :biggrin: I don't know what to do with the high nitrate.. do you think it may be because I added last Friday 16lbs of LR? I'm gonna try to do a big water change during the weekend :sad:

[ALang]

Well, if you've just added LR, then they were going through their cycle.
Live rock doesn't mean cured rock.
So keep testing and don't add anymore until the first batch is done.
OR, put you fish in another bucket/ tank, keep a power head in there, with your old/cured LR. Then add ALL the new LR in at once. Let them cycle through. Might save you some time in the long run, and save your fishes' lives, too.
Good luck. Lenny.

[Palmer]

Out of curiosity how many gallons are in your system and how much are you changing out in your water changes? Your live rock does look light visually but unless your feeding your fish alot (are you?) you dont have a huge bioload. I know the standard template is 1 Ib of rock per gallon of water but I go much less than that. I also have a fairly low fish bioload. I have been running my tank for a year and a half now and have never been able to get a detectable nitrate reading. I attribute that to weekly water changes more than anything else.

For the algae are you changing your bulbs out regularly? Over time the light spectrum changes and can become more condusive to promoting algae growth.

I had a tough time with cyano but finally have seemed to get through it. One of the things I think made it thrive once getting a foothold was inadequate flow. Depending on the size of your tank you want to make sure there is enough water circulation. In the end I did resort to chemical treatment though to get rid of it.

Good luck

[spawn]

try running some chemi pure elite