nitrates

[homertaz]

hi,



my nitrates stay around 40. i do weekly water changes of 2 gallons each week. i use tropic marin salt. i rinse out the sponge weekly. it is a 12 gallon nano reef tank. please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i also use r/o water.



thank you,

john :anxious

 

[drty811]

how long has the tank been set up? any inhabitants?

 

[homertaz]

thank you for your reply. it is a little over one year old. i have two clown fish, clown goby, lawn mower blenny.

 

[drty811]

well teh first thing that comes to mind is that you have to many fish fpr that system. even with the water changes its not enough, the system just cant handle that bio load. you might have to do 50-75% water changes to sustain low nitrates. for your set up most would recommend just keepin acouple fish, if having more they need to be small when fully grown. thats the only thing that can think why you are having this problem.

 

[johnanddawn]

if the nitrates aren't causing any systemic problems like excessive algae growth i would just continue as your doing. 40 is high but not inheriently harmful neccessarily.......
if you are having algae issues then as drty said lose the LM blenny and get a couple snail instead - those little guys really don't belong in a small tank anyway