Nitrates

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CMR

New Member
Hi, I'm looking for advice to get down my nitrate levels.

Set up is an Orca 450 and is about 5 months old. Tests are:
SP - 1.021
PH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 60
Contents: LR; 2 x pecula clowns; 1 x clown goby; 4 hermits and 4 turbos. Fish feed twice a day with flake.

I change about 10% of the water weekly but this has had no impact on the Nitrate level; if anything it has gotten worse over the last few weeks. I’ve considered bigger changes and more often and cleaning out the foam filter in the chamber, and chemical treatment but want to avoid that. I would like to add some more invertebrates and coral but don’t want to do that until this problem is resolved. Any ideas? Thanks for your help.
 
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reefman23

New Member
Are you running anything like ceramic rings or beads or bioballs? These can lead to a build-up of nitrates. How often are you cleaning the foam filter? Feeding twice a day might not be helping the situation either. I would feed once a day and watch every flake that goes in to the tank so that there is no food that isnt being eaten. When I change the water on my 12 gallon tank (45 liters) I change out 5 gallons (19 liters) and just make sure the temperature and specific gravity of the new water matches the tank water.

Hope that helps,

Jesse
 
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funkngroovy

New Member
Can you post some pics of your tank and equipment. Might help us help you.'
They are really high, I think there must be something that can be taken out, cleaned or added to help.
 
C

CMR

New Member
Thanks for the responses. The Ocra comes with both ceramics rings and bioballs and a foam filter. I clean the bioballs regularly but haven't yet cleaned the foam filter; I thought I shouldn't clean the foam as this would upset the biosystem. As you can see I'm new to this and the instructions that come with the Orca are less than helpful.

Should I take out the ceramics rings and/or the bioballs? How often should I clean the foam and do I do it all in one go?

I'll post some pictures shortly although there isn't much to see at the moment. I'm taking this slowly until I understand what's going on in the tank.

Thanks again.
 
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reefman23

New Member
I would remove both the bioballs and the ceramic rings. Here's why...

The ceramic rings (and other media like bioballs and other forms of biological media, as well as mechanical medias such as filter socks and floss) lack an anaerobic area that allows for a complete nitrogen cycle. What does this mean? They are able to break the ammonia down to nitrites, nitrites to nitrates, but they miss the final step down of breaking the nitrates down to nitrogen gas which can easily escape the tank. That final step can only be completed in an area lacking oxygen... anaerobic. So, you can be left with an excess of nitrates. It is sort of like a tank that never fully cycles.

As far as the foam, I would rinse it out well in the sink at least once a week, twice a week would be best. I personally use about a 1" layer of polyfil like you get at the craft stores on top of the foam that I change out twice a week. It really helps to polish the water.

Jesse
 
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