Established Aquarium with HIGH NitrAtes

[ICEQUBE]

Hello everyone.

I am new to the board and i have a fairly big problem on my hands.........my brother decided he did not want his salt water aquarium, so i took it with me to school.......he has had it for 3 years or so there is only a damsel and a clownfish in it right now....with a few crabs, snails. Anyways the nitrAte levels are over a 100 and i am trying to get them down......it is a 35 gallon tank and i have taken out about %50 of the water and added fresh saltwater to it.........but the nitrates are still extremely high(how long should i wait for themt o go down??)........how many water changes do i need to do to bring the nitrates to an acceptable level.........is there another way???

i dont think he took good care of the tank as you can tell
P.S i am trying to get it ready for a lionfish

Thanks for the Help,
Dave

[zhenya]

Hello everyone.

I am new to the board and i have a fairly big problem on my hands.........my brother decided he did not want his salt water aquarium, so i took it with me to school.......he has had it for 3 years or so there is only a damsel and a clownfish in it right now....with a few crabs, snails. Anyways the nitrAte levels are over a 100 and i am trying to get them down......it is a 35 gallon tank and i have taken out about %50 of the water and added fresh saltwater to it.........but the nitrates are still extremely high(how long should i wait for themt o go down??)........how many water changes do i need to do to bring the nitrates to an acceptable level.........is there another way???

i dont think he took good care of the tank as you can tell
P.S i am trying to get it ready for a lionfish

Thanks for the Help,
Dave

Hi Dave and Welcome to Reefland !
Now to your questions To reduce NO3 that is reading over a 100ppm you'll have to do couple of back to back 50% water exchanges. However,let me ask you qouple of questions as well.How is this tank set up,ie. filtration devices/skimmer,what type of substrate? All this can assist us in providing the best answers possibile.
But, back to back water changes even of 40% might help in the meantime.

[ICEQUBE]

thanks for your help so far,

I have a penguin 330 bio-wheel, protein skimmer. Susbstrate is crushed coral...........i believe the high nitrates are due to neglect for about a year or so.........i only have 2 fish a damsel and a clrakii clown........so i know that isnt the problem........i need more fish if anything that is why i am looking into buying a lionfish....

what would be a sucessful NO3 level for a lionfish?? 50ppm?
The test kit that i am using is tetra test kit

thanks again,
Dave

[Reefland]

Hi ICEQUBE and Welcome to Reefland!

As zhenya mentions, some water changed can help however you must make sure the new make-up water is exactly the same as your tank water (minue the nitrates) or you will do more damage than good. What I mean is temperature and salinity should match exactly.

Another thing, the Tetra test kits are not the best. Your nitrate reading may actually be lower or higher so you might take a water sample to a local store to have them verify your results or look for a Salifert test kit, they are much more accurate.

The water changes your performing does not fix the problem though, it only dilutes it on a temporary basis. Something in your system is causing the high nitrates and you have to find out what that is. It could be waste accumulating in your substrate, something with your penguin filter, not enough skimming or a combination of them all. You really need to find the source of the problem to be able to fix it.

Regards,
Scott Z.

[ICEQUBE]

Thanks for the reply,

I have actually taken my water to Big Als(aquarium shop) and they have tested it.......they use the same test kit as i bought........so i guess maybe i should go buy a better one then........i have siphoned out proabably %75 of the water in the past 3 days and i have added fresh saltwater to my tank.......What kind of problems could be causeing the high nitrate levels?

[Reefland]

Again, be careful on how many and how much volume of water you are changing out in a short period of time. I would wait 5 days or so before doing another.

There are many, many things things that could be causing the build up of excess nutrients; your crushed coral sand bed, sponge filters that are not being cleaned, your penguin filter, etc.

The first thing I would look at is the crushed coral substrate. The size of the crushed coral allows for detritus to fall below the surface and accumulate and the bed does not contain the proper fauna to process this detritus. If you use crushed coral for substrate, it should be syphoned out frequently to remove this waste. Other options are deep live sand beds or bare bottoms; both having advantages and disadvantages. You should do a search for DSB or barebottm to learn more.

Regards,
Scott Z.