Nitrate Problem in New Tank

[jamestank]

Hi - I would really appreciate any insight on the below problem.

I have a 75 gallon Tenecor Simplicity Plus (sump and trickle filter built into the back of the aquarium) FOWLR aquarium. It has an AquaC Remora skimmer; UV Sterilizer and about 80 lbs of live rock. The skimmer doesn't pull much waste out and never has since the tank started - maybe a quarter inch of dark green water is in the collection cup everyday.

This aquarium was originally set up in the first week of January by adding live sand and well cured live rock.

January 9 - after testing Ammonia (undetectable), Nitrite (undetectable) and PH (8.0-8.3) I added a clownfish and blue damsel.

January 22 - all still well with the tests - added a Yellow Tang and Cleaner Shrimp.

January 23 - did a 20% water change.

January 31 (yesterday) - I bought a Nitrate test kit and ran the test - figured with such a new tank it wasn't even necessary - low and behold Nitrates registered at 50 ppm! I then checked my source water both pre and post-salt mix and both came back at 0 ppm. I didn't have time to do a water change last night.

What could be causing this level of Nitrates this early in the tank's life? Any advice on how to proceed? I assume some large water changes over the next few days, but what can I do to keep this problem from recurring all over again? It's discouraging to say the least.

I've been thinking about removing the bio-balls in the trickle filter and replacing with some live rock to create some type of refugium after reading about bio-balls' contribution to Nitrate levels - but I don't think that could be the problem this early into the tank's life.

Thanks for any help.

[Ninong]

This aquarium was originally set up in the first week of January by adding live sand and well cured live rock.

January 9 - after testing Ammonia (undetectable), Nitrite (undetectable) and PH (8.0-8.3) I added a clownfish and blue damsel.

This was too soon.

January 22 - all still well with the tests - added a Yellow Tang and Cleaner Shrimp.

Still too soon. It's best to wait at least five weeks before adding your first fish.

January 31 (yesterday) - I bought a Nitrate test kit and ran the test - figured with such a new tank it wasn't even necessary - low and behold Nitrates registered at 50 ppm! What could be causing this level of Nitrates this early in the tank's life?

Your tank is still cycling.

Any advice on how to proceed?

Slow down. Don't add anything new for at least another month. Your aquarium is trying to adjust to the bioload that you have already placed in it in addition to completing the cycle. Nitrate at 50 ppm will not be a problem for the particular fish that you have in there now, but don't add any more for at least another three or four weeks.

I've been thinking about removing the bio-balls in the trickle filter and replacing with some live rock to create some type of refugium after reading about bio-balls' contribution to Nitrate levels - but I don't think that could be the problem this early into the tank's life.

Removing the bio-balls is something many people decide to do. That's up to you. FOWLR tanks usually run higher nitrates than reef tanks. For a reef tank, you would want to get your nitrates down below 10 ppm, ideally below 5 ppm. For a FOWLR tank, anything below 40 ppm would be acceptable.

[MarinePig]

I agree, slow down. For a person with little patience, this is a rough hobby for me but slow down. I have a wet/dry filter and have the bio balls in. I've received comments to take them out but I don't have coral yet and my nitrates are 15ppm so not too bad. My wet/dry has a build in skimmer before the bioballs so I think I'll try my own experiment right now but if yours is bad, go with removing them and trying the live rock approach. The thing that helped me the most was buying a RO/DI unit. Our tap water sucks so this helped me a lot.

[kissman]

i had the same problem and bought a protien skimmer and did away with the trickle filter. nitrates began to fall and know i am buildibg a 20g refugium