Nitrate too high

Charger

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#1
I was wondering how I can best lower high amount of nitrate? Ive been doing 20% water changes weekly with little change.


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#2
Alot depends on why you're having high nitrates. If you're overfeeding then you gotta lower your feedings. If you don't have sufficient nutrient transport circulation. If you don't have a sufficient filtration system. If you're not skimming enough. If you don't run a refugium ect. A good amount of factors can go into having high nitrates. Gotta find the root of the problem then you can fix it.
 
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#3
Best to list your set up and how you're operating and how long its been up so people can get a visual of what you're doing right, wrong or just what is causing your problems. You might not be doing something wrong, but as Goob said, just might be lacking in one area.
 
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#4
Why do you want to lower nitrates? what is your definition of high nitrates? what's in your tank? what equipment are you running?
 

EyeReef

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#5
I dealt with high nitrates in my 300 for a long time. Two 40g refugium and regular water changes had little effect until I started carbon dosing. Theres many products like vodka and vinegar but I have been using Red Sea NoPOX with great results.


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dontavo27

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#6
Is your tank experiencing a negative effect from the high nitrates though?
My nitrates where running a little high as well, But it seem that ever since I started my biopellet reactor, my coral dont look as healthy,
I have to feed them to notice better PE and overall look. I sometimes debate if nitrates and phosphates are that big of an issue?
 

Jjskye

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#7
Using vinegar in the ato. Been working really well so far. No daily dosing, ato is taking care of it for me. If I end up with too much bacteria mulm then I add less vinegar in the ato at the next refill.
 

Roie

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#8
You should follow the BRS series on youtube regarding reef keeping. They have a lot of good tips, even ones about lowering nitrates via proven methods.
 

ijnoj09

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#9
as others have mentioned, you really need to find out what the root cause of the high nitrates is. water changes can only do so much if you're not taking care of the source.
 

BeanMachine

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#10
I'm using the Brightwell N03 Brick and the Exxodus Brick. Also a large Refugium with macro algae
 
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reefes pieces

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#11
High nitrates can be the result of not enough biological filtration. Keep up with the vinegar dosing and like you're doing, keep an eye on the bacterial mulm. Hopefully you can start backing off. How much live rock is in your system? Never hurts to add in some ceramic media to help reduce nitrates on a more permanent and stable level.
 

Charger

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#12
I want to thank everyone for the feedback. I was able to to take the advise and added more live rock, and began adding vinegar. I am happy to announce that my tanks high nitrates have come way down. Ive only added two soft coral and a naso tang which are looking amazing since I added them 3 weeks ago.


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#15
Curious why you chose brightwell no3 brick and exodus brick. Why not siporax? Have you liked the brightwell product.
No reason other than the quality of the products that Brightwell / Continuum makes. I started with dry pukani that wasn't cured, so was looking to jump start the biological filtration. The nitrates and phosphates were quite high for a while and now the tank is running at low to no nutrients. I only have two fish in the 300. Taking things very slow. I am not sure how to compare the siporax as I've never used it. I will eventually like to run my tank with detectable nitrate and phosphate, so I'm hoping I'll find a good balance with the bio load, feedings, and hopefully not use any gfo or phosphate reducing media to keep things simple.
 

watchguy123

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No reason other than the quality of the products that Brightwell / Continuum makes. I started with dry pukani that wasn't cured, so was looking to jump start the biological filtration. The nitrates and phosphates were quite high for a while and now the tank is running at low to no nutrients. I only have two fish in the 300. Taking things very slow. I am not sure how to compare the siporax as I've never used it. I will eventually like to run my tank with detectable nitrate and phosphate, so I'm hoping I'll find a good balance with the bio load, feedings, and hopefully not use any gfo or phosphate reducing media to keep things simple.
I had not heard of those products until your post. It made me curious enough to look at reviews and it sure sounds interesting. Like every product out there, fans and then others critical. I think these sort of materials are fascinating and have potential to make reef keeping easier
 

Mr V

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No reason other than the quality of the products that Brightwell / Continuum makes. I started with dry pukani that wasn't cured, so was looking to jump start the biological filtration. The nitrates and phosphates were quite high for a while and now the tank is running at low to no nutrients. I only have two fish in the 300. Taking things very slow. I am not sure how to compare the siporax as I've never used it. I will eventually like to run my tank with detectable nitrate and phosphate, so I'm hoping I'll find a good balance with the bio load, feedings, and hopefully not use any gfo or phosphate reducing media to keep things simple.
I had not heard of those products until your post. It made me curious enough to look at reviews and it sure sounds interesting. Like every product out there, fans and then others critical. I think these sort of materials are fascinating and have potential to make reef keeping easier
They really are effective.
Me on the other hand prefer marinepure 8x4 block. I think that the Marinepure blocks are bigger and so allow more space for denitrification bacteria.
 
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#18
They really are effective.
Me on the other hand prefer marinepure 8x4 block. I think that the Marinepure blocks are bigger and so allow more space for denitrification bacteria.
I think it really depends on the material and how porous it is, so size doesn't always matter. But I'm not well versed on the differences between the products. The No3 Brick does have sulfur infused into the media as well. I'm not sure how long it would be effective though overtime.
 
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