High nitrates... at my wit's end...

[james-lee]

Yes. It took me 6+ months to reach 0. I probably saw visible decreases via test kit in 3 mos or less (going from 80 ppm to dropping 5 ppm per week.)

 

[james-lee]

You know Sean you stated your DSB was remote. Try isolating it from your system for a week (keep flow and heat going though) and see if things improve. Also start your vv dosing with a 2:1 ratio vinegar/vodka.

 

[Clockwork John]

I wish I could take my dsb offline, but it's in a pond basket in my sump and I'd be worried that disturbing it would make things worse... I'll keep up on the vsv dosing, run some carbon in my media reactor, and hope I see a change soon.

 

[Emac909]

I've had great success with Red Sea's No3 : Po4 - X (nopox for short) with no3. With nopox there is no need to run carbon or gfo, it's just another form of carbon dosng. I may have missed it, but what skimmer are you running?

 

[nicodim55]

Hey Sean you think maybe it's the tester? How are the clowns?

 

[Clockwork John]

Not entirely sure what my skimmer is, as I bought it used, but it's a hang on, rated for 150 gallons, and it was sold new with a Sedra 5000 pump. I'm running a different pump on it because I bought it without a pump.

I wish I could blame it on the tester, but 20+ tests with 3 different test kits plus a dip strip at my LFS all read the same... 80 or higher.

 

[bstanford]

Sean I have some carbon if you need some. I can bring it to work tomorrow. Haha see you on here

 

[Emac909]

I think the problem lies in ur skimmer. Sad to say but alot of skimmer companies put a 4x's the true rating to help sale them. Like the seaclone150 for instance, I wouldn't trust that skimmer on a ten gallon. But it states it's rated for 150 gallons.
I truly think u might need an upgrade in skimmers.
Do u have a pic of ur skimmer? It would help to narrow down if it's ur skimmer or not

 

[Emac909]

Also the reason that vodka didn't work for you may be that ur skimmer isn't getting micro-bubbles. Vodka or any type of carbon dosing requires an excellent skimmer to be effective.

 

[Clockwork John]

I doubt my problem is the skimmer... I just upgraded my skimmer about a month ago. It's producing plenty of microbubbles and is producing thick, almost black sludge. I'm skimming 3x the volume I was with my old skimmer, and it looks like coffee now... It looked like tea with my old skimmer.

New skimmer, better skimmate, no reduction in nitrates.

 

[Clockwork John]

Sean I have some carbon if you need some. I can bring it to work tomorrow. Haha see you on here

Hey Blake, glad you found your way over here. I appreciate the offer, but I just picked up a bunch of carbon tonight, so I'm covered.

 

[MikeGilliland]

or just try carbon. Lol.

 

[Clockwork John]

Mike, I take it you're a fan of carbon, lol... I just added about 2 cups in a mesh bag in my sump, and another cup in a media reactor... If carbon is the answer to my problem, I'll have the test results to show it soon.

 

[MikeGilliland]

Mike, I take it you're a fan of carbon, lol... I just added about 2 cups in a mesh bag in my sump, and another cup in a media reactor... If carbon is the answer to my problem, I'll have the test results to show it soon.

haha it's just an easy test. Sometimes at least in my experience is that we tend to overthink things. I hope this works for you. If it doesn't at least it didn't take a lot of work to try out. I don't think its your skimmer either. I never ran it skimmer on my nano cube but ran carbon. Never had nitrates. Good luck man.

 

[Clockwork John]

Update... Got my skimmer dialed in a little better, started running carbon in a mesh bag AND in a reactor, and my nitrates still haven't budged. Still off the chart. Lost my kole tang, my royal gramma, and my new mandarin to ich, or the nitrates, or a combination of both. I have my clowns in quarantine, being treated for the ich. The only fish still in the 72 is my yellow watchman goby, and I'm not feeding her so I don't contribite to the nitrate problem.

Where do I go from here? What the hell do I do now to get this tank back where it should be?

 

[nicodim55]

have you done a major water change?

 

[Clockwork John]

I did a 30 gallon change a couple months ago when I set up my FOWLR... Nitrates dipped, but then climbed right back up.

 

[nicodim55]

I don't know man I think I would do another major water change.

 

[Clockwork John]

Couldn't hurt, right? Might have to wait till payday though. This month has been expensive.

 

[red13]

I had a friends tank with similar issues a few years ago, we ended up getting a small siphon tube and cleaned out behind the live rock as best as we could. It took some work but really helped with the nitrates.