nitrate issues

[jamescobb22]

My nitrates are high and I think its because I might be overfeeding. I have a 6 in silver tang 2 2" clowns 6 damsels and a juvenile engineer goby. Ive been feeding them 2 prime reef frozen food at 100g per frozen chunk twice a day. Too much maybe the nitrate problem?

 

[Nick_kun]

first of, how big is your system and what do you use to export nutrients (skimmer, refugium, etc.)?

 

[jamescobb22]

150 gallon tank and I have a skimmer in the sump, one thing I did notice however is that the skimmer ran for like a 3 days with the whole top filled with saltwater before I put it back on right and cleaned it.

 

[jok312]

do you jus drop the frozen chunks into your water? whenever i feed frozen foods i usually melt in another container with salt water and jus pick up the meat with my net. i heard there's a lot of nitrates locked up in those chunks..

 

[jamescobb22]

well I heat up a spoon using running water out of th efaucet and then drop the cube on the spoon after I dry it and its still hot.

 

[Nick_kun]

Yeah, rinsing frozen food is definately a good thing. I have a few more questions.

What is your nitrate level?
What skimmer brand and model are you using?
How often do you do water changes?

 

[jamescobb22]

Once every two weeks 10%. The skimmer (seader 350 gpm bubbler pump) has that atached. nitrate is at 40

 

[Nick_kun]

40 is preety high, you probably need to bump up your water changes to 20% a weeek. Also, try to feed less and see if your nitrates go down. Other than that, your skimmer is probably underrated for that size of a tank. Oh and one thing I forgot to ask was, how old is your tank?

 

[jamescobb22]

its been going for 4 yrs but I just inherited it a month ago.

 

[Nick_kun]

When you inherited the tank, did the sandbed get stirred up during the move?

 

[jamescobb22]

yes it did very much so. From Santa Clarita to Long Beach on a trailer with no shocks.

 

[Nick_kun]

There you go, your tank is going through another cycle from all of the sediments and nutrients being stirred around.

 

[fran]

hey James when I got my sand from steveohh I ended up cycling the water for about 3 weeks doing water changes 2-3 times a week to finally get the nitrates down to where they needed to be.Just keep up the water changes as you already have livestock and corals in there so just dont do to much at one time.The first time do a half tank change then in 3-4 days check it again and then do 1/3 change wait a few days and check again.
If you system is up and running it should be reducing the nitrates dramatically each time to finally get it where you need it to be.
Estimated time 2-3 weeks and you should be looking good.
I still need to come over and check you tank out and you need to check mine again as alot of livestock has been added in the last 3 weeks.
When you get your tank all dialed in I have a frag or two sitting here for you bud just for a good job done treat.
Let me know how it goes and if you need help you know my number,when are you going to start work here in corona?
Fran