Nitrate spike ?

[Chuck_NJ]

I have my tank for 3 months i bought it as a established system that had been running for years. I took everything including the water. When i set it up the nitrates where thru the roof. I bought a RO unit and did large by weekly water changes... I had the levels down to almost zero and started adding corals. The corals have been doing fine. I just did another water change this past weekend expecting to see zero nitrates this time and to my amazement they are 20 or may be higher. I had just got done messing with my wetdry and stirred everthing up but i am not sure if that matters. I do have to large turbo snails that i have not seen in a while . I don't know if there the cause . I don't see there shells on the bottom behind the rockwork so at this point i am at a loss. any Ideas?

all the other levels are in check !

 

[njstillwell]

You said you did somethings to your sump and did a water change is that both at the same time the next day/week you get the idea...And how many gallons are the water changes or percent wise of the tank

 

[Chuck_NJ]

I have been doing 30 gallon water changes every other week i have done 4 total. The levels have been consitanly coming down. I did one sunday but did not test the water till today. I tested it today after messing with the skimmer pums and sump i made a mess under there. I turned it all back on then did a water test 1/2 hour later. My tank is a 72 gal with wetdry.

 

[njstillwell]

30 gallons might be to much.. if you take to much out then the benefical bacteria in the tank are not there in high numbers to keep breaking down everything in your tank i add RODI water every day with a little salt maybe a mix of 1.021 just to keep my salt level at 1.026 and do water changes about 1 time a month but if you stirred up the sump and do a water change that same day and maybe clean your sump you might have a nitrate spike but if you stirred everything up in your sump what are you filtering the water with(whats your filer media) that would allow that to build up..?

 

[harlequinreef]

matt, I think your getting the idea of disturbing bacteria a little mixed. If you were to disturb the biological system, you would typically see an ammonia and nitrite spike. Unless you were severely disturbing an anaerobic environment, which is where the nitrAte consuming bacteria live, then you wouldnt see a nitrate spike,...at least right away. I think Chuck's problem is more do to using a wet dry itself. This type of filter is highly effecient at converting ammonia to nitrites to nitrates, but thats were this filter stops (and become its downfall). Chuck, you would be much better off in the long run by removing the bio ball in the wet dry and replacing them with live rock. Keep your protein skimmer running and keep it running efficiently. Do several large water changes to help bring your params back inline. When you bought the tank, what was the condition of the sand, rocks, etc? You could have large amounts of organics trapted here that will contribute to nitrates.

 

[Chuck_NJ]

the setup was pretty clean except it has a crushed coral substraight and i hear thats not the greatest thing to have. It did not have a skimmer I added that. How much rock to replace the bio balls . The same volume as the balls?

 

[harlequinreef]

just enough rock to reduce the splashing underneath the drip plate, unless you can bypass the drip plate altogether and just have the water coming from the tank empty right into the sump with a filter sock. either vacuum the crushed coral or remove it and leave bare or add sand <- thas my opinion, some people like crushed coral. blast your rocks with a powerhead or turkey baster and change water often

 

[Chuck_NJ]

I do vaccum the crushed coral during every water change. The Nitrates since i started water changes where dropping in 1/2 each time as i was changing a little over 1/3 of the water each time. I was totaly shocked thios past sunday figuring i would finally see the 0 nitrates i was hoping for and now i have 20ppm makes no sense . I think i will get the filter sock and rid myself of the bioballs. I really dont want to go to sand just yet.

 

[CSoli921]

How old is your test kit? I was battling a "nitrate problem." I decided to buy a new test kit and the problem went away. So, if your test kit is old, it can register nitrates that aren't even there. Try bringing your water to a LFS or try a new kit.

 

[njstillwell]

you are right with WET/DRY my fault i forgot that was his filtering equipment so i hear lots of people having problems with wet/drys these days why is that

 

[harlequinreef]

you get what is termed a "nitrate factory." aerobic filtration occurs so efficiently in the high oxygen environment of an exposed bio ball that the population of anaerobic nitrate consuming bacteria living within the rock and substrate cannot keep up. the result is a slow and steady accumulation of nitrates

 

[Chuck_NJ]

Bio Balls gone went with filter sock and live rock.

 

[harlequinreef]

watch how much you feed for a bit since by removing the bioballs you are for a period of time removing a big portion of the bio filtration. the bacteria populations elsewhere in the aquarium will increase soon.