MrMonte Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 (edited) Hi everyone I am having a terrible time trying to bring my nitrates down. I have a 75 gal tank with a 10 gal sump. Typically I do a 5-10 gal water change every week or 2 and unfortunately wasn't regularly testing since everything seemed fine, corals were going and fish seemed happy. Early September I got a little behind on water chnages due to some health issues and noticed red cyano started growing. Started back on weekly water changes but the cyano has taken over. Last week had a water test and nitrates were off the chart. Dosed some chemi clean two days later did a 50% water change and everything looked good... for one day. Cyano was back in full force over night and nitrates were still off the charts. Last night I did a second dose of chemi clean and testing. Salinity is at 1.24, ph is 8.6, alk is 11.1... nitrates still off the charts, deep deep pink color I also pulled the tank apart last night looking for anything decaying everyone is accounted for. I noticed the pencil urchin is dropping spines, I'm not sure what it's status is but I think it's died since it was in the same place as last night and spines are starting to go.... not sure 100 though... Anyone have advice on how to bring nitrates down? Just keep doing the big water changes and patiences? Edited October 21, 2022 by MrMonte Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Tavan Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 (edited) Less import + More export. The only ways to export are water change, macroalgae consumption, bacterial consumption and coral consumption Edited October 21, 2022 by Manny Tavan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMonte Posted October 21, 2022 Author Share Posted October 21, 2022 That's what I was thinking too. Do you have any advice on how often/how much water change that should be done to bring levels down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Tavan Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Depends where you are and where you want to be. 50% water change only lowers your nitrate by 50%. If you are at 100 and you want 10. It’s goes like this 100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandVib3s Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 You can do a huge water change like 90% but some sensible corals and what not may suffer from the big sudden change. Maybe if you slowing drip acclimate them they won't suffer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinvn Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Water change, reduce feeding fishes , more cleanup screw , and using waster remover to vacuum sand bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMonte Posted October 21, 2022 Author Share Posted October 21, 2022 Out of curiosity how often do you feed your tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandVib3s Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 17 minutes ago, MrMonte said: Out of curiosity how often do you feed your tank? 2x day for me. Maybe 3 if I feel like giving extra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oregonic Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 What do your phosphates look like? I struggled with high nitrates for a long time. I eventually figured out the issue was due to bottomed out phosphates. Started dosing phosphates and my nitrates started dropping fast. The two need to be in balance with each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.