Tank problems

[nbpt27]

I am having problems with Nitrates in my 125gal reef tank. I have done 3 30 gal water changes in the past week and a half and they are still up over 80 ppm. Any suggestions?

 

[reefstarter]

Chec your kit to a lfs then ser

 

[mnavick]

Can you give us more specifics on your tank?
Age of tank, lighting and age of bulbs, flow, fish, feeding routine and type, RODI for water changes and age of filters, setup and other parameters?

 

[nbpt27]

The tank has been up and running for about 11 years. There's about 65 lbs live rock. I a purple tang, hippo, niger trigger, 2 clownfish, flame angel. I feed them twice a day. 1 cube of frozen brine shrimp at around 3 and a pinch of flake food around 8. I have a 72" coral life light set up. 3 14000k hadlide and T5. Them moon lights at night. There are aqua clear 70 power heads with filter attachment that I have been changing every 2 weeks and 2 circulating pumps in each corner of the tank. Just changed the RODI filters a month ago. Will try and attach photo of filter system

 

[nbpt27]

Can't sent photo. Says it's to big to send

 

[nbpt27]

The filter is a crystal trigger system sump 36. Has filter socks I have been changing every 3 or 4 days. 150 Eshopps protein skimmer. Has a refugium with micro algae. Then I have 2 bags of chemi pro elite before the return pump

 

[mnavick]

Hmmmm, anything new added or changed recently?

Best bet for attaching photos is using ImageShack, PhotpBucket etc and "Insert Image via URL" and uncheck "Retrieve remote file and reference locally".
Or resize it down to "ridiculously" small

 

[nbpt27]

Havent added anything new cause they are so high plus my phosphates are at.25ppm

 

[mnavick]

Maybe as Reefstarter suggested, bring a sample to your Local Fish Store and see what they run for numbers using their kit.
What town are you in, maybe a local member can test using theirs?
Or by a new kit??

 

[nbpt27]

I live in Newburyport. I just purchased the kit a couple of months ago at Jay's Aquatics. That would great if someone was from the area could try. Thanks Rich. # I can be reached at 978-423-2409

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

Are you actually having a problem with your livestock or just chasing numbers? If your tank is healthy, my guess is your test kit is bad. Maybe you shouldn't change anything until you know for sure.

 

[nbpt27]

Thats what i was thinking. I went out and purchased another API Nitrate kit and still reading high. Everything looks good it the that expect that I lost my candy cane coral about 3 weeks ago

 

[JasonandSarah]

How's your sand bed look? What kind of maintenance do you do on your sand bed? With a tank that old I'd be thinking there's some built up crud in there?
Did you test for nitrates before you bought the kit from Jay's?

 

[reefkeeper2]

Water changes are a waste of time for nitrates. You probably have "old tank syndrome". I would look into carbon dosing, either vodka, vinegar or biopellets. Whatever you choose, go very slowly with small amounts. If you use biopellets use 1/2 to 1/4 the recommended dose.

 

[Owen386]

nitrate factory somewhere that is opening up! yea whats the sand bed like? using and bio balls or pellets or anything like that?

 

[nbpt27]

Well I usually vacuum the sand bed every month or at least stir up. Plus my trigger does alot of stirring up the sand.. Gonna try something its driving me nuts..LOL

 

[JasonandSarah]

Well I usually vacuum the sand bed every month or at least stir up. Plus my trigger does alot of stirring up the sand.. Gonna try something its driving me nuts..LOL

If you try carbon dosing I'd recommend vinager. Bio pellets are know to cause cyano (I know first hand) and vodka is really strong and leave little room for error. Dosing vinager is the same exact thing as vodka except you need more vinager.

 

[nbpt27]

I went to Pet City in Seabrook, Nh and explain to him what was going on. He told me to try AmQuel Plus. I dosed my tank on 4/21/15. I just tested it and it is still at 80 ppm.. I am at a lose. I will try anything at this point to bring them down

 

[JasonandSarah]

I went to Pet City in Seabrook, Nh and explain to him what was going on. He told me to try AmQuel Plus. I dosed my tank on 4/21/15. I just tested it and it is still at 80 ppm.. I am at a lose. I will try anything at this point to bring them down

If I remember correctly AmQuel is a ammonia binder? The bottle normally says nitrites and nitrates but I believe that's only because it binds ammonia witch in turn should stop more nitrites & nitrates from being produced.
Again your best bet is vinager dosing imo... as soon as you dose vinager the population of your nitrate eating bacteria should increase 10 fold and be well on the way to cleaning things up. Just do some research and find a carbon dosing chart. Read one of Randys articles on carbon dosing...

 

[andy01748]

I went to Pet City in Seabrook, Nh and explain to him what was going on. He told me to try AmQuel Plus. I dosed my tank on 4/21/15. I just tested it and it is still at 80 ppm.. I am at a lose. I will try anything at this point to bring them down

AmQuel Plus does not remove nitrates. If present in high enough concentrations, AmQuel Plus can interfere with the nitrate test kit so that it appears nitrates are reduced, but in fact does nothing to the nitrate concentration.