High nitrates, lot of algae

[r2d2]

Hi all, Two weeks ago I started to see a lot of diatom in sand and algae in LR and tank walls.
My readings are:

Nitrates 20ppm:bouncebox
Phosphates 0ppm
PH 8.2
Salinity 1.026
Calcium 420

My RO water is::whstlr:
Nitrates 0ppm
Phosphates 0ppm

So... what could be the problem?

Right now I only have in 75g tank and 20g sump: 1 medium yellow tang, 1 six line warasse, 1 chromis, 1 damsel.

Change about 10g every two weeks. Clean my sock twice a week.
I only have two sponges at skimmer and return pumps but I think they dont catch a lot of detritus.

Please, comments?


:winner: ???????

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Well if the nitrates have accumulated over time and you're taking active steps to get rid of them, then I'd blame your water changes.

10 gallons of 75 is only about 15%... so knock your nitrates down by 15% and you get a total reduction of... 3ppm. At best. once you get your nitrates down to lower levels, small changes like 10 gallons might be sufficient, but to knock them down, larger changes might help.

 

[r2d2]

Actually my RO unit is relatively new and before that I used bottled water with Nitrates at 20pmm right out of bottle. I suppose not enough water changes yet to reduce levels...
In order to avoid large water changes, what do you think of nitrates removers?

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Do you mean things like nitrate removing resins? If you have a system that's capable of handling nitrates, then such remedies will help lower your nitrate levels... if your system is not adequately set up (no fuge, no macro, or other nitrate exportation methods), then removing the nitrates with a resin or chemical will likely do very little.

They can, however, help to lower the levels of nitrates to a point where you can see if your system is processing nitrates.

 

[Jeremy0322]

First thing is first, get a friend or something to test your water for the same thing you are testing for, kits go bad all the time, that could be an issue. Also, I would test the water before you add salt to it, and then once you add salt to it, because you could be getting nutrients via the salt you are adding, or the RO just could not be working as you planned.

Once you have rules those out I would lean towards a larger water change, the phosphates dont mean much in this situation because the algae will consume them all, and you can still have an issue even if the readings are zero.

 

[BigAl07]

r2d2 I think COD hit the nail on the head here. You need to bump your water change AMOUNT and FREQUENCY up until they are much lower THEN you can "TWEAK" the variables as your test results dictate.

IMHO using "Nitrate Reducers" at this stage of the game is counter-productive to your long-term success. Get the basics right now and the rest will fall into place.

good luck buddy and Happy Reefing

 

[r2d2]

Ok, Im planning to do a 30gal change this weekend and another 30 gal next weekend.
I have about 1 week with Chaeto in my fuge so I think is still not working at 100%.
Greetings

 

[mempho reefer]

There are a couple of other things you should address here. You should remove as much algae by hand as possible and then do about a 25% water change. Your 0 ppm phosphate level is due to the algae using up the phosphate in the water column thus the false reading. Even though the sponges in your sump don't seem to be getting a big build up of detritus, it would be a good idea to replace them with some LR rubble. This will totally elimnate the nitrate possiblility and increase your natural biological filtration. Reduce feeding to once every other day and only what they can eat in a couple of minutes. Your fish will be ok. They can go about 4 days without food. Then continue with 10% water changes every 5 to 7 days. As the remaining algae begins to die off it too will then produce nitrates which prolong your problem. Not sure what kind of clean up crew you have but you should consider adding a few more turbo snails and hermits. They will do a good job eating alot of the algae. You mention a sandbed. How old is the tank and the sandbed and how deep is the sandbed. If the sandbed is less that three or four months old then nitrates will be high anyway until it establishes. If the sandbed isn't deep enough it is not going to do much to help control nitrate problems in the future.

 

[BigAl07]

Mempho I have to say I don't totally agree with part of your comment. With all due respect here . . .

......Even though the sponges in your sump don't seem to be getting a big build up of detritus, it would be a good idea to replace them with some LR rubble. This will totally elimnate the nitrate possiblility and increase your natural biological filtration.

Live Rock Rubble can and DOES become a Detritus Trap in a short time if the water isn't cleaned/scrubbed/stripped of the detritus before it gets to the LRR. With all the nooks & crannies there the detritus will settle and fill them only to become a potential Nitrate Factory.

Live Rock Rubble can not "totally eliminate" nitrate possibility. LRR by it's very nature doesn't have the capacity for Anaerobic bacteria colonization so there-fore it only contributes to the first few stages of breaking down waste and only contributes TO the NO3 build-up.


I'm not just "hypothesizing" here... I found this out first hand in an A-I-O tank and then again in my 90g Reef system. Even WITH a filter sock on the input from the DT I still had Detritus settling into the LRR. I was literally astounded at how nasty it was when I took the LRR out. I put it into a bucket of water and it literally looked like I had poured MUD into the water.


I'm not alone in this either... several people have seen an almost immediate (and long-term) NO3 reduction by removing piles/clumps/stacks of LRR!

With that being said I still have LRR in most of my systems but just for FRAGGING reasons and not in pile/clumps/stacks as Detritus collectors.

 

[r2d2]

Sponges I mentioned are stock strainers for pumps. I clean them every water change. I was thinking that as I have a sock at drain I may remove that sponges from pumps inlets.
My objective is to have coepods in fuge and dont know if that sponge can block them to get to DT.

 

[mempho reefer]

Good point Al.

If the current/stream going through the rock is not sufficienct and if the bio load is high then a build up will likely occur. Also, a more porous rock rubble like Fiji would be best. I later read where he r2 said that he cleans the sponges regularly. Didn't catch that the first time around....my bad.

I've just never been a fan of sponges they are one of the leading causes of nitrate build up more times than not. You really have to committ to regular maintainence with sponges in your tank. That's usually the case with new reefers but that good reef keeping tends to fall off with time and the sponges lead to problems.

But you are right Al and I stand corrected.
~mempho

 

[BigAl07]

Very good point mempho

I enjoy a good debate and of course some people never have problems with LRR. I guess we should always remember YMMV

 

[GreatWhiteShark]

How much live rock do you have in your tank??

 

[r2d2]

About 60lb in DT and 10lb in fuge and aragonite in DT with average 2" depth. Im adding this weekend sand to my fuge.
Greetings

 

[r2d2]

Ok I made a 30g water change yesterday, almost 50%. Today I test for NItrates and they are 20ppm!!!!!!

So, either my test kit is off or my tank is a Nitrate factory.

I test again my RO water and reading is 0ppm but realice test is for saltwater, dont know if color chart is different for freshwater.

Another option is Saltmix adding Nitrates, using Instant Ocean.

Anyway... my corals, softies and LPS, llok very well and growing but mt feather dusters look not so good. Algae keeps growing everywhere.

Any other clue? Something missing?

Im feeling really frustraded here.

 

[r2d2]

Anybody?

Does color charts are different for FW and SW?

Greetings

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

The test kits might be different.. not sure.

I would get a TDS meter if you can... if there aren't nitrates in your RO water, there can still be other things like phosphates that will fuel the algal fire.