Stumped and not sure what to do???

[new-2-the-reef]

I have battling nitrates ever since I have started my tank in september
and now they have crept up to 40ppm

I have done another water change 15% of my 55 gallon tank
this is the 3rd one now in as many months..

took out all the media inside of my cannister filter and just running it empty for added flow to the tank..been aout a month now since I have done this.
cut my feeding down to once a day and have been real skimmpy on the feedings.

the fish inside my tank seem to be doing great..2 oce.clowns,1 firefish,1 yellowatchmen goby ,starfish,feather duster,crabs and snails all seem fine

even the few corals I have in tank are very much alive and growing
star poylps,zoo's ,toadstool and a few mushrooms..

should I,do a 50% water change?
freshwater dip my live rock?
take out all live rock ,add more aragonite?
its at 3 INCHES now..

not sure what to do,????

Clint

[michael_cb_125]

I would not add more sand, three inches is plenty. Also I would not dip your LR. Water changes are the best and safest method of removing nitrates. Good Luck~Michael

[panmanmatt]

What are you using for source water? Have you tested your new water to see if it contains any nitrates?

[cracker]

Nitrates & HA were killin me earlier. I finally replaced "all" the filters in the ro/di I feel this was a major help .

[ReefGuy69]

Do you by chance have a TDS meter? if so are you using it and what are your readings? its a good way to tell if your filters need replacing before your tank crash's or starts to give you the signs. and have you tested the water as previosly mentioned before it goes in your tank. Each thing should help narrow down if your putting in "bad water" or if its already something in the tank that is the "bad water" factory.

[BigAl07]

Did you say "3rd water change in 3 months" ? That's not enough! If you have nitrate problems them bump your water change schedule WAY up. Especially when the tank is this new. Later on as a tank matures it's biological filtration system is better equipped to handle nitrates. Right now it's not capable of that so they build up. Frequent water changes are the way you export Nitrates. I like to do a minimum of 10% weekly and if I have problems I do more often water changes. I'd get much more aggressive until you get the water parameters under control.

Good luck and happy reefing

[CATALYST]

Water changes and stick some macro algae in there too.

[new-2-the-reef]

macro algae?
let it build up on the glass?
and I am using ro water ,from the water depot here in my town
5 gallon jugs they say it is ro water,but I AM going to check it and see if it has nitrates..

will do another water change this weekend..
hopefully my skimmer is ok?

[CATALYST]

Macro algae uses up the nitrates and phosphates. Macro is big algae...like chaeto... is good. Micro algae like on the glass is not so good. You can put it in the sump or fuge.

[sasquatch]

how certain are you your test kit is right? have your lfs double check it.

[new-2-the-reef]

no sump or fuge..

just aquac remora skimmer
powerheads/korillia and a cannister filter(flow only)

will te macro algae be hard to get out of my tank when it is no longer needed?


thanks guys for help
Clint

[new-2-the-reef]

Originally Posted by sasquatch

how certain are you your test kit is right? have your lfs double check it.

thats what I was thinking?
all my other tests are very good

ph 8.2
nitrite-oppm
ammonia-oppm
calcium-440
kh -9dkh
phosphate-oppm
salinity 1.026
these have been steady like these numbers for over 2 months..

just the nitrate is ugly.

do you think the nitrate test bottles are bad?
maybe I will get some new bottles?