nitrates, nitrates, nitrates

[artooman]

I have read a lot of posts from various people who have trivial levels of nitrates in their systems. I am currently running a 12 gallon system with nitrates at a reasonable 10 ppm, but I would like to be closer to zero. What steps can I take over time to reduce the nitrate levels, and what levels are considered safe for corals and for fishes. I currently have no protein skimmer (I am considering the sander picallo), and I do 1.5 gallon water changes weekly.

 

I would prefer to go without a skimmer if I can, but I am open to anything. I have done a lot of research on this topic, and many recommend the aquaC remora or the new prizm models, but they are just too big and noisy to be preferable. The piccalo seems more my style and should be fine in my small tank. I don't want to start a skimmer war!

 

From what I gather these are some steps to reducing nitrates:

 

- maintain deep sand bed to promote anearobic processes to convert nitrate to nitrogen. fine sand is best for this.

- promote the growth of macro-algae (good light and calcium supplements are supposedly good for promoting purple macroalgae)

- have a good amount of live rock

- perform regular water changes

- eliminate overfeeding

 

Let's discuss all there is to know about nitrates! Any other comments or suggestions? Please share.

 

Thanks.

[onthefly]

Have you checked you "tap water"?

 

You'd probably have good results with a HOB fuge with some chaetomorpha and red gracillia....

 

Other than that, you seem to be doing everything right.

[drewmd.]

nitrates can form in high levels due to the type of water that you use. are you using ro/di water? if not i recommend it. also how many inhabitants do you have in your tank? you don't have many inhabitants in your tank so that would not be the cause. i would go with ro/di water and that should solve your problem.

[artooman]

Thanks again for the good advice, drewmd. You are really on top of things around here!

 

I will switch over my water to RO/DI and see if that does the trick. My question is, how does certain tap water lead to increased nitrates? Is it because the tap water based sea water has ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates actually in it before I ever add it to the tank? Or is it because of something else that makes the existing system generate more nitrates? I guess I dont understand how the nitrates can be caused by certain tap water.

[drewmd.]

yes tap water contains a high amount of nitrates along with other harmful chemicals such as chlorine and chloramine high levels of phosphates etc. it makes the water safe for us to drink but harmful if used in a tank. also using tap water along with a bio wheel (don't know if you have one or not) will also increase your nitrate level. well i hope everything works out for you. good luck.

[Shanna]

I have a eclipse 12 too and I have just recently switched to RO water. I allways have nitrates!!! ERR..

[drewmd.]

>I have a eclipse 12 too and I have just recently switched to RO water. I allways have nitrates!!! ERR<

 

take out your bio wheel. this will help with your nitrate problem.

[artooman]

I measured the nitrates in the water that I use for water changes, and there are no measurable amounts. This water consists of tap water + dechlorination + synthetic salt. Anyway, I still want to try RO water as everyone agress that it is the best way to go. Also, I may try to remove the bio-wheel as many call them nitrate factories.

 

I have only had my tank for about a month, and I am not sure that removing the biowheel so soon is a good idea. Isnt there a possibility of removing useful bacteria for converting ammonia and nitrites that I may not already have established in the live rock and sand? Im still not sure I buy the whole biowheel-removal thing since source of nirates is the tank waste, not the biowheel. I thought the biowheel merely converts one form of nitrogen to another... how can it just "create" nitrates?

[drewmd.]

through oxygen my friend. as long as you have a sufficient amount of oxygen in your tank your nitrites will convert to nitrates. it's mother natures way of working. your live rock will also filter out unwanted chemicals. read up on the nitrogen cycle and really understand it. the bio wheel creates nitrates by taking in large amounts of oxygen and converting the nitrites in to nitrates. it's ok to have some traces of nitrates in your tank but not to much.

[artooman]

Thanks drewmd...

 

I understand the nitrogen cycle, but if the biowheel doesnt convert nitrites into nitrates, won't something else perform the conversion? I was under the impression that converting nitrite->nitrate is good since nitrites are toxic. Nitrates are the lesser of the 2 evils. How will removing the biowheel reduce nitrates without increasing nitrites?

 

The way I understand it, you have X number of nitrogen atoms in the system, and the bio-wheel is merely a conversion between to two forms of the nitrogen molecules. Unless there is some other process that converts nitrItes into nitrogen gas, in which case the bio-wheel would be contending for nitrites, it would seem that the bio-wheel is doing its job.

 

My current picture of the world in terms of nitrogen:

 

NH3 => NH4+ => NO2- => NO3- => N2

 

I believe that you are right, but I guess that I don't understand the whole picture. :*( Will something else in the live rock convert the nitrItes in the system to good old nitrogen gas?

[RamJet]

I have a 15 gallon, I plan on drilling it and putting a 10 gallon under it, and packing the 10 with plant life. Plants are very effective in removing Nitrogen from the water. Plants and RO water changes = 0 nitrates and nirtites, or so it is my understanding. Ill let you know what happens.

[artooman]

I just thought I would give a nitrate update and tell of my experiences. Once again, don't mess with drewmd as he is usually dead on. Rather than using dechloronated tap water, I started using RO water or poland spring steam distilled water from the Price Chopper for water changes. Price Chopper is open 24 hours so that is where I get water for my midnight water mixing sessions.

 

I was rather skeptical as I have tested the tap water-based water changes before, and there have never been ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates in the change water. Perhaps there are other nitrogen-based molecules in there that eventually break down in to these by-products, but I have yet to read about this anywhere. Anyone know?

 

Regardless, I have since done 4 large water changes of 2 or 3 gallons, and each time I have watched my nitrates drop for the first time since I started my tank. They went down from 15ppm to about 5ppm or less. I still don't understand exactly why tap water sucks, but it clearly does. I have also since lost a fish to the ich so I have been feeding less (which may account for some of the drop in ntrates), but I have never seen nitrate drops in the past with tap water changes, so I am pretty sure the tap water had something to do with it.

 

I have since added a 15 inch 2x28W CSL lighting (10k and high actinic) and stabilized my temperature at 82 degrees. I have also lightly dosed calcium supps to encourage purple macroalgae and iodine for my coral banded shrimp and new corals. With these two additions, I have seen increased purple algae growth and there are "air" bubbles under the sand bed! I wonder if that is Nitrogen gas? My bed is 10lbs. live sand on top of 10lbs crushed stuff (shells and whatnot).

 

With the low nitrate levels, I have added a pulsing xenia and ricordia, and they have been doing great. My next project is to build a refugium to add a larger water base to the system along with whatever de-nitrifying agents might actually come with a having refugium.

 

Thanks again for all the great posts. This is a *great* website for beginning addicts, uh, hobbiests.