Nitrates off the chart?

[dicegame]

20 gal tank,20 lbs LR, some coral frags. tri head frogspawn, 1 yellow tailed damsel and a false perlicula clean up crew also.

 

The nitrates are off the chart and have been for 2 weeks water change 30% last weekend and 30% today. Nitrates still off the chart and everything is doing fine nothing dead and everything seems happier than usual.

 

Am I on the brink of a disaster?

[Shadoe]

Hi dicegame to nano-reef. I'm no expert, at all. I'm a 'rookie' at this as well. What is the exact reading on the Nitrates?

This is how my test kit describes nitrates. "Nitrate is the byproduct of nitrifying bacteria in the biological filter breaking down ammonia and nitrite. Nitrate is used by aquatic plants and algae as a food source. While relatively harmless to the aquarium,high levels can lead to excessive algae growth. Levels should be kept below 40 ppm and should be tested weekly.

Do you have alot of algae in your tank? Also was it cycled good before you added your fish?

Again, welcome, and Good Luck.

Shadoe

[doncb]

Possible bad test kit?

 

How long has your tank been set up?

[nanospoof]

What kind of test kit are you using? I have found that some don't give as acurate of a reading as others.

[Fish Stick]

While relatively harmless to the aquarium,high levels can lead to excessive algae growth. Levels should be kept below 40 ppm and should be tested weekly.

 

This would be the case for a FO aquarium. Fish can take some higher levels but marine invertebrates don't and some are more sensitive to it than others. In your reef aquarium you don't want levels higher than 25ppm IMO.

[dicegame]

Do you have alot of algae in your tank? answer not too much but enuff to have to scrub the glass well once a week. Also was it cycled good before you added your fish? yes i waited 8 weeks before adding any fish. Possible bad test kit? used the powder in the vile that i had myself then i bought the strips then i went to localLFS and Then went to PETCO all the same at like seems to be 900ppm but probably more like 150ppm. How long has your tank been set up? since october so that is 4 months and this is my nano my 110gal never had this issue and i am baffled. What kind of test kit are you using? jsut the standard strips and the powder in the vile nothing fancy. I think i have only tested the water in my 110gal like less than 10 times in two years.

 

back to the original question am i on the brink of a disaster and if so how can i get the issue resolved?

[Nosferatu]

That sounds really weird to me, but I'm far from an expert. I'm dealing with a crazy algae bloom at the moment myself. We all have our problems

 

Since you've been doing the water changes and everything it seems really weird that they would still be that high. I would check really carefully for something dying off in there (I'm more thinking of something like a coral that can rot slowly with little notice). If something were croaking and just dumping all its wastes into your water that might outpace your water changes. Other than that, good luck!

[dicegame]

officially a moron.... so i checked in the tank moved some rock around and what do you know there are four dead turbo snails behind all of the live rock. i just took them out and i am gonna do a good vacumming and a water change again and i think that should do it.

 

sorry for the wasted time.

 

in regards to the algae bloom i found that instead of just scraping it off and letting it back into the water it is best to scrape and vacumm at the same time.

[Schwazreef]

4 turbo snail may be 2 or 3 too many in a 20gal. JMHO.

[dicegame]

no more now