Nitrates!!!>>???!!!?

Question

I own a 46 Gallon marine aquarium... I have had fish for about 5 days... I have checked my water qualities many times and my nitrate seems to be good... Today I checked it and it looks like its around 80!!!! Its usually around 20... I dont overfeed the fish so I dont understand why that would be like that! I did about a 5% water change and added some "prime" but it still seems high... The fish seem to be doing okay but I dont want to lose them! Last night I went to work and my mother forgot to turn off the lights... So the lights were on for about 18 hours! Could that have caused my nitrate to be so high? I have at least 100lbs of live rock and a 2 inch deep sand bed... If you have any questions just let me know. Thanks for your help!

I also have a coral frag in the tank... I dont know what it is... I have a 10 gallon tank under the aquarium with bioballs. I have a protein skimmer but didnt know how to hook it up... Yes the live rock is cured. Lownmower Blenny and "blue and yellow damsel". my ammonia is zero and so is my nitrite! My P.H. is around 8.2.... Salinity is about 1.023.. If there are any more questions please ask.. I appreciate your help!

Answer 1

Your tank is cycling... that is why your ammonia and nitrites are at 0. The quickest way to get rid of NitrAtes is to do a water change, which you have done. Just run your tests each day and keep an eye on it. You have a lot of rock for your tank and live rock will generally help with high nitrates. I have tried micro algae in my tank before to cut down on the nitrites and therefore helping with the nitrates (kind of a preventative measure as nitrites turn into nitrates). I would just keep an eye on it... you might wait a few days and do another water change if it hasn't come down. You don't want to do too many water changes tho because that will mess with your biologicals as well. You can check out this site on cycling your tank... it might help... http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
It is pretty straight forward.
I hope this helped!! Good Luck!!

Answer 2

Do you also test for ammonia and nitrite? These are all part of the nitrogen cycle. The fish, inverts, and any die-off or extra food in the tank will first produce ammonia, which is converted to nitrite, and the nitrite is converted to nitrate. You may have had a buildup of ammonia and nitrite previously, which is just being converted to nitrate.

If you use tap water in the tank, it's also possible that nitrate is being introduce through the tapwater - it's recommended that reverse osmosis water (availabe at Culligan self-serve dispensers at Super Walmart for $0.33 per gallon) be used instead.

You might also want to rerun your test. If you use the liquid test reagents, make sure the tube is rinsed out very well, and rinse the last time with some water taken from the tank. It may just be that the tube wasn't rinsed well before the test.

If you still get high readings, do another series of water changes - you want the level no higher than 20 if you've got inverts in the tank, although fish can tolerate a bit more. Try 25% -35% changes (or what level you can drop the water without exposing too much of the live rock) until you can get the level back down.

Since the nitrite depends on ammonia and nitrite from food and waste, it's unlikely that leaving the lights on will have caused the increase.

Answer 3

Live rock is a nitrate factory. So at least you know the Nitrogen Cycle is functioning. There are lots of different methods for controlling Nitrates,such as anaerobic sumps,de-nitrating coils,or mud plenums. All depend on bacteria that thrive without Oxygen. Some aquarists keep a second shallow sump under the main tank with a stand of eel grass or turtle grass and lighting that comes on opposite the main tank lights.
Various experts swear that one or the other of these methods are the best. Frequent small water changes will help control Nitrates also.
The best and probably the most expensive way to control water chemistry would be a Foam Fractionator,or what's commonly called a Protein Skimmer. They are really overkill for a "fish only" tank, but one would allow higher stocking levels and more sensitive livestock.
So,I guess it boils down to the time vs. money thing again.
Hope this is a little help,the slightly elevated Nitrate levels are not immediately dangerous to most fish so relax and begin your research. Good luck.

Answer 4

What is your filtration?

Do you have live rock, live sand, a mud filter/Refugium, a protein skimmer?

Prime will only attach or neutralize nitrates, the nitrates will still show up in tests.

A few suggestions;
* Water changes; for high nitrate levels changing as much as 60% then filling the aquarium only 80% (this cuts the nitrates in half), followed by a 50% change again which will then have an over all reduction of 75%.

* Products such as Algone for freshwater or saltwater can aid in nitrate prevention/removal. There are also nitrate “sponge” or resins available, although these can be costly.

* Rinse filters often with de-chlorinated water to prevent mulm build up. This is especially important in “nitrate factory” filters such as Wet-Dry and canister filters.

Some of this information comes from this article, which I suggest for more information and resources: http://aquarium-answers.blogspot.com/2007/07/aquarium-nitrates.html

Answer 5

you added 2 fish 5 days ago, theres the cause. add a refigium, that should help long term. as for the short term try 10, mzybe 15% weekly water changes but dont expect a huge drop of the bat. also use RO water if you dont already

also what kind of skimmer do you have i may be able to help you set that up, that will make a big change as well, alos how much flow do you have in the tank?? switching out the bioballs in the 10g for a refugium may be your best bet, those bioballs make removing nitrate a near impossible chore.

Answer 6

Try a 20% water change,

Good luck

~ GG

Answer 7

Was your live rock cured? If not, that is probably the source.