Very high nitrates...

[soggydrysuit]

Hi all,

I've a 120l Juwel Lido tank that has basically been used to store 40 kg of live rock and all of my mechanical pumps and bio filters etc.

I've been feeding the tank and recently (a month to six weeks ago) added a yellow tail blue damsel.

Trouble is my nitrates are now right up between 60 and 100 ppm

Now, I've got a large spare tank I can mix and heat and areate up to twice the lido tanks volume of new saltwater. But do I do an 80 or 90% change on the Lido using the new water once I've heated and areated it for 24 hrs to allow the pH to stabilise?

The Lido tanks pH is good at 8.4 because of all of that rock in there, so hopefully the new water will match it in pH.

There is only the LR, the damsel and various tubeworms and sponges in the Lido.

I can 'shake' the LR in the old tankwater in barrels and/or powerhead blast it to ditch the built up detritus.

BTW no amm or ni detectable in the Lido and I can match temp within 0.5C.

Do I risk it to get the nitrate below 20ppm? It's a massive upheval for a marine tank...

[Mek0ng]

...and bio filters etc...

Exactly what filters are you running (chem/mech/bio)?

You should not be using bio filters if your tank has live rock in it. I suspect that the majority of the nitrates are from that, remove any other bio/sponge filter. You should be running just a skimmer with live rock. Do a series of smaller water changes, since you dont have corals, try %33 every few days to get the nitrates down. Unless theres tons of rotting waste behind the rock, just leave the rock where it is, you dont want to move it after its set. Siphon out any waste, also try 'dusting' the rock off with a turkey baster, using the siphon to collect any debris.

[soggydrysuit]

With all due respect, that was not the question I asked.

It was about the shock to the system if I did an extremely large water change

In answer to your concerns, I plan to remove the LR to a 240L tank and use my 'bio filters' on a FO but no LR on a seahorse tank. One pair: Hippocampus kuda. And precisely nothing else.

That tank was the only place I could keep the LR, hence the nitrate bulid up over one year

[soggydrysuit]

Turkey basters are amazingly useful for feeding seahorses mysis

Live or often defrosted, and vit enriched.

BTW: anyone, have you ever seem a 120L tank with 40Kg of LR in it? My ytb loves it. Cave city.

[soggydrysuit]

Buggrit, I'l make up some synthetic seawater tm morn and we will see on Sunday.

[soggydrysuit]

This is where I'd like to get back to. I shouldn't annoy the board members too much becaue I might need some help!

trough 2r.jpg

Spot and nem 4 may.jpg

That was me one year ago. Before IP's and wallpaper. Stoich 'nems do not like fungicide. Despite my 300W MH.

PP 'et al' - that means all of you, have shown me how to deal with IP's. Wall paper, well ditch it and paint the walls!

Sorry if I was grumpy, earlier.

It comes as a part of being a puffer keeper

Thanks!

[soggydrysuit]

I'm hearing you, mekOng.

I'll make the new water up as I go along (I tend to get an ammonia spike if I leave it in either tanks or my plastic containers for more than 24 hrs). It will cost $$$ in salt but less hassle to anybody in there. Sponges bacteria tube worms. It will probaby take a week or so at 40l per change.

I remember the old adage and advice about marine tanks : go slow.

True today, so thanks for putting the brakes on

These are two different tanks, btw.

[Mek0ng]

(I tend to get an ammonia spike if I leave it in either tanks or my plastic containers for more than 24 hrs).

Thats odd. I have let my water sit for over a month with no detectable nutrients. I have a 32g rubbermaid brute trash can, I keep it covered and put a mag3 pump in it, never an issue. What kid of container do you mix water in, do you use RO/DI, is it covered and do you leave a powerhead in it?

Good luck

[soggydrysuit]

I think the ammonia i've noticed a few times came from a dirty powerhead. I've not noticed it when I dissasemble the pump and clean it properly. 1ppm ammonia is one part in a million, so it's doesn't take much to generate that.

Just don't want to waste a large ammont of salt!

Oddly some of the salt brands I've used are made from seawater, so it's not unusual to find bits of seaweed in the mixing tank or barrel where there is none around in my tanks that could have got in.

I'm going to get the nitrates down in the lido and when I'm allowed my the missus to buy a bucket of salt, I'll set up the larger tank and transfer all of the LR to it along with a big skimmer and some powerheads to give at east 10x circulation. The lido can have the biofilters etc. I'm going to try again with a pair of seahorses in there, now I know how to sort out the IP's from this forum. Weak snick from low calcium was the other problem I had.

Cheers!

[soggydrysuit]

OK, the nefarious deed is done.

Dragged the nitrates down to 10ppm with a 90% water change. The new water params were as close as I could make them. Ph was matched and it took me three hours fuddling to match the salinity and temperature exactly. Given a self calibrated refractometer and a lab thermometer. pH was checked on two differnt kits.

Now have amm 0, ni 0, pH 8.4, na 10 ppm.

I'll be checking this twice daily and I have 40l in reserve in case of an ammonia spike.

You told me not to but I did. 100ppm nitrate is dangerous.

BTW, there was almost no detritus on the LR which is weird... it must be pure fish poop

It was a case of 'that tank under those conditions' for the 90% wc. Not reccomended.

[Pufferpunk]

When all else fails, I have found great success in using buffered, sodium ascorbate, to reduce trates to 0.

[soggydrysuit]

Thanks PP,

that's vitamin 'C'

Hopefully I can split the LR from the machinery in the next month or two into two different tanks. My extereme water change was just to knock the chemistry down into some sort of perspective.

You know the LR is for the gsp's?

Again, many thanks

[soggydrysuit]

The damsel looks quite perky this morning It was starting to hide away which I put down to my astronomical nitrate reading.

Hopefully I've got away with the stupidly large water change...That's what you do with a puffer tank, not a marine tank!

Parameters remain unchanged. For now.

[Pufferpunk]

I have easily done 50%+ WC on my reef tank, when it got cloudy & looked "crashed".

[soggydrysuit]

Thanks for that PP, I just had to get the nitrates down. Matching the salinity exactly was what took the time!