high nitrates

[larrynews]

ok i over feed dont change water as much as i should , blah blah blah....but with that said my nitrAtes or very very high, is ther a quick way thats safe, to get it down. im going to do a water change tonight of about 30 gallons, then maybe do them every other day, but is there another way to do it.

125 reef

[Alpinestar]

whats your setup.

[larrynews]

and does anyone no if this  De-Nitrate is reef safe, just to use till i get it under control

[UDJustin]

they are usually reef safe but you will probably spend more money buying those to get your level down than you would by doing a bunch of water changes

[Alpinestar]

i dont see it having any bad effects but i have yet to use it, but i know some people thathave used and nothing bad happened they only received lower nitrates. i just do the water changes and on a couple occasions syphoned my sand bed real slowly on certain parts with high build up and lil flow.

[larrynews]

thanks, the sand is like 5 years old, i do clean it when i do water changes, but with all the rock in the tank i cant get under it to clean...

[cyberwollf]

Setup a 5 gallon bucket RDSB.

[HUNGER]

i would just do watter changes till it went down

[ghurlag]

Some folks have been successful in doing several successive 50% water changes.  Of coursean with a 125 gallon...  Whew - I don't envy you on that one

[lazylivin]

+1 on larger water changes.

[HUNGER]

ya i did large watter changes when my phosates went up  i did 60 gallons a week for about a month

[Wall_Tank]

Any of the Nitrate reducing chemicals are going to be a slow process.  If you try to use them for a quick change, you will crash the tank.   Do the water change, make sure you match temp, ph, Ca and Alk

[HUNGER]

Any of the Nitrate reducing chemicals are going to be a slow process.  If you try to use them for a quick change, you will crash the tank.   Do the water change, make sure you match temp, ph, Ca and Alk

very true

[larrynews]

ok everything will match, ph alk and such can i do a 60 gallon change in a 125 ok and how long can caps a acros be out of water without doing damage

[lazylivin]

If your lights are off they should be fine for 5 - 10 minutes but  try to minimize as much as possible. Perhaps drizzling water on them as you are filling the tank back up until the water gets to their level.

[HUNGER]

If your lights are off they should be fine for 5 - 10 minutes but  try to minimize as much as possible. Perhaps drizzling water on them as you are filling the tank back up until the water gets to their level.

great idiea

[cyberwollf]

You should be fine as long as lights are off. If you ever notice the coraline algae die along the top of your tank after a water change, it's from light shock. You'd be surprised how much light is blocked by water

[larrynews]

great thanks...guys

[HUNGER]

thanx wes i never knew that ether

[larrynews]

new question, since i have been making water changes and still need to make more, can i just take out water at this point or do i need to still siphon the sand.
thanks
larry

[ghurlag]

I can't say for sure on this one...  How confident are you that your sand is in good shape?  I suppose you don't want to stir it up too much too often and risk depleting the bacteria and other good things going on down there.  If you were somehow able to know that the sand was harboring a lot of nitrates and constantly leaching them back into the water column, it might warrant a more aggressive approach.

[HUNGER]

i would just take out watter

[GreatWyte]

Thats a cool vid lazy. I would think those corals are exposed for quite awhile, several hours maybe, before the tide rolls back in. Thats crazy they can survive that long.

[larrynews]

update:

i have been do more water changes than i ever care to do, but i have 2 test kits, the red sea says it has come down to 50 the api still has it over 160...did both test twice, i'm going to do another 30 gallon change and then we'll see, but looking for your thoughts on the test kits, both are not expired

[jd]

I think you would have WAAAY more problems if you nitrates where over 160ppm. I'd find someone with another brand of test kit or a photometer to check. I've got an API nitrate kit as well or I would help.