Nitrate Range

[Robin]

What is an acceptable range for nitrate? I am reading between 25 to 50 mg/L
(=ppm). I am not sure if I should change more water weekly. I changed
about 12gal per week for the past 4 weeks and it has gone down a bit.
Thanks for your help.

Robin

[Dinky]

"Robin" > wrote in message
news:HeOXb.50222$P17.31602@fed1read03...
> What is an acceptable range for nitrate? I am reading between 25 to 50
mg/L
> (=ppm). I am not sure if I should change more water weekly. I changed
> about 12gal per week for the past 4 weeks and it has gone down a bit.
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Robin
>
>

You've got a nitrate factory somewhere. What kind of filtration are you
using, on how big a tank stocked with what? How often do you remove the muck
from your filter media? Any prefilters in an overflow must be kept clean as
well.


--

billy
--
Need tech help?
news://news.winextra.com

[Robin]

Here is my current set up.

80 Gallon
150lbs of LR
7in of DSB
25 gal sump (only filtration is a filter sock)
Berlin Hangon Skimmer
1/3 HP Custom Sealife Chiller (inline)
Not predrilled (overflow)
2 175W Metal Halide 2 96W PC Actinics (on for 10 hours a day, 8 for the MH
and 10 for PCs)

Livestock includes:
2 Maroon Clowns
1 Green Chromis
1 Copper Band Butterfly
3 Hermits
5 Peppermint Shrimps (aptaisia problem (hundreds of them) about two months
ago...ALL GONE)

Corals include:
Leather (dont know exactly what kind)
Hammer Coral
Two types of Frog Spawn
Two types of Mushroom
Acropora (dont know exactly because it was given to me)

Have been changing water for the past four weeks and it has gone down a bit.
I usually change (clean out) the filter sock every week or couple of weeks
since it does not get dirty at all. Should I change more water to get the
Nitrates down?? I have not seen any of my livestock or corals die. Any
help would be appreciate. Although I have not used any other test kit other
than the Salifert, I am not sure if the test reading are fine. Once again,
Thanks!

Robin

I just want to make sure that my water is good before I add anymore corals
or livestock. Tank has been running for two years now. Nothing drastic has
happened
"Dinky" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> "Robin" > wrote in message
> news:HeOXb.50222$P17.31602@fed1read03...
> > What is an acceptable range for nitrate? I am reading between 25 to 50
> mg/L
> > (=ppm). I am not sure if I should change more water weekly. I changed
> > about 12gal per week for the past 4 weeks and it has gone down a bit.
> > Thanks for your help.
> >
> > Robin
> >
> >
>
> You've got a nitrate factory somewhere. What kind of filtration are you
> using, on how big a tank stocked with what? How often do you remove the
muck
> from your filter media? Any prefilters in an overflow must be kept clean
as
> well.
>
>
> --
>
> billy
> --
> Need tech help?
> news://news.winextra.com
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

Try looking at this article. It should help you somewhat, even though what you
describe sounds pretty close to ideal.

http://www.melevsreef.com/reducing_nitrates.html

Clean the sock every week, not as infrequently as you describe. And your
skimmer may be under powered for the job it needs to do.

Marc


Robin wrote:

> Here is my current set up.
>
> 80 Gallon
> 150lbs of LR
> 7in of DSB
> 25 gal sump (only filtration is a filter sock)
> Berlin Hangon Skimmer
> 1/3 HP Custom Sealife Chiller (inline)
> Not predrilled (overflow)
> 2 175W Metal Halide 2 96W PC Actinics (on for 10 hours a day, 8 for the MH
> and 10 for PCs)
>
> Livestock includes:
> 2 Maroon Clowns
> 1 Green Chromis
> 1 Copper Band Butterfly
> 3 Hermits
> 5 Peppermint Shrimps (aptaisia problem (hundreds of them) about two months
> ago...ALL GONE)
>
> Corals include:
> Leather (dont know exactly what kind)
> Hammer Coral
> Two types of Frog Spawn
> Two types of Mushroom
> Acropora (dont know exactly because it was given to me)
>
> Have been changing water for the past four weeks and it has gone down a bit.
> I usually change (clean out) the filter sock every week or couple of weeks
> since it does not get dirty at all. Should I change more water to get the
> Nitrates down?? I have not seen any of my livestock or corals die. Any
> help would be appreciate. Although I have not used any other test kit other
> than the Salifert, I am not sure if the test reading are fine. Once again,
> Thanks!
>
> Robin
>
> I just want to make sure that my water is good before I add anymore corals
> or livestock. Tank has been running for two years now. Nothing drastic has
> happened
> "Dinky" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
> > "Robin" > wrote in message
> > news:HeOXb.50222$P17.31602@fed1read03...
> > > What is an acceptable range for nitrate? I am reading between 25 to 50
> > mg/L
> > > (=ppm). I am not sure if I should change more water weekly. I changed
> > > about 12gal per week for the past 4 weeks and it has gone down a bit.
> > > Thanks for your help.
> > >
> > > Robin
> > >
> > >
> >
> > You've got a nitrate factory somewhere. What kind of filtration are you
> > using, on how big a tank stocked with what? How often do you remove the
> muck
> > from your filter media? Any prefilters in an overflow must be kept clean
> as
> > well.
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > billy
> > --
> > Need tech help?
> > news://news.winextra.com
> >
> >

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Robin]

Mark,

You mentioned that my skimmer MAY be underpowered. What exactly do you mean
by that? At the moment it is being powered by a RIO 2500 and it is hanging
on the sump (the RIO 2500 is pretty close to the main return pump for the
tank). Do I need a bigger pump? It does seem that it does not produce
enough foam like substance. Should I place it somewhere else? I played
around with the skimmer. If you know any way to OPTIMIZE the skimmer that
would be great too.

Thanks for your help. It is greatly appreciated.

Robin


> Try looking at this article. It should help you somewhat, even though
what you
> describe sounds pretty close to ideal.
>
> http://www.melevsreef.com/reducing_nitrates.html
>
> Clean the sock every week, not as infrequently as you describe. And your
> skimmer may be under powered for the job it needs to do.
>
> Marc

[Marc Levenson]

See, that's the thing. I've never owned a Berlin skimmer, so I don't have
anything to go on in a helplful manner. It could be that your skimmer isn't
working correctly, or that it isn't sized for your volume of water.

Btw, that pump is one of the ones that is absolutely not safe to use. (Others
will debate it, but way too many posts of Rio 2100 and 2500 pumps failing occur
on a regular basis. Not just shutting off, but melting and oozing something
into the water killing the livestock.) I'd recommend you replace it with
something else, like a Mag pump perhaps.

If your skimmer isn't pulling out so vile dark skimmate, then your tank still
has DOCs floating around, which will break down and add to the A-N-N cycle. The
last N stands for Nitrates. The better the skimmer, the easier the export of
DOCs.

Marc


Robin wrote:

> Mark,
>
> You mentioned that my skimmer MAY be underpowered. What exactly do you mean
> by that? At the moment it is being powered by a RIO 2500 and it is hanging
> on the sump (the RIO 2500 is pretty close to the main return pump for the
> tank). Do I need a bigger pump? It does seem that it does not produce
> enough foam like substance. Should I place it somewhere else? I played
> around with the skimmer. If you know any way to OPTIMIZE the skimmer that
> would be great too.
>
> Thanks for your help. It is greatly appreciated.
>
> Robin
>
> > Try looking at this article. It should help you somewhat, even though
> what you
> > describe sounds pretty close to ideal.
> >
> > http://www.melevsreef.com/reducing_nitrates.html
> >
> > Clean the sock every week, not as infrequently as you describe. And your
> > skimmer may be under powered for the job it needs to do.
> >
> > Marc

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Richard Reynolds]

> See, that's the thing. I've never owned a Berlin skimmer, so I don't have
> anything to go on in a helplful manner. It could be that your skimmer isn't
> working correctly, or that it isn't sized for your volume of water.

an 80 is the absolute largest I would run that skimmer on, w/o serious mods. there are a
few if you search around.

--
Richard Reynolds