I've had a small marine aquarium going for about three months. It's
populated with native life from the Texas Gulf. I figured since they are
more or less "free" it won't cost me too much to experiment. Anyway, they
are all happy and healthy. Here's the question. It appears as if the
system has cycled for all but nitrate. Ammonia is zero, Nitrite is zero, PH
is 8.2 but Nitrates are very high, 80+. I do weekly water changes but I
can't seem to get the Nitrates to stay down. I feed the anemones goldfish
and the hermit crabs are fed brine shrimp. I vacuum what's left after about
15 minutes so I'm pretty sure it's not spoiled food. About the only thing
that I haven't done is add plants. I have algae growth but maybe not enough
to consume the Nitrates. One very strange thing is that a fresh water tank
that I have also has marginally high Nitrates (30) while the others are at
zero. I tested the water from the source and Nitrates are zero so I know
I'm not introducing them in the water.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

--
Kevin Muenzler, WB5RUE
Eagle Creek Observatory
http://www.eaglecreekobservatory.org
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
..



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