"Kevin Muenzler, WB5RUE" wrote in message
...
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.


I would cease the goldfish feedings. Even if you vacuum, there is
going to be a ton of biological material floating about. I have a
White Seabae anemone which I feed once a week, if I remember to do
so, and only commercially prepared marine food. It has tripled in
size in 4 months. It's rate of growth is beginning to un-nerve me,
actually. g
The question I have for you would be about your filtration. Do
you have Live Rock? What kind of filter do you use, and are you
running a skimmer? How well is the skimmer performing? One thing that
pops to mind is that you may be using a type of wet\dry filter, which
can, in many cases, be a source of nitrate production.
As far as plants, you're pretty limited. Not many plants grow
immersed in sal****er, unlike a freshwater tank. You can however,
have great luck with many kinds of macroalgae, such as Caulerpa.
Mangroves can be grown in sal****er. I have one in my sump, and it's
going to out grow the stand soon.

HTH

billy