Nitrate!

I have an anemone that didn't look so hot, so I finally sat down with a
notebook and started working through my jr. chemistry set.

Arg! Eye popping levels of nitrate! I only had ten gallons of water
mixed up, so exchanged that. And, I put the fish on a crash diet. I've
only had the protein skimmer running for 72 hrs, but that should help.

All my other levels are normal except for Ca+ which is 600ppm.

I'll continue doing water changes as soon as the salt water gets 24 hrs
to stand.

Anything else I can do? (Remember: I'm a newbie.)

--Kurt

to help reduce your Nitrates, you need to do more frequent partial water
changes. This will reduce your levels quick and wont be harmful to the tank.
Try and do 10 - 15% per week for about a month.
"KurtG" wrote in message
...

I have an anemone that didn't look so hot, so I finally sat down with a
notebook and started working through my jr. chemistry set.

Arg! Eye popping levels of nitrate! I only had ten gallons of water
mixed up, so exchanged that. And, I put the fish on a crash diet. I've
only had the protein skimmer running for 72 hrs, but that should help.

All my other levels are normal except for Ca+ which is 600ppm.

I'll continue doing water changes as soon as the salt water gets 24 hrs
to stand.

Anything else I can do? (Remember: I'm a newbie.)

--Kurt

Peter Pan wrote:
to help reduce your Nitrates, you need to do more frequent partial water
changes. This will reduce your levels quick and wont be harmful to the tank.
Try and do 10 - 15% per week for about a month.

Well, it won't really be quick. It would take 7 partial water changes of 10% to
cut the nitrates in half. If no nitrates are generated in the meantime. Kick it
up to about 25% if you can. Three 25% changes will bring it well below the
halfway mark.

George Patterson
Forgive your enemies. But always remember who they are.

George Patterson wrote:
Well, it won't really be quick. It would take 7 partial water changes of
10% to cut the nitrates in half. If no nitrates are generated in the
meantime. Kick it up to about 25% if you can. Three 25% changes will
bring it well below the halfway mark.

Don't the live rock and sand cycle out nitrate as well? I don't know
how much, but I'm hoping small water changes will take the edge off
until the protein skimmer & bacteria can do their job done.

--Kurt

KurtG wrote:

Don't the live rock and sand cycle out nitrate as well? I don't know
how much, but I'm hoping small water changes will take the edge off
until the protein skimmer & bacteria can do their job done.

That claim was made in another thread, but I've not seen this in my tank.
Nitrates do get pulled out by plant matter, which is why many people keep
mangroves in a refugium.

George Patterson
Forgive your enemies. But always remember who they are.

* George Patterson wrote, On 12/18/2006 11:27 AM:
KurtG wrote:

Don't the live rock and sand cycle out nitrate as well? I don't know
how much, but I'm hoping small water changes will take the edge off
until the protein skimmer & bacteria can do their job done.

That claim was made in another thread, but I've not seen this in my
tank. Nitrates do get pulled out by plant matter, which is why many
people keep mangroves in a refugium.

George Patterson
Forgive your enemies. But always remember who they are.

Oh! Yeah! My mangroves started as stubs a couple months ago and are finally
opening their first set of leaves. Have pretty good roots.

Cindy

KurtG wrote:
George Patterson wrote:

Well, it won't really be quick. It would take 7 partial water changes
of 10% to cut the nitrates in half. If no nitrates are generated in
the meantime. Kick it up to about 25% if you can. Three 25% changes
will bring it well below the halfway mark.


Don't the live rock and sand cycle out nitrate as well? I don't know
how much, but I'm hoping small water changes will take the edge off
until the protein skimmer & bacteria can do their job done.

--Kurt

Only happens in limited oxygen envionment, Bacteria deep inside the live
rock will do it, and deep in the sand if you have a deep sand bed...

Bacteria that live on surface of rock and sand bed can't metabolize
nitrates.

KurtG wrote:
I have an anemone that didn't look so hot, so I finally sat down with a
notebook and started working through my jr. chemistry set.

Arg! Eye popping levels of nitrate! I only had ten gallons of water
mixed up, so exchanged that. And, I put the fish on a crash diet. I've
only had the protein skimmer running for 72 hrs, but that should help.

All my other levels are normal except for Ca+ which is 600ppm.

I'll continue doing water changes as soon as the salt water gets 24 hrs
to stand.

Anything else I can do? (Remember: I'm a newbie.)

--Kurt

how new? if you're a "newbie", you probably shouldn't have an anemone.

note: I've had my 75 gallon tank for over a yea rand still consider
myself too "new" to have things like anemone's etc.

Blackheart wrote:
how new? if you're a "newbie", you probably shouldn't have an anemone.

Too late. I jumped in with both feet. grin But, I think you are
right. I wouldn't recommend somebody getting in like I did.

I heard that it's "hard", but then I've been told that about a number of
things. Orchids, for example, and, I have quite a few orchids that
bloom regularly. However, I think an aquarium is considerably harder,
more demanding, and less forgiving.

Seems like my nitrate is subsiding. It's already down noticeably and I
did another 10 gallon water change. I'll check again tomorrow.

--Kurt

Anemone, tough call. I got 3 bubbletips and they slowly die.
They need good water quality, strong light, sometimes manual feeding, and
most of all (on my case),
Be far from the filter since they move a lot and get trap on
filters/powerheads.

I think I'm done with them since I got some coral. Besides clownfish will
hide most of the day and become more territorial.

As I said once, do everyting you can (water changes/manual feeding/get some
lights) to keep it alive but under your conditions my advice would be to
take it back to your LFS and trade it for something else.

Good luck,

Ruben




"KurtG" wrote in message
news:zinhh.243$_X.22@bigfe9...
Blackheart wrote:
how new? if you're a "newbie", you probably shouldn't have an anemone.

Too late. I jumped in with both feet. grin But, I think you are
right. I wouldn't recommend somebody getting in like I did.

I heard that it's "hard", but then I've been told that about a number of
things. Orchids, for example, and, I have quite a few orchids that
bloom regularly. However, I think an aquarium is considerably harder,
more demanding, and less forgiving.

Seems like my nitrate is subsiding. It's already down noticeably and I
did another 10 gallon water change. I'll check again tomorrow.

--Kurt