Nitrate!

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.