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Home      Reply		Viewed: 205 -- Replies: 9
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Posted	nitrate puzzle
03-03-2007 22:43 by craig	i have a 70 gal aquarium with 45 kgs of live rock in and 3x1200lph powerheads to circulate also a 2500lph return pump but my nitrate reading was below 10ppm other day done water change today of 25% readings are now 80ppm i use ro water for changes could it be test kit that is reading wrong as i dont know old it was when i bought it has 2003 on bottle so i am beginingto wonder if this is at fault all fish ok swimming fin all corals opening fine no prob all other water tests are fine
03-03-2007 22:49 by wayne	nitrate isnt a killer to fish unless mega out of control you live rock should be keeping that down , maybe the test kits out of date ? get a new one just to make sure , do you have a fuge/refringuim? try adding some algae that will help bring it down , do you make your own ro or is it shop brought? sponges(coral type) are also good at help nitrates , id say try getting new test kit first? but thing id say first really is if it aint broke dont fix it if you know what i mean , i dont own a test kit and i have no probs
03-03-2007 22:59 by craig	yes do own ro reading from that is 0 thats what i cant work out tank seems healthy so dont know why nitrate is so high
03-03-2007 23:02 by jonie	must be a dodgy test kit mate, under 10ppm to 80ppm in a water change??? strange
03-03-2007 23:14 by craig	it is strange just read article on test kits and the one i have showed 40-80 every time whilst seachem show ed 5 ppm
05-03-2007 10:21 by Alan	For marine use salifert kits they are the best in my experience. When you did the water change did you stir anything up? Also how many fish do you have it could be you have over stocked or is your skimmer not working as well as it should. Also do you have sponges on the powerheads? If so how often do you clean them any build up can lead to nitrates. I would recommend you try a clam if your tank was bigger I read an article in the latest pfk where a bloke had tried using clams to remove nitrate and it works. It does sound like the test kit is passed it though.
05-03-2007 16:14 by craig	cheers alan no sponges on powerheads only thing i can find that could produce nitrate is filter floss change every 2 weeks five i have 5 in 70gal feeding feed every other day skimmer half a cup every 2 weeks stinks and is black as i am sure it is test kit as i have brain coral bubble coral and seamats that all open fully every day only coral that doesnt is finger coral and he has always be dodgy some days he open some he wont
05-03-2007 16:26 by Alan	Might be worth altering the skimmer slightly to get a wetter foam half a cup every 2 weeks isn't a lot I empty mine every other day and it is full but I opt for a wetter foam. I also use a relatively inefficient skimmer an airdriven countercurrent skimmer. I think your skimmer may be part of the problem though.
05-03-2007 22:36 by craig	so u think a wetter foam i use a aquamedic turbofloater 1000
08-03-2007 10:13 by Alan	You should be getting more than half a cup every 2 weeks. I'm pretty certain this is your problem as the skimmer is not removing waste quickly enough. This is a very good skimmer just needs some fine tuning to get the right amount of foam I aim to get skimmate that is green or brown in colour but you can still see through it.

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