Nitrate ISSUES

[Bergy]

OK, well, I guess we all must go thru issues even the best of us....  arrrrggghhh!!!!


Last week, i think i posted something about how i usually dont test my water and that I have a 'FEEL' for how my tank/system is doing...

Well, my tank seems to be fine,   corals that were given to me in a BROWNED out condition have colored up to colors that folks recognize, i.e. my 'tri color valida'  actually has the correct colors and not just three colors of BROWN

In fact I dont think i have any BROWN corals, except for one, and Im pretty sure it is supposed to be brown.   hehehehe

anyways, i figured i better just check to be on the safe side, and as soon as i added the 'color changing component' of the test kit, the indicator color shots to BRITE RED... no waiting five mintes, NOTHING... it is off the scale instantly...

and the scale is 50mg/l of nitrates


so, i go ahead and double the test to get a more accurate and higher reading, and it is still off the chart.. this means over 100+


ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH


anyways, i know my salt water mixing barrel is off line cause it was full of gunk... the sides had the calcification i was expecting but in my barrel the calcification was a mud colore brown and it was not hard it was silty/muddy feeling.. slippery

so, i know where the nitrates and gunk is coming from and i am in the process of cleaning and scrubbing and having to re-plumb it, cause it used to be 'hard plumbed' to my 180g system for super easy water changes... now it is just a free standing barrel that has a spigot to get the water out, and a RO/DI water tube feeding the fresh water into the barrel...

anyways, since i am in process of cleaning and re-constructing the saltwater mixing barrel i had to buy salt water, ('catalina water'  -- and no, it isnt from Catalina Island-- It is just ocean water)

I bought 35 gallons and did a 50% water change... 

This brought my nitrates down to about 50

So, i went out and bought another 25 gallons.


So, basically i did a 100% water change in 1 day...


Take a look at the chart

http://66.147.240.164/~thelitu5/TLO/graphs.php?period=hour24&from=2%2F28%2F10&to=3%2F1%2F10&Temperature=1&pH=1&CF1=1&CF2=1


You can see the times when i did the water change...

It seems I dropped the temperature down to 76.5 each time...

In the AM that was a 1 degree drop, but later on that day, it was a 3 degree temperature drop... OOOPSSSSSSY


Anyways, nothing really seemed to be distress or closed up.. in fact, JAke showed up last night later on, and there was no direct evidence other then the nitrate test result was around 25 mg/l


ARRRGHHH


STILLLLLL


OMG, I just spend $35 - $40  for water...


I better get my barrel hooked up again.. I have two full buckets of D-D Salt mix that i can use to make more, and when i do mix it up, i will do another 50 gallon water change, maybe two...

This time, i will have better control over temperature of the new salt water as i can put a heater into the barrel...

[Just_Greg]

heyas...glad ya got a handle on it.

i guess since Jake popped by, he got the Ulva?

[KYLEJ]

I bet you are glad you checked! 

[Bergy]

Yea, he came by last night, he is a night owl, and i have sleep issues, so we are both kinda on the same schedule


But, last night it looked like my corals were hungry, so i decided to target feed some of them, ok all of them... and yea, not the best thing to do when fighting nitrates, but I can resist..




This coral was one of my favorites, that i loved and always wanted...I have had this coral for about a year, and it is doing steller.... it does have some recession around the perimiter/bottom, where the light cant reach it directly...

but other then that, it loves to eat...

[Learner]

Pleased you're on the case of the nitrates, lovely coral....
HOW did you post a pic' there????

[Bergy]

you should be able to click on a 'category' then click on ADD PICTURE

Or

You can click on ADD CATEGORY, then click on add pictures.

After a while, the gallery will be full of everyones pictures, but you can click on YOUR PICTURES or YOUR ALBUM, (sorry, cant recall the exact phrapse), and it will pull up just your pictures to view


you can also leave comments on pictures in the gallery, or if you posted the picture, you can select to prevent people from commenting, if you want...


these MODS are new to me too, so, I am learning how to use them too, so please be patient, and also PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PLAY and CLICK on EVERYTHING

figure out stuff on your own and help me share the info with others...

you can also search the internet for info on the MODS by searching for SMF GALLERY  (in this case)

or, you can ask me or anyone here...

I have been trying to find someone who can help me on the 'back end' stuff for SMF administration... so, if anyone feels they can handle this, let me know... I will work with anyone to at least show them what i figured out...


If you have any website admin experience, (that is setting up a website on a WEBHOSTING SERVER), please let me know...


thanks

Pleased you're on the case of the nitrates, lovely coral....
HOW did you post a pic' there????

[Just_Greg]

Bill,

did you try the coral food we sent you home with when you fed the coral?  just curious...

as for the Ulva, i was glad to be able to give some away to someone who could use it.  i just hate tossing the stuff sometimes.

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

Newb question-Is that a zoa?

NVM its a pineapple coral

[Just_Greg]

it's a Favia sp., AKA pineapple or moon coral.  it's an LPS.

[Bergy]

yea, i dosed a few ml into the tank, but i gave the food to Jake cause of my nitrates.. i really dont want to dose anything until the nitrates are under control.

Im going to hook up a light on my sump so i can get the fuge going...

[psykokid]

Thanks for the ulva greg, my tang loves it and its always good to have an extra macro. As far as the coral food - my corals seem to open up quite nicely after adding it in, especially my tubestras.

[Bergy]

greg, jake was asking about the food, like name, what's in it.. who is distributing it, etc...

All i could remember was that it was the guy from seahorse.org, or something...

I liked how it was packaged.. i also like that it dont stink and it seems like real food particles...

[Just_Greg]

i'll get you the name of it.  Dan Underwood from SH source sent it for us to try out since he doesn't have many corals ATM.  he's the one who sent Renee all those scientific journals on nutrition.

this MIGHT be it tho:

PhycoPure™

PhycoPure™ is a unique product. It contains 7 different types of microalgae as well as a dinoflagellate, zooxanthellae. It is grown in natural seawater that has been ozonated, charcoal filtered and uv treated. PhycoPure™ offers a wide range of particle sizes and nutritional content that, individually, have been proven very effective in various aquaculture farms, and projects.