QuoteReplyTopic: Nitrate and Nitrite, Help Please... Posted: September 22 2010 at 9:18am
On Saturday I used ChemiClean to kill off my cyano problem, it worked great! I did a large water change on Monday, added a bunch of carbon and turned my skimmer back on.
I asked a question here yesterday about ammonia from the dying cyano, and because of the responses decided to check my levels. I don't have a way to check ammonia, but I do have tests for Nitrite and Nitrate. Both were high (I can't remember the exact levels, I was just using test strips). So I did a 15 gallon water change last night.
This morning I measured again (8-9 hours after the water change). The Nitrite is still showing up, but is no longer in Dangerous Levels (according to the test strip) it is at the bottom of the stress region, so it has dropped or stayed down since yesterday.
The Nitrate on the other hand was in Dangerous Levels last night, and still is this morning.
I'm assuming since the Nitrite is dropping the Nitrate will follow in suit, correct?
How bad are the high Nitrate levels for my fish, softies, anemonies?
Should I do another water change ASAP?
Thanks,
-Tim
Sure you are, you are Crappy Reef Club Member #1 -Chk4tix
If you have a skimmer hooked up then things should start to come back around over time. For a quick fix I would throw in a good sized chunk of Chaeto. It will soak up some nutrients for you.
You could also dose a little vodka to the tank and let the carbon feed the nitrate eating bacteria. I suggest this BUT YOU MUST USE CAUTION and read about it before just dumping vodka into the tank. I love how my tank is going right now and I dose vodka to keep nutrients in check. You just have to use caution and be smart. All the horror stories you will hear on this board are because of USER error. I have dosing for 6 months now and have had no issues.
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