Nitrates HIgh as Hell

P.S.
with my sump (110 gallon) and plumbing I'm running about 200 gallons of water in that system and on hand I could only change 25 gallons of the saltwater. I am running R.O. and mixing more right now so I can change out more. 

Actually 40 ppm Nitrates by itself cannot kill fish. To find out why fish are dieing please tell us the age of this tank, how it was set up, the filtration, water flow, and if possible post a picture.

I agree with Ryan. Algae is constantly eating pollution. If there is a good growth of algae, any kind of algae, lighting the entire system 24/7 will bring Nitrogen compounds (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate) quickly down to safe levels within a day or two. You can get some Chaetomorpha algae free from many hobbyists here.

Once we understand the power of Algae in our reef aquariums, we find that drastic water changes become a waste of time, energy, money and can actually do more harm than good.

Here are the best pictures I could get with cell phone.... and back story, last week Our Coral Beauty had Ich, we soaked her food (and the other fishes food of course) in garlic and after a couple of days the ich seemed to be cleared up, but 2-3 days ago she died anyway. Yesterday we added 2 Emerald Crabs and a Seahare. They are still alive. All "appeared" fine in the tank at 1am when we went to bed and not fine at 8am when we woke up.

Looks to me like the tank needs some attention.

It just looks to me a bit neglected. The pumps look to be full of algea as well.  With nitrates that high also means that there hasn't been a waterchange in quite awhile.  

I can see what Brad is saying. It just looks like he said, in need of attention. The sand bed (although we don't know what type of sand it is) looks dirty and the tank just looks like it has been sitting there for months. It doesn't have that clean pop to it.

I would really consider removing the rock and sand, cleaning them, and putting them back in. It take a whole day and it is a pain. But many times it helps people to get a "wow look how much better that is" type of progress.

I've "restarted" a few tanks for people and every time we look back and think it was a good move.

Oh, one last thing. Talk to disneymania since I think he did this just a couple months ago.

Adam

Just a thought as im still rather new . When was the last  time the pump ,skimmer and pipes were cleaned ? Wouldnt flow also be a concern ?  I only clean mine every few months but its amazing how much crap is in them .

McClure wrote: The sand bed is WAY too thick, and is black sand we bought in bags, very course, like gravel... I can't remember the name of it, but there is definitely too much. [Sand was cleaned within the last year when ReefOn moved the tank] Will removing the rock and sand then cleaning it and putting it back cause a problem for the remaining occupants, do you suggest moving them to our other tank in the meantime? (not sure there is room in the other tank, but maybe.) From PM: We test all parameters at least twice weekly and some daily. Nitrates are 5 consistently until today. The SeaHare did not not die, it is still alive. (we did have one die last week though and I am not sure how long he was there before we found him, more than 5 minutes less than 2 hours.

Thanks for the pics and for the info sent in PM. There is a lot here that could benefit other hobbyists so I'm copying some of the comments made to you earlier in my PM Reply.

The depth of sand/gravel is not a problem IMHO. Large black Hawaiian sand in a nano worked perfectly for me. I placed it on top of a 1/2 inch bed of Utah Oolitic sand which is a way to use less decorative sand to do the same good job of biofiltration.

Removing sand, rinsing and replacing it is a good thing only if the tank is very old (>4 years) or if the sand was never stirred or vacuumed. Yes, stirring the sand occasionally is a good practice. It helps it stay clean and puts detritus into the water so the filter feeders can feast. Vacuuming the top 1/2 inch of the sand is okay, but not necessary.

To keep sand looking clean, I use Sand Sifting Cucumbers. I have two maroon colored ones in a 20 gal that I overfeed. I found some Tiger Tail Cucumbers but already had the others so maybe those will be collected for my next tank.

Sand Sifting Stars should never be used except in special circumstances. They eat all the life in the sand, thus destroying a lot of the biofiltration.

Euro-Reef made very good skimmers. No need for a new one, but Tyler's skimmers are excellent. The reason it's not working, I'll just bet, is that the air intake is clogged. Here is how to unclog it. While it's running, remove the airline from the Venturi air intake. With a thin grabber screw or a drill bit of the right size, ream out the air intake hole. Calcium builds up there which prevents air from being sucked into the venturi.
If that's not it, then it's the Pump. Remove and take it apart. Check for obstructions tangled around the needle wheel. Check to see if the impeller turns freely. The round magnet part of the impeller can swell to where it starts rubbing against the inside walls of the pump housing, sometimes swelling until it cannot turn at all. A new impeller is half the cost of a new pump but it's worth it. It makes the Pump run like new.

Every reef aquarium should run a handful of AC(activated carbon) about 2 weeks/month. There are a whole lot of toxic chemicals produced by all the organisms living in the reef. The only thing that can remove some of those chemicals is AC. Skimming cannot remove them and Algae, as beneficial as it is, cannot eat some of the chemicals. The easiest way to run AC is to buy some Bridal Veil material with small enough mesh to hold the AC (I prefer to use pelleted AC so the mesh size can be larger for more water flow). Place a cup or two of AC in the middle, gather the edges to form a bag and secure loosely with an elastic. Set it next to or draped over the return pump intake screen. The water flowing past the AC will then be cleaned of the "allelopathic" chemicals.

Sea hares can be harmful for a reef tank because when irritated they produce a toxic chemical. Recently I stepped on one that I didn't see. There were dozens in the area as large as my foot. It was hard to avoid because of their camouflage coloration. Anyway, it gave off a maroon colored ink that quickly washed away in the water. Unfortunately, in a reef aquarium, that ink does not wash away. That's one reason why Sea Hares should be used only as a last resort. The one that died last week probably is the reason for the fish deaths. A side effect of the stress caused by the Sea hare death was some Ich that went away as it should when you fed Garlic Oil, but Garlic could not prevent the fish from dieing as a result of Sea Hare poisoning. (AC also removes the Sea Hare toxin before it can cause too much damage.)

Besides the fish deaths, a lot of other organisms, even bacteria, died in this tank. If we could separate and collect all the bacteria from a reef tank, we would have 2-4 cups of just bacteria! Yep there is that much.
So bacteria, bugs, worms, fish and who knows what else died in a domino effect because of the ugly Sea Hare that was introduced to control the Hair Algae problem.

A lot of my writings here on the MB (message board) revolve around controlling nuisance Algae. You will see a lot of the discussion in the Reefkeeping Tips linked below in my signature line. That is recommended reading for every hobbyist. The Tips are MB discussions by a whole lot of good hobbyists regarding how to avoid and resolve many reef aquarium situations. I hope you enjoy reading.

The best advice regarding algae control is snails, snails, and snails. About one snail per gallon is a good rule of thumb. When there is a bloom of nusiance algae, 2 or more snails per gallon is often used. When the job is done, so they don't starve, the extra snails can be sold or traded here on the WMAS forum. The three types of herbivorous snails in the proportions I recommend are:
50% Astrea Snails
25% Cerith Snails
25% Hawaiian Strombus and/or Nerite Snails

Unfortunately, Nasarrius Snails are very abundant and cheap but more than a few in a reef tank is a waste. They don't eat algae.
Here is a good link to reef snails which, because it is so good, I just added to the WMAS Reefkeeping Tips: http://reefdup.blogspot.com/2012/01/invertebrates-molluscs-gastropods.html

10-15% monthly water changes is just right.

The tank looks pretty good except for the need to clean off the hair algae. The nice thing about snails is that they do most of the cleaning/maintenance for us. Arthur here in the WMAS (MB name ArthurIV) is the best source of reasonably priced snails and other reef animals that I know of. To top it off, he delivers!


Edited by Mark Peterson - March 26 2012 at 11:15am

The "sand" is actually black Hawaiian from Caribsea (got clarification from my husband) 125ish pounds of that is on top of a couple inches of Utah Oolitic sand.

Thanks to everybody for the suggestions and to Mark for the extra help in PM.

Today Nitrates are back down to 20.

We will leave the lights on a couple more days and my husband will use the suggestions from Mark on repairing the skimmer while we wait for the new one to come from Elite Aquatics, we will purchase more snails, and we will remove the living seahare. Also will be adding more algae to the sump and already lowered the light in the sump, will start using activated carbon, and will clean up the glass, rock and equipment. We have decided at this time to not remove the sand, but will keep it as an option if things don't improve.

We had planned to add a 180 gallon tank to the existing system, instead we have decided to have two separate systems, in case of emergency.