[hitter06]

hi everyone i have a 125gal that has been set up for about 7-8 months, and my nitrate r very high. i only have about 70 lbs of rock in there but i have a wet/dry with a nitrate remover pad in it but its not doing anything, my lights only stay on for 5-6 hours a day and only feed 1 cube of frozen shrimp a day... everything is turning brown... need help bad...

[BLKBRDTA]

Unfortunately, NO3 removal media such as sponges and pads are more of a gimmick than a remedy. Other than the highly acclaimed De-Nitrification reactors, the only few ways to level your parameters out are with water changes, maybe some carbon media and additional LR and LS to boost anaerobic bacteria population.

What are your current water parameters for everything? Livestock list? Canister filter or sump/refugium? Powerhead/return pump (gph)? DSB (Deep Sand Bed)?

[pogodzib]

Many factors can influence how your tank handles nitrates - livestock, equipment, feeding habits, maintenance, LR amount, etc...

In addition to answering Tony's questions, what is inside your wet/dry filter and do you have a skimmer? If so, what type?

[unclejed]

In addition to Tony and Brian, Macro in the display (Halimeda, a non intrusive type) or in the sump (again Halimeda or Culpera or other types) will go along way with eradicating most algae, however, diatom (Brown) could be as simple as light, either from a window or your bulbs are old.

[hitter06]

my nitrite and phos are both at 0. i have a skimmer(SS 220) and in my wet/dry i have carbon. above water level bio-balls thats it..lights could be old i havent changed bulbs in about 8-9 months..

[hitter06]

i have 1 green chromis 2 clown fish and 1 Orangeshoulder Tang .

[BLKBRDTA]

Keep those bio-balls clean! I have some as well and keep them spotless, this keeps my NO3 down below 10 ppm. 4 fish in a 125g isn't a lot so obviously it is not your bio-load that is causing the Diatom outbreak. Although feeding habits greatly impact water stability and it can also produce as much waste as if there were more than 4 fish in the display. I would try swapping out the bulbs first, along with water changes. If you see no change after the first week of new bulbs, then move on to you filtration media and throughly clean everything in clean RO/DI water. Also, your Phosphate and Nitrite are both 0 ppm. But what is your current Nitrate level at?

[hitter06]

its at like 80

[BLKBRDTA]

Then forget the replacement bulbs for now. Work on lowering those Nitrates down with a substantial amount of water changes. At least 6 or 7 5g buckets worth at first, target 60 ppm within 24 hours.. After that do another 5 or so buckets and target 40 ppm, so on and so forth. This will dilute the NO3 each time a new batch of SW is added, then siphoned out and replaced once again. Give it time, don't change 50%+ of the water in one session. If the Diatoms still do not go away, then try swapping out the bulbs.

[hitter06]

ok i will try it out tomorrow

[yvr]

Removing the Bio Balls will really help a lot. Using RO/DI water and a high quality salt with no NO3 like Tropic Marin will really help too. Some commercial dry foods also contain nitrates so I try and use fresh/frozen foods in my tank

[hitter06]

well im doing like 20gaL water changes a week .. and im gonna remove the bio ball but cant really afford more rock so what u suggest?