Spartanman's cube

maidia said:
What is your NO3 test kit?
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Salifert. When I first noticed the NO3 spike I ordered a new salifert test kit to confirm since the one I had was a bit old. The new kit confirmed the original results. So, I'm fairly confident that they are accurate.

But since dosing vinegar things seem to be improving. Skimmer production is up, tissue recession has stopped, and chaeto growth has improved. Now it's just a matter of getting the tissue to grow back.

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Spartanman22 said:
Salifert. When I first noticed the NO3 spike I ordered a new salifert test kit to confirm since the one I had was a bit old. The new kit confirmed the original results. So, I'm fairly confident that they are accurate.

But since dosing vinegar things seem to be improving. Skimmer production is up, tissue recession has stopped, and chaeto growth has improved. Now it's just a matter of getting the tissue to grow back.

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You said NO3 is 50, did you compare the color when look down from the top or on the side of the test vial?
 
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Down through the top which is what the kit calls for if I remember correctly. I supervise a laboratory and have access to a spec 20. I am going to bring in a sample and run it for NO3

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Well I'm getting ready to throw in the towel at this point. Over the past 4 weeks my SPS have continued to slowly dwindle.

Today's parameters are

Alk: 8.4
Ca: 460
Mg: 1380
Temp: 77.8
pH: 8.35
Salinity: 1.026
NO3: 50 ppm

I've been doing weekly 5 gallon water changes and have been dosing 50 mL/day. I've been increasing by 5-10 mL everyday, and still have not been able to drop below 50 ppm.

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Spartanman22 said:
Well I'm getting ready to throw in the towel at this point. Over the past 4 weeks my SPS have continued to slowly dwindle.

Today's parameters are

Alk: 8.4
Ca: 460
Mg: 1380
Temp: 77.8
pH: 8.35
Salinity: 1.026
NO3: 50 ppm

I've been doing weekly 5 gallon water changes and have been dosing 50 mL/day. I've been increasing by 5-10 mL everyday, and still have not been able to drop below 50 ppm.

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U still have that eel in there maybe hea stiring sand to much although looks like this is new build or hes to messy of a eater . I know people dont always agree with me but priducts like prime and stabile always get me out of a pinch they detoxify crap like that to make it harmless to fish and stuff. Not a permanet solution but might by u some time . U might need to add bio balls or that other crap that does same thing as bio balls to help build up nitrate reducing bacteria just some ideas may help u out. Hate to see people leave to many lately
 
Btw my brother had same issue and was losing coral i told him same thing i just told u and gave him a bio ball section for his sump a month later his tank is running great .
 
I stir the sand as part of the weekly tank maintenance so I doubt that's the issue. The eel was the last addition in early July, but I had fantastic growth and general health through August before things went south.

This system isn't new it's been running for over 3 years now. So, it should be pretty mature at this point. A BP reactor may be an option but theoretically any carbon dosing should provide the same utility. I've noticed a decrease in nitrates while dosing vinegar, but things have not improved. I've actually noticed a decrease in PE.

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Don't lose heart, I'm having a PITA time right now with opposite nutrient issue. Are you running carbon? I'd throw some ROX in there in a bag and start doing 5% water changes every day. Also don't go too nuts with vinegar, it could cause other issues.

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Your skimmer pic earlier said it was working better, but I didn't really see any foam. Are you dumping a stinky load of dark brown skimmate out each week? I just can't understand why the NO3 is coming from.
 
No its maintained a better foam head recently but I can't get dark skimmate anymore no matter what I do. It's always a wet tea colored skim. It needs replacing I think.

Any yes I have carbon in a TLF reactor. It is about due for replacing but I've been replacing it every other water change (every 2 weeks). I also run filter socks and change those out every couple of days.

Nothings really changed in my system so I'm not sure where the nutrients are coming from. I have a semi deep sand bed in my fuge. It may be possible that I am seeing the nutrients come from there.

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I'm starting to wonder if I ever had a NO3 problem to start with. All through summer my tank ran fantastic. I did bi-weekly water changes, dosed Ca and Alk and test for Ca, alk, pH, and temp. It wasn't until I got back from my honeymoon that I did a full parameter testing and noticed the high nitrates. It may be possible my system has always had high nitrates and now I'm shocking it by trying to strip it down. Prior to the honeymoon I was feeding frozen twice a day and dry food 3-4 times per day. I ran gfo in a reactor that I changed infrequently, used a filter sock that got changed every 2-3 days and a sponge filter in between baffles.

I'm going to stop with all the vinegar dosing, carbon media, excessive water changes and just try to let the system be for a while. At this point it can't really get much worse so we'll see how it goes.

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Just picked up Ed's RO Diablo 160, thanks again! Hopefully I can start getting some actual skimmate. My SCA would only produce a light yellow tea at best. This thing may be a bit oversized for my system, but it is heavily stocked and I'd like to get back to heavy feedings.

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After almost 24 hours the tank already looks cleaner. It may just be my mind playing tricks on me but the water seams clearer.

Oddly enough I have about 4 sps frags I added within the past month. Those 4 frags are doing well and encrusting, but all the sps that have been in the tank for a while are still unhappy. I've moved all the damaged pieces to the frag tank to try and recover.

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I did it's been going since about 6:30 last night. Tanks water looks cleaner already, I'll just have to wait and see if my tanks load will be enough to keep a foam head on it

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