how to have a lower nitrate tank by NOT doing water changes

[Bergy]

I have found out how to have a tank with lower nitrates by NOT performing routine water changes...

so, get out the pen and paper... jot down some notes....

you might want to use a table, and erego the chair to become more comfortable...






First you setup a bad You better mean it as in 'donkey' salt water mixing barrel... you put in a recirculating pump to keep the water mixed well... you put in a spigot to put a bucket under and a valve to just fill 'er up...

you run a water line from your RO/DI filter, and you run that thru a float valve so it shuts off when it gets to teh desired level...

and every day you turn on the pump and recirc the water to keep the salt suspended actually in solution...


I also know to drain about a quart or so of the water from the spigot as sometimes the gunk settles into the pipe when the pump is not on.


well, today i did my water change and noticed the water was cloudy as i added it to the tank.. and seeing as how i needed to add the water quickly as my pump was suckin air, i went ahead...

I kept some water aside to test it...


I also tested the tank water...


salinity 1.026
calcium at 380
ALK =  8 - 9 - 10   (it would keep changin color back to baseline, then i would add one more drop.. and i would swear it was the number.. then about 30 seconds later, the water would turn back to the baseline color again.. i did this  several times,, actually all the way up to 12... but the colors werent the 'real colors'.. i.e. they werent the brite green baseline color that is normal.. it was just green.. grass green...

the 'turning point color' was a dayglo orange, but, towards the end it was just raw umber or something thereabout...




ammonia  = 0

and ready for this....


NITRATEs = OFF THE CHART.. instantly.. no need to wait five minutes, although i was hoping it would lighten up...




I then tested the water from the barrel.. allegedly CLEAN NEW FRESH saltwater... (D&D)


Nitrates = 10 mg/l




HOLY CRAP


I BEEN ADDING NITRATES every week!!!!!


So, EREGO.. if i have been ADDING NITRATES each week by doing a water change, then I guess my tank will be cleaner if i dont do the water change!


(fixed)




I havent tested in forevet, thinking no need, since i was doing weekly water changes...

instead i been accumulating nitrates for a rainy day....



I would have a lower nitrate level in my display tank if i didnt do water changes...





Anyways, i tore down the mixing barrel, and will clean it out tomorrow, and re plumb it tomorrow...  

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

Its been a long day, I don't think I caught where it said how to do it, but an experiment that didn't work. ???

[Bergy]

Ok, i fixed it...

the point/joke/problem is, by me doing water changes with 'contaminated/dirty' water, then if i dont do the water change, (with that water), then my tank would be cleaner....

Its been a long day, I don't think I caught where it said how to do it, but an experiment that didn't work. ???

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

Semi get it ;D
I'll take your word that this is the best joke on TLO.

[Bergy]

i know it is a little cerbral and a little ramblin' (or more then a little)


imagine having aperfectly clean tank... zero nitrates


and if you did nothing, it would still be zero...

Now, do a water change, but instead of using clean water, use water that has 10 mg/l of nitrates in it...

you are now ADDING nitrates into your perfectly clean tank.

if you did this every day, your nitrates will accumulate.. and keep on adding

basically it is the revers of removing nitrates with each water change.. you are supposed to do water changes to constaly keep diluting the nitrates, and instead I am constantly increasing them

[psykokid]

I have some seachem prime i can bring over and we can test a given volume of your tank water and see what it does for it. It says on the bottle that it removes nitrates and such from the water. I'll bring my nitrate test over in the morning and we'll see whats going on.. Lets just hope your NO3 test is knackered.. You'd think that if your tank was that far out of line your corals would be super un happy, which is quite the contrary. Everything was all nice and open when i was over today.

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

So this thread doesn't tell us how to have a magical tank?  ;D

[psykokid]

this is old but i tested my nitrates a couple of weeks ago, off the chart.. feck.. So being the lazy sod that i am i decided to start dosing vodka and mb7 to see if i couldnt breed some bacteria to eat up the nitrate.. after two weeks of dosing vodka no change in nitrates. So i did what i should have done in the first place, a big water change. Tested the water yesterday and it was between 80 and 100.. I did a 40 gallon water change tonight and knocked the nitrate levels down to 20 ish.. :) Now we'll see if the vodka and the MB7 cant get the nitrates down to where i have to start using a low range test kit..

[Bergy]

mb7???

[psykokid]

brightwell MicroBacter7, a mish mash of "beneficial bacteria". Figured adding that while starting vokda dosing would help get the bacteria culture in the tank up and running a bit faster. I've been way too lazy with maintainence lately, i forget how good things look after a good water change/glass scraping.

Measured my levels last night and were as follows:

NO3: 25
Ca: 460
Mg: 1440
Alk: 9.9
pH: 8.2

we'll see how things go.. I may do another 20 gallon change in a week if i dont start to see any drop in nitrates from the vodka dosing.

[Mark]

Since iv'e i went on my not bothering stage for about 5 months you can imagine what my tank was like nearly septic lol now ive got back into the swing ive been using (Red Sea Biological Nitrate and Phosphate Reducer).Within a week my nitates and my phosphates were zero and all my cino bac. is fading . Hope this will help someone.