Nitrate problems are stressing me out!!

[EDDS]

Hey, I just purchased a fully set up 34gal. Red Sea Max 130D. The guy I bought it off of had it set up and running for over a year, so its good and cycled. I have some beautiful red long tentacle anemones and another one I'm not sure what it is, but to the point, I don't want to kill them!! I got it set back up right away, the tank was covered in diatoms and algae, so I did some quick cleaning and got it looking real nice. I have had no problems with any of the fish or inverts in the tank, but I can't seem to lower my nitrate below 10-20ppm! My ammonia and nitrite are both testing at 0ppm and my pH is between 8.0 and 8.2. My calcium levels are sitting at 400ppm and my SG is anywhere between 1.021 and 1.023. I test my water every other day and in the week and a half I have had the tank, I've done probably five water changes! I feed Omega One fish flakes in the morning and brine shrimp at night. I have also been spot feeding my anemones cocktail shrimp (twice a week). Am I doing anything wrong? Is there anything I can do to lower my nitrate besides water changes?
P.S. I've been a serious freshwater keeper for 5 years and this is my first saltwater tank.

[Freshwater Tropic]

First off, You really aren't doing anything wrong. What I need first is what your stocking list is besides the Anemones. Also, How much Sand & Live Rock is in the tank. To already have 10-20ppm of Nitrates in a tank that was just moved(in only a weeks time). . . There is something producing a fair amount of ammonia.

NOTE: What it could be too, Is lack of Husbandry from the past owner. As you mentioned there was a fair amount of diatoms & algae that needed cleaning. That is a great sign of unwanted nutrients already in the tank. How much old water to New water did you use when setting the tank back up?

My first suggestion would be to stop feeding cocktail shrimp as food to the Anemone and instead feed Large Mysis, Bits of Squid & Pieces of Silversides. Cocktail shrimp can really leave a lot of waste and ammonia in the water and don't give the Anemone much nutrition. Also, I would only feed the Anemone 1 time a week instead of twice a week. They sometimes go MUCH longer in the wild without eating. Anemones still have symbiotic algae(like corals) that gives them food through photosynthesis so once a week with be more than sufficient(Assuming Lighting is strong). If for some reason lighting isn't strong enough feeding would have to be twice a week. If I'm not mistaken this tank setup comes equipped with a 110w Power Compact Lamp(Making it 4watts per gallon). That is sufficient enough for most Anemones depending on their placement.

The only Big suggestion I could make is do a MASSIVE water change. Start with completely new SW. But, I would do it slowly. Remove the fish & Inverts, Complete the Major water change than re-acclimate them to the New SW. If your Nitrates again rise back to 10-20ppm, Start looking at your rockwork and Water flow in the tank. You want to make sure in the Rockwork you have no pockets where waste can settle and break down into Nitrates. If you clump them together in a tight pile it is likely for excess food to accumulate and break down.

Next, Flow in a tank should be 10-20 times the tank volume. Ex: a 30g Tank should have between 300-600GPH of flow throughout it. Including the return pump.

Hopefully this is helpful. I will keep an eye out for your reply to help you more. Until Than, Happy fish Keeping!

[Dutchman]

+1 from me.

P.S. I've been a serious freshwater keeper for 5 years and this is my first saltwater tank.

Maybe you forgot that you had live plants in your freshwater tank, and those plants lived on nitrates. You may still be used to that, but that's not happening in saltwater. Without things to consume them, nitrates can accumulate quickly creating a bit of a problem (at first) untill you learn how to manage it. Otherwise, your tank appears to be in good shape (no ammonia or nitrites). Go easy on the feeding. Just perhaps that may be one of your problems.

[Freshwater Tropic]

For sure Dutchman. That is one of the MOST common causes across our hobby, Fresh & Salt for causing High Nitrates.

[EDDS]

First I want to thank you for the quick reply. As for fish its:
2 ocellaris clown fish, 1 combtooth blenny, 1 six line wrasse, and 1 neon dottyback. for inverts I have, 1 blue tuxedo urchin, 3 chestnut trubo snails, 1 astraea snail, 1emerald crab, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 blue legged hermit crab,and the aforementioned anemones, also 1 small frag. of green apple cap plate coral. For substrate I have 2" of fine black sand topped with a 1"crushed shell/coral mix; I also have 5 large pieces of live rock placed from the middle to back of the tank with room behind rock for water flow.
For my flow I have 2x 146 gph. pumps and a 500 gph power head. combined they circulate the entire volume of the tank 23.2 times an hour. On a side note I am using 500 grams of bio max contained in a compartment under the pumps.For lighting I have 2x 55w 50/50 10,000 k & actinic T5 power compact lamps, with 4 blue LED moonlights.My lights are on an automatic timer set for 11 hours of daylight. when setting up the tank I only changed out 5 gallons of tank water with one box (5 gal.) of pre packaged ocean water.I have an RO system set up that I mix with instant ocean salt mix that I use for water changes(5 gal at a time).
One other concern is that I have a Brown/Green algae growing on the glass and substrate. I have been cleaning this algae off the glass daily, could this algae growth be partially caused by my high nitrate levels?

Once again thank you for your help i really appreciate it.

[Dutchman]

One other concern is that I have a Brown/Green algae growing on the glass and substrate. I have been cleaning this algae off the glass daily, could this algae growth be partially caused by my high nitrate levels?

Yes, definitely.

[Freshwater Tropic]

We are pretty good at replying pretty fast.

Most definitely! High Nitrates or Any Phosphates that may be in the tank. Something needs to be feeding the algae. Especially for it to be growing so rapidly. How long are you leaving your lights on?

I would truly recommend doing maybe a 50% water change on the tank. Maybe even a few of them over a few weeks. Cut back on any feeding. I usually only feed every 2-3 days. Also, Like mentioned earlier. . . Feed the Anemone only once a week. As for the algae I would say maybe cut back the lighting cycle a little bit. That too helps the algae grow.

Keep us posted on your results and what you've done so far.

[EDDS]

I have my lights on a timer set for 11 hours of day light. How much would you suggest that I cut it back? Also What time of day should I do the feedings? Or does it really matter?

[EDDS]

I just tested my water and its testing at what looks like between 20 and 40 ppm! This is seriously going to drive me into an early grave! Oh here is a picture of the tank, sorry about any blur, I took it with my phone.

[Freshwater Tropic]

Well, First thing is to NOT PANIC. It will only cause you more grief. Just take a deep breath and attack this slowly. As for what time during the day too feed, It doesn't really matter. Just cut back on the feeding a bit. Also, Make sure your fish are eating whatever is in the water.

As for your lighting schedule. . . EX: My Lights run as follows:
Actinics Turn on at 12:00pm
Daylights Turn on at 1:00pm
Daylights Turn off at 9:00pm
Actinics Turn off at 10:00pm
Moon lights turn on at 10:00pm
Moon lights turn off at 2:30am
Total Light Cycle = 10hrs
Total Daylight Cycle = 8hrs

Too much light can lead to algae issues as well. With the help of Nitrates being in the water. With both of those, You have an algae HEAVEN. Lighting is a hard thing to play with though. Some can run a 12hr daylight cycle and never have a problem. I personally never run my lights that long. Usually I run them max of 10-11hrs AT BEST!

[EDDS]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to drop my lighting time down to 10 hours of daylight, and I'll start feeding the fish once a day, every other day and hopefully i'll be able to see a difference. I'm going to try and schedule time this weekend to do another 5gal. water change. While I'm doing the water change I'll try and move the live rock around to try and maximize my water flow. If you think of anything else just let me know, I'm always open to suggestions. I really appreciate the help!

[Freshwater Tropic]

That is what we are here for. Just keep up the water changes. If you can't complete a 50% waterchange than I would recommend doing your 5g waterchanges more often 3-4times per week. All while keeping track of you nitrates. I will be here to help you along the way as needed. Good Luck!

[EDDS]

Alright, today I was able to get a ten gallon water change done. I pulled everything out of the tank and really stirred up the substrate. It was absolutely awful !! I had never seen so much debris! The water that was left in the tank was almost black, and it smelled like raw sewage. So, I got as much of it cleaned out as I could, and i added some more substrate to try and get it up to around 4 or 5 inches. I read that the thicker the substrate the better the nitrafying bacteria works. Is that true?
Anyway, I also restructured the live rock. I moved it closer to the center of the tank to help with the water flow. I went and got some Kent Marine nano reef supplements to try and take care of the corals. Finally I got everything back into the tank, let it settle for a couple of hours, and did a water test. My nitrate tested at between 5 and 10 ppm. Its not perfect, but its a step in the right direction. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and in a couple of days I'll test the water again.

[Freshwater Tropic]

That is a move in the right direction. I would highly recommend another waterchange. Other than that, I am looking forward to another update here soon. If you can get some photos up it would be cool to see it.

[EDDS]

WOW, its been a insanely busy weekend. First off my power-head broke and I had to get a new one. Then I got the shock of my life when I see one on my long tentacle anemones split in half! After a little bit of research I concluded this wasn't a bad thing. I tested my nitrate today and its back up to between 10 and 20 ppm. I'm going to do a couple more water changes and try and get it down some more. Here are is a new pic. of the tank. Let me know if I need to change anything.