AdInfinitum
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2012
- Location
- Thorndale, Ontario
+++1 on checking the test kit and testing your soucre water as a control.
Unless you physically add them...nitrates don't "spike" independently, they accumulate gradually.
To raise the concentration from 0 to 160ppm in 2 weeks would take a couple hundred gallon water changes with 300ppm polluted water. If your tap water has those levels of DOC's you probably don't want to drink it.....
Old rock is a definite issue but even in my case where I am dealing with 400 lbs of rock/substrate that has spent years in dirty fowler/predator systems, concentrations didn't really top 100ppm in the reef tank. (although in the fish tank with a heavy bioload and small skimmer and old rock, another story...)
+++1 On cleaning/changing any media that could trap detritus and hold it in the system to break down further. Including rock in your sump which IMO should be regularly "rinsed". You can remove buildup from sump rocks without harming their fauna by periodically shaking the pieces out in a tote filled with tank water that you have drained to discard. This is also a chance to vacuum up the
oop: that accumulates under the rock if you have a rock section in your sump. (this would be the reason that some people don't agree with rock in the sump...)
Unless you physically add them...nitrates don't "spike" independently, they accumulate gradually.
To raise the concentration from 0 to 160ppm in 2 weeks would take a couple hundred gallon water changes with 300ppm polluted water. If your tap water has those levels of DOC's you probably don't want to drink it.....
Old rock is a definite issue but even in my case where I am dealing with 400 lbs of rock/substrate that has spent years in dirty fowler/predator systems, concentrations didn't really top 100ppm in the reef tank. (although in the fish tank with a heavy bioload and small skimmer and old rock, another story...)
+++1 On cleaning/changing any media that could trap detritus and hold it in the system to break down further. Including rock in your sump which IMO should be regularly "rinsed". You can remove buildup from sump rocks without harming their fauna by periodically shaking the pieces out in a tote filled with tank water that you have drained to discard. This is also a chance to vacuum up the
oop: that accumulates under the rock if you have a rock section in your sump. (this would be the reason that some people don't agree with rock in the sump...)