# Nitrate problem



## dave12678 (Jan 24, 2007)

I did a water change this week a stirred up the sand a lot when I was sucking up water. I went to do all my checks after the water change and my nitrates were through the roof. I have never had high nitrates before so I did another water change it dropped it to 40 I am going to do another tomorrow when I get home from work I think its less then 40 the color wasn't exact. I was wondering what other ways could I keep my nitrates low? I know water changes but would a skimmer help me with that as well? The tank looks really good tonight after the change. The coral are still open and the fish are active. I put a back of carbon in the water to help out with it, is there anything else I should look into? 

thanks guys


----------



## daisycutter (Jan 4, 2007)

dont know if it helps as i only keep freshwater i keep nitrates close to nothing by using pumps and filters that are larger than is needed for the volume of water


----------



## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

When you did the water change you stirred up alot of debris it sounds like. When you did that you released nitrates. How deep is your sand bed? If its a deep one as in 3" or more you should not touch it as you would disturb alot of unwanted stuff and could crash your tank. As for the skimmer yes it will help alot. It would remove most of the stuff that floats around the tank.


----------



## dave12678 (Jan 24, 2007)

maybe 2 inches, I did stir up a lot but I think I am gonna have to break it down because I got 2 camel back shrimp instead of peppermint. I know the guy messed up on giving me them but I lost the damn receipt. If I get more coral I don't want them to become a problem.


----------

