nitrates

[hippie316]

I need some help!! what can i do to lower nitrates in my tanks (10 gallon and 30 gallon)

[GaryP]

Water changes (5-10% per week), add a skimmer, cut back on feeding, change your carbon frequently. If you are running an HOB unit, those little carbon filter cartrides don't last long before they are exhausted.

Gary

[Ram_Puppy]

Can you tell us more about your tank? What GaryP says is good general advice, but if your in the middle of cycling your tank you need to let it be and finish the cycle. If not, and you allready have critters, definately you need to do exactly as gary says.

if your running a fiber filter media, (Like goes in a hang on filter) that typically just traps the waste so it can rot in your tank. Skimmers are one of the most important pieces of equipement you can put on a reef tank, and you should definately get a GOOD one (not a petsmart jobbie!) AquaC, Euro-Reef, something that will blast the waste out of the water. There are plenty of good brands and types out there.

Adding a hang on refugium with some macro-algae in it would probably help as well.

How much live rock do you have in these tanks? Live Sand? How Deep is the bed? How long has the tank been set up? give us more info, and hopefully we can give you more help.

[scuba_steveo]

I alway had this problem in my 37 until I added a HOB refugium.