help high nitrates in my marine (salt water) reef tank?

[richarda]

hi

i need some help with my reef tank everything is great apart form the nitrate levels that have gone though the roof! i have a 80ppm reading and have lost a bubble tip and a number of corals due to this problem!

i have done 3 water changes a week over the last 4 weeks to try and solve ts problem but with no luck at all as i use tap water with aqua safe to remove chlorine as when i first started my tank up 6 months ago there was no nitrate at all in my water and yesterday when i tested fresh water out of the mains it was sky high with nitrates and now i cant afford a ro unit and cant get ro water so can i use rain water

[Jarhead084]

rain water is un use able since the rain is coming from a unreliable source. it is more safe to check into a neighboring fish store. and ask them how you can get your nitrate level to the exact one you need it to be

[joanne952]

you can buy r/o water from a lot of pet stores I would see about doing that it's only a couple bucks a gallon. You can do water changes till you drop but it won't change your nitrate level if there is nitrates in your tap.

[jokerbonnz969]

if you can't afford a r/o unit i would try some
feather caulerpa here is a link to ebay for some
http://cgi.ebay.com/Caulerpa-sp-Macro-algae-feather-fern-reef-refugium_W0QQitemZ220452184239QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3353f960af
there is a cheap di filter that i use with the feather caulerpa it cost $43 here is a link
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4484
hope this helped