Nitites!!

H

hunk

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May 28, 2003
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first of all, I would like to apologise for being a mule as I do not heed the advice of OG when she advice me not to do the things which I have done.

Alright that is the past right now after seven months my nitirite level is still 0.5, I dont know why. My tank has been without fish for almost 2 months and I did a monthly 25% water change. Right now I have only 2 corals living in it, 1 mushroom and 1 hammer branch. Thats all. However my nitrites are still there!! I ahve trie dputting in some liquified bacteria in order to speed up the cycle but its not helping. May I have some advice on this? Thanks for everything
 
Water changes, water changes, water changes. The bacteria supplements are mostly bunk, so I wouldn't waste money on them. Bio-Spira for marine tanks has gotten mixed review, but may be worth it. Otherwise, changing water out and limiting nutrient introduction are your best options.
 
Thanks OG but how much and how frequent should I change? By changing water does that mean that the nitrites will be lost for good presuming that I keep my current livestocks. Do u think I should get all living things out and recycle my tank with deli shrimps again?
 
Do water changes large enough and often enough to reduce the nitrites to less than .25 ppm. Start off with changing about 10%--test, and if that doesn't lower it, change 20%. Test daily.

The reduction in nitrites will help the fish, but the bacteria colonies will still establish themselves to a size where they can handle the nitrites without as frequent water changes. Nitrites are not as toxic in SW as they are in FW, but you still want to keep them under control.

If you remove te livestock, where will it go?

HTH
 
Thanks again OG, I have did some 20% water changes and now the Nitrites are at 0.2 ppm. I have 2 tanks and all my livestock will go to te other cycled 120 Gal tank

Lastly, I have a flame scallop any idea what it feeds on? I know that they are filter feeder and do they take the same food as corals. I realised that they usd somethings to stick their backside on some LR is that normal?
 
Yep. Flame scallops are actually quite difficult to maintain in the aquarium. They need a constant supply of food in the water column, making it tough to keep water quality up without starving them. I would use a baster to target feed it 3 times a day, with a quality coral/filter feeder food like DTs. They build a fibrous tangle of strands to glue themselves into a location, and moving them can kill them.
 
It seems strange that you still have any measurable nitrite in the tank after all that time. Have you tried more than one test kit?

I agree about the flame scallop. Unless you are willing to dump a lot of phytoplankton into the tank, it will probably do poorly.

Reed Mariculture has a little info about feeding shellfish. I have been using their Tahitian Blend for my arks. DTs is also good, now that they are using bigger species.
 
sea Cucumber

Alrite, thks a million for all those info, My friend has a sea cucumber and he is curious what does the sea cucumber feeds on as it seems that it is doing fine without feeding it for weeks. Howeveer he does see those hairy tentecles coming out and licking them as they filters through the water . Does they feed on DTs as well?
 
What kind of cuke? It sounds like one of the type that sits on the rocks, suspension feeding. I am not sure where to find the info, but the little ones that came with my live rock do fine with Tahitian Blend (like DTs) and the debris from the fish' dinner.

By the way, most inverts can live weeks or months without feeding. That's one thing that makes it hard to know whether you're doing things right. The animals may be starving, but you don't know it until they die after several months.

I figure I'm doing things right if they are still alive after a year.
 
Hi Morgunda

You are rite he sits on a rock and its very colour I would say it resembles a ripe peach with red yellow and some purple on its skin. When it is feeding, the butt opens up showing a rich purple with 10 hairy tentcles with red stems. Its a nice creatuire
 
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