High Nitrites

[hunk]

Hi Guys

My tanks have been in the 8th week of cycling but the nitrites are still very high!! Currently I have

2 volitan
1 panther grouper
1 blue spotted grouper
1 clown
1 domino damsel
1 picasso trigger

I feed the fishes 4 times a week and did a 25% weekly change of water but the nitrits don't seems to go down. HELP!!!!

 

[OrionGirl]

Hmmm...Big, messy eaters, too many fish for anything but an enormous tank, failed to cycle fishlessly.

 

[Toooloud]

What size tank is it.

and what kind of Filtration are you running? Are you running any sort of Mechanical Filtration? If so then you will allways have nitrates, Unless you remove it and add more live rock! .

What are your Nitrates at ?

 

[hunk]

Hi OG

What do you mean by messy eaters? Has it got to do with Nitrites? I am having a 60 Gallon tank and I am running on a submerged power head for water movement

At the same time, I do have about 100lbs of LR and 2 inches of substrate. Its sad to see my nitrites running high after so many weeks but I do admit the fact that I cycle the tank with 23 damsels.

All my fish are doing fine and eating well but still its a challenge to see the nitrites go down. I was wondering if nitrites are harmful then why are the fishes doing fine? They are crazy during feeding and my picasso is so ever busy that he just couldn't keep still for 1 sec. Pls advice thanks

 

[MonoSebaelover]

What OG means by messy eaters, is triggers, lions, and groupers are extremely piggy and put a HUGE bioload on systems especially when kept together. Triggers rarely eat all food given to them, generally spit some out, and also all the food that goes in comes back out as waste and there would be a TON of it with this crowd. Have you done any water changes? This will be 2nd best way to reduce nitrites. The number one reason you have nitrites is because there is too much of a big bioload so the rock and such can not support them. I would advise returning some of them. I hope you did your research before buying them realizing that the Panthers will get 2 feet long a piece, each lion will get 15 inches and is the size of a basketball swimming in your tank, the Huma will get a foot, and the Blue spot Grouper will also get around 15 inches. For this bio load you will be looking at a 500 gallon tank when they start approaching adult sizes. So I would definetly return both panthers, both lions, and the blue spot grouper. They just get far too large for your size tank and definetly return the lions because the Huma WILL turn on them, it is just a matter of when. It will start with fin nipping all fins including the venomous spikes then when the lion is pretty much immobile the trigger will finish the job. So please look into smaller fish and reduce the bioload and this will reduce the nitrites, which are very deadly to fish. Toooloud, there are probably hardly any Nitrates since nitrites aren't getting converted to nitrates. Hope this helps and hope that you return some of these monsters.

 

[OrionGirl]

You originally posted here, asking if you should get the lion for a 55. Everyone indicated that would cause problems, no, don't get a lion for that tank. Yet, you decided you knew best, got 2 lions--plus a bunch of other large fish. And, guess what--now you have problems. I have no reason to believe you will follow any advice offered now.

 

[hunk]

so sorry

It seems that OG is not happy with me, so sorry OG but the volitans are too captivating to resists.

I have returned all fishes to the LFS and they did not give me a refund. Right now, I am only left with a Humu and 1 clown.

By the way what is the correct size for a tank mean for lions??

 

[MonoSebaelover]

Not quite sure what you mean by the last question. Basically Volitans need at least a 125, more preferably a 180 when full adult. They should be given as much room as possible in order to thrive. In a couple of days, I will be getting a baby Volitans (only 2.5 inches) for my 55, but it will only be in there for a month max before it gets moved to a 125 gallon. Basically the 55 is a quarentine tank rather than its living quarters. Another problem is with what your stock was, it was too much for just live rock and live sand to handle. Plus to the fact that triggers are killing the inverts that keep the rock clean for the bacteria to spread. On my 55, it has a wet dry filter, Emperor 400 and 60 lbs of live rock. All this together keep the tank fine for the current load (4 Bar Gobies, Filamented Gudgeon, Engineer Goby and 2.5 inch Helmet Cowfish). Also there are bi-weekly 20% water changes performed so water is staying good despite the slightly high stocking levels (plus all fish listed above except the cow produce minimal waste compared to larger predators). So now that you have reduced your self to a trigger and a Clown add one or two more SMALL fish and call it a day. I wouldn't add anything that will get over 5" to that tank. Even that might be a bit pushing it with the adult size of the Huma. I think OrionGirl might be having a bad day. Well now hopefully she has 3 days vacation so should be back to her happy, perky, normal self soon.

 

[Corax]

A single volitan in a 55 is overstocked. Imagine a fish the size of a basketball in there. That is about what a full grown volitan would be. A lot of people buy a fish and say "well, I know it wont reach full size in here, but I can move it later"... Tell me, have you ever moved a basketball sized fish with venomous spines all over it? Not easy =) The only lionfish you are going to be able to keep in that tank are the dwarf varieties. The Dwarf Zebra Lion is a fabulous critter, looks a lot like a Volitan in fact. Another possibility would be an Antenatta Lion. Smaller than a Volitan, bigger than a dwarf, but still only about 7".

One problem I see is that anything that will fit into the cavern of a mouth that the Lions have will become a meal eventually. Most all clowns fit very nicely. The only clown that would stand a chance would be a big fat Clarkii, Tomato or Maroon.

The Huma gets over a foot long and is not apropriate for your tank in the long run. Find it a new home.

Another tank resident to consider would be a Dwarf Angel, specifically the Flame or Coral Beauty. Either would do fine in a 55, and would be ok with the Lion.

You will probably need to skim this tank, as OG said, you have a tank full of messy eaters. They eat a lot, poop a lot, and drop a lot of food. A good skimmer is all that stands between you and poor water quality.

I realize that what you are being told may not go along with how cooooooool you want your tank to be. If the whiz bang cool factor of a tank is all that matters to you then go buy some Oscars and feed em for your friends. But, if you want to be a responsible keeper and provide the proper environment for your fish, then the people here can make that happen if you'll listen to them. OG is one of the most knowledgable folks I know when it comes to salty life, and when she says something you can pretty much bet that it is good advice. All beginners make mistakes, some keep on repeating those mistakes time and time again while others learn to accept the words of those that have been there and done that. Choose your path my friend, you don't get to have it both ways =)