Are you serious???
I guess my battle to keep mine in the teens isn't to bad then. I can't wait to build/buy a refugium.
How do I get the nitrates down??
- Thread starter journey0820
- Start date
Are you serious???
I guess my battle to keep mine in the teens isn't to bad then. I can't wait to build/buy a refugium.
LMAO...your avin a giraffe there....Believe me, if your nitrates were that high, you'd be near enough staring at a dead tank....And telling people that high nitrates is something not to worry about is VERY bad advice indeed....
My opinion of course
Thanks everyone, this is helpful. I've only been doing weekly water changes lately so I'll bump that up. I can also stir up the detritus more regularly. I have a skimmer and I have 50lbs live rock in a 25 gallon tank so I can't add any more...no room. I think a tiger tail cucumber is a great idea...mine is not that variety and feeds mostly on the glass, occasionally on the rock...never in the sand. I have a big CUC and they are eating all the time but I do see poo floating around occasionally. All the advice helps to give me something to do...appreciate it! OH, I also have a bit of green hair algae clumps and a couple of macros (halameda and a shave brush tree) but my reef guy is bringing me some caulerpa so maybe that will help too.
One more question...should I stop cleaning the green growth on the glass?? I'm wondering if it is helping with the nitrates and if by cleaning it off I may be slowing the process down?
I might get stoned for this, but is excessive water change really a good long term solution? Journey has been doing it for 2-3 months, (at some point daily, if I remember correctly). And now 'only' weekly change. When is enough enough?
I don't want to hurt anyone's business, but IMHO the TBS package should only be ordered until the tank is established. May be with just water and sand running for 6 wks. And even then there may still be significant die off. However, it must be mentioned that there are major upsides with these packages.
I don't want to hurt anyone's business, but IMHO the TBS package should only be ordered until the tank is established. May be with just water and sand running for 6 wks. And even then there may still be significant die off. However, it must be mentioned that there are major upsides with these packages.
I'm not suggesting that 400 is great! I'm just saying someone doesn't need to freak out about 60ppm. My 10 year old fish have not complained and they are fat and healthy. I have algae that could feed a family of 4 for a week. It feeds a family of about 200,000 pods.
Tomorrow I'll test the trates and post a picture. Lets see what it is.
Hey there,
Appreciate the thoughts. The daily water changes were for about 2-3 days right after I got the second shipment and is pretty standard. I have been doing weekly changes because I thought that is what all small tanks are supposed to be doing...am I wrong about that? My ammonia and trites dropped fast so I haven't been doing them for any other reason other than I thought it was typical small tank maintenance.
I don't think it can damage anyone's business to debate. I disagree (shocking, I'm sure) about ordering the package only in an established tank. There was very little die off with the package in the first place so I'm not sure that letting the tank sit for awhile first would greatly reduce the already low die off. Plus, the tank is going to have some sort of cycle with all that life whether the tank is new or older so I'm still not seeing how waiting helps. It seems like duplicating the process. Cycle alone. Then cycle again with stuff. The other issue to me is that if you add the package into a truly established tank (like with existing life rather than just sand and cycled water), I would worry that the few days when the ammonia spikes would damage that existing life. Am I missing something? I'm open to hear your ideas.
The other variable I'm wondering about is how long it takes traditional set ups to get all parameters down to 0. My ammonia and trites were down within 1 -2 weeks (I think closer to 1) after putting in the second shipment of LR. Nitrates have been hovering around 40-80 since. What is "normal"?
I have lost a crab and a sea cucumber at various points in the process but saw no ammonia spike after. Could the deaths still have something to do with the nitrates?
Thanks for all the help and ideas..
Appreciate the thoughts. The daily water changes were for about 2-3 days right after I got the second shipment and is pretty standard. I have been doing weekly changes because I thought that is what all small tanks are supposed to be doing...am I wrong about that? My ammonia and trites dropped fast so I haven't been doing them for any other reason other than I thought it was typical small tank maintenance.
I don't think it can damage anyone's business to debate. I disagree (shocking, I'm sure) about ordering the package only in an established tank. There was very little die off with the package in the first place so I'm not sure that letting the tank sit for awhile first would greatly reduce the already low die off. Plus, the tank is going to have some sort of cycle with all that life whether the tank is new or older so I'm still not seeing how waiting helps. It seems like duplicating the process. Cycle alone. Then cycle again with stuff. The other issue to me is that if you add the package into a truly established tank (like with existing life rather than just sand and cycled water), I would worry that the few days when the ammonia spikes would damage that existing life. Am I missing something? I'm open to hear your ideas.
The other variable I'm wondering about is how long it takes traditional set ups to get all parameters down to 0. My ammonia and trites were down within 1 -2 weeks (I think closer to 1) after putting in the second shipment of LR. Nitrates have been hovering around 40-80 since. What is "normal"?
I have lost a crab and a sea cucumber at various points in the process but saw no ammonia spike after. Could the deaths still have something to do with the nitrates?
Thanks for all the help and ideas..
I've been holding off buying fish because of the nitrates but realize based on one of your posts that my strategy of buying small corals to help stave off the fish buying impulse was backwards. Darn. Well, I have three cheapo baby coral colonies...we'll see if they make it. The ricodias been in there about two weeks and other than being pushed around by inverts, seems okay.
So, can I get a clown fish?
So, can I get a clown fish?
Found this great article on nitrates:
http://joejaworski.wordpress.com/2007/11/12/nitrates/
I'm hoping to get a hob refugium in august for my birthday...can add a dsb there and lots of macros. In the meantime I might just add some macros straight to the tank and put them in the refugium later.
They did mention that some people take out their filter medium to lower nitrates a little. This seems like a bad idea to me as it lowers nitrates by lowering the bacteria that would break down the ammonia and nitrites. So, lower nitrates, seems to me to mean higher ammonia and trites?? Am I missing something?
http://joejaworski.wordpress.com/2007/11/12/nitrates/
I'm hoping to get a hob refugium in august for my birthday...can add a dsb there and lots of macros. In the meantime I might just add some macros straight to the tank and put them in the refugium later.
They did mention that some people take out their filter medium to lower nitrates a little. This seems like a bad idea to me as it lowers nitrates by lowering the bacteria that would break down the ammonia and nitrites. So, lower nitrates, seems to me to mean higher ammonia and trites?? Am I missing something?
Yep, adding that package to any tank will change the bios drastically. That is why I was thinking just water and sand (and maybe LR). Don't get me wrong about TBS, I just might try it some day. But there could be better ways to prepare a tank for "hit".
And the "hit" is not avoidable. Simply because many wild species cannot survive in a tank, regardless. Some other will die because of the instability. Most of them we probably can't see with naked eyes. Their processed bodies will just keep showing as nitrate in the coming days, weeks, and months. However long for nature to take its course.
Here is what I would do: set up a 75G with water, sand, and 30lbs of other LR for 6 weeks. Then order a 30lbs package. Wait 6 months, order another 30lbs.
And the "hit" is not avoidable. Simply because many wild species cannot survive in a tank, regardless. Some other will die because of the instability. Most of them we probably can't see with naked eyes. Their processed bodies will just keep showing as nitrate in the coming days, weeks, and months. However long for nature to take its course.
Here is what I would do: set up a 75G with water, sand, and 30lbs of other LR for 6 weeks. Then order a 30lbs package. Wait 6 months, order another 30lbs.
