Nitrates Are Killing Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Thread starter jencrane63
- Start date
It is called reef chili got if off ebay some guy makes it and my fish and anemones love it but I only use it twice a week.
Your turn over is about 6 times per hour that's not really high flow but, it will work ok ,"more would be better", fwiw your foxface is going to be the largest fish in your tank about 9 inches and the tang will be about 8 inches long,green chromis 3x3, blue damsel 2 inches ,"it probably needs more personal space than the foxface".
These are all also pretty active fish making a lot of waste.
I'm not attempting to use the inch per gallon urban legend it just doesn't work in s.w.
You can keep all those fish in your tank but, you're going to have to be willing to do more work than would if it were more lightly stocked. You're going to have to add about 45-50 lbs more l.r imho to reduce your nitrate levels or do more frequent h2o changes. Tangs and mandarin,"and copper for the mandarin!" are pretty sensative to nitrates so I'd really start working on the situation. I'd do water changes to help out with your water params and work on getting more l.r. or another tank for some of your fish.
sorry I don't have a better answer.
chris
These are all also pretty active fish making a lot of waste.
I'm not attempting to use the inch per gallon urban legend it just doesn't work in s.w.
You can keep all those fish in your tank but, you're going to have to be willing to do more work than would if it were more lightly stocked. You're going to have to add about 45-50 lbs more l.r imho to reduce your nitrate levels or do more frequent h2o changes. Tangs and mandarin,"and copper for the mandarin!" are pretty sensative to nitrates so I'd really start working on the situation. I'd do water changes to help out with your water params and work on getting more l.r. or another tank for some of your fish.
sorry I don't have a better answer.
chris
don't canister filters experience head loss like other water pumps do in a sump?
Im not sure myself but I would think so and that would mean that rena is not 350 gph if its below the tank, any one know if this is true or am i just talkin out my @$$
Im not sure myself but I would think so and that would mean that rena is not 350 gph if its below the tank, any one know if this is true or am i just talkin out my @$$
I also have the same denitrator as you do. I also contacted the company about worring it was even working. After 3 weeks it still was not cycled and how would I even know it was working, when the levels in the tank and levels at the denitrator were the same. I was told a quick way to see if your denitrator is beginning to cycle was to feed it as normal, I use cheap vodka. The next day check the nitrates. They should be lower than the tank. Not at 0 until it is cycled, but lower. I checked mine when He told me how to check and they were less than 10 and the tank was at about 20.
I don't know if anyone has broght it up or not yet, but what kind of water are you using for your water changes? Is it RODI, and have you tested your replacement water for nitrites and nitrates before you add it to the tank. That could be your problem. If someone has already mentioned this and I missed it sorry for the re-post. If not I hope that this will help.
Also mentioned I would add an additional 3 inches of sand making sure it is fine sugar sand. A good working dsb needs to be about 5 inches you can go less if you have really fine oolite sand but most that you buy isn't. With the bioload that you have you will need to use as much and many denitrification methods at your disposal. Aim for 1,50 - 2.0 lbs per gallon of live rock if using aquacultured rock if using porous pacific (ie marshall island etc) you can get away with less as it has more surface area for bacteria to reside.
May sound silly but have done a lot of reading on the subject.....there is also the sugar/vodka method which has worked......... also, you may need to get a refugium and grow some macro algae to use up the nitrates......
The other thing, the aqua remora is rate up to 75g.......with the bioload you have you should be using a remora pro at the minimum........all these things combined will help.
May sound silly but have done a lot of reading on the subject.....there is also the sugar/vodka method which has worked......... also, you may need to get a refugium and grow some macro algae to use up the nitrates......
The other thing, the aqua remora is rate up to 75g.......with the bioload you have you should be using a remora pro at the minimum........all these things combined will help.
I fought and fought nitrates in my tanks and I found the easiest mistake a person can make that will be so so expensive, was not cleaning you test tubes correctly. They have a tendancy to build up chemicals, I now once a week use a combination of hot water and a cap full of bleach, let this cool and then rinse in a bowl of hot water and declorinator. My nitrates that I had been fighting for awhile have now disappeared. Just an idea. :dance2:
Another thing that could help is mangrove plants (eventually). I am using them in my seahorse tank, their roots such up nitrates.
