Baffled bout zoos

[bkv1997]

Nitrates of 50ppm won't hurt your fish. Infact if it was a fish only tank I would say things are fine.

With high nitrates the things that will be affected are shrimp, snails, corals etc...basically invertebrates.

Leave out the sponges.

Stop the additives.

Don't do any more than 30% water change right now the possible stress from temp, ph, alk changes would be worse than the nitrate issue.

I would say focus on the skimmer and don't worry about the de*nitrate product for now.

What is your budget on the skimmer and do you plan on upgrading at a later time?

Brandon

 

[animalwhisperer]

Upgrades by end of year just trying to get by 4 now. So if it works and its cheap, i'm sold. I will be getting a 150g at the end of the year so I dont want to waste money but I know the coral and inverts dont deserve to suffer and the come first. I would like to find a way to do it without a skimmer just to see if I can but thats another project. I need one now, this one makes weird noises and shorts out and all sorts of crazy stuff, but it was free. I would like some help on what to get for my new tank. Im moving to a house and out of this apartment. More room bigger tank(s) right?!?! I dont know what to get any suggestions on how to put it together.Thx

 

[bkv1997]

I would recommend better, but if your going to be upgrading and don't want to spend lots now this one would do for now.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produ...ge-_-Protein_Skimmers&subref=AA&N=2004+113771

When you get ready to setup the new tank let us knwo and I'm sure you'll get more recommendations than you want.

 

[animalwhisperer]

Thx for all the help and I will post the status of the tank. Whether it all dies off or not. Should I buy some macro, it looks cool and it helps nitrates right? I can only imagine the ideas that will be posted for my new tank. thank you for you time everyone.

 

[bkv1997]

There is a time and place for macro, but I don't believe you have the right setup to use it effectively for nutrient export.

Macro, mangroves, denitrification units, etc are more for treating the symptoms. I would start by fixing the cause of the nitrates.

Brandon

 

[animalwhisperer]

Alright I went ahead and bought a better skimmer, well at least it doesnt short out and shock me. It is a Queen TS-3000, the brand the LPS carries. It seems to be working well. I did a 25% water change and tested the water a few hrs. later. Nitrates dropped to less than 20ppm. Thank goodness. I also bought some macro, but its in the other(55g) tank til this one(30g) stabilizes. I also took out the sponges and have stopped the additives. Appears to be working. Slowly but surely. I will keep you posted. Thanks for all your help. Books are great but experience pays. Take care.

 

[bkv1997]

good to hear things are working out for you.

I use to add all kinds of things to my tank when i first started out thinking it was helping.

When I stopped all that and started only adding things i knew were low based on a test kit things got alot better. The rest will be handeled by the bi weekly waterchanges.

Keep us posted
Brandon

 

[animalwhisperer]

Nitrates still at 20 ppm. They are lower or higher but average 20ppm. I dont have any algae in the tank, and few fish, still no cause. Did some water changes, but it always goes back to 20ppm. I might just have to be patient. Just keepin you posted.

 

[bkv1997]

50 to 20 is a good improvement.

Nothing that is good happens quickly in this hobby. Only bad things happen fast.

Just my :twocents: but you really could have gotten a much better skimmer, I hope you didn't pay to much for it. Again thats just my opinion.

One other thought would be how much live rock do you have in that tank?

Keep to the same schedule:
No additives
regular water changes
and over the next couple weeks i'm sure you'll continue to see improvements.

Brandon

 

[animalwhisperer]

I looked at the stuff they had and everything else was extremely overpriced. I paid 65 for the skimmer and pump. I think this one should work for now. At least for the time being. I have 55-60 lbs. of live rock in the tank. I will get a good one (skimmer) when I upgrade.

 

[bkv1997]

Should be good on the live rock.

Keep us posted.

Brandon

 

[animalwhisperer]

Nitrates still high, 10-20ppm, but those will come down with time. I set up a fish only tank and took the fish out over the last week. Thought it would lower the amount of waste in the water. I also am seeing a burst of worms in the tank. Appear to be small bristle worms. Probly from the rock I got at the pet store. I was going to wait to to take them out and I will probly use a natural predator, not a trap. Since ppl say they never work. What do you guys suggest. Just keepin u posted. Thanks!!!

 

[bkv1997]

Get a sixline wrasse, they are cheap nice color and are known to eat flat worms and bristtle worms..

Great fish to have, but they can jump out if your tank doesn't have a top.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=375

BV

 

[animalwhisperer]

Cool fish, seen them at the pet store but never really gave them a second thought. I'm gonna go to the pet store so I will check them out. Thanks.

 

[animalwhisperer]

Tested the water today. Nitrates higher, now at 20 ppm. They just dont seem to go down even with water changes. I dont have any dead coral, or large mats of algae, and I haven't been feeding as much to lower uneaten waste. The skimmer is working though which is a good thing. Just keepin you posted.

 

[bkv1997]

which salt mix are you using and are you using RO/DI water?

 

[animalwhisperer]

Oceanic commercial salt. I buy r/o water from the pets store sometimes and sometimes I take tap water and filter it to death before adding it. I take Kent Reef carbon, put it in the cannister and let if filter for a few days. I've tested water from both sources and everything is fine as far as quality. I thought that might be the cause myself. LPS around here are kinda bad on what they sell. I also bought a phosphate test kit to see if that was it. I found that it can cause algae blooms. It reads normal. Maybe it's the salt. I asked around and they said to test the water after its mixed to see what was in it. I let a little sit and filter for a while before I tested it. It's ok. Maybe my lights? I have 130w PCs over the 30g. I even made sure my nephew was putting things in there. He's been known to use my freshwater tank as a personal wishing well. Just let me know if you can come up with something. Thanks for helping me on this.


Tony

 

[jhnrb]

Take a small pump or turkey baster and blow out and around the rocks to put detritus back into suspension, after you are done let your skimmer do its job, with good water circulation your filter should pick up most of the detritus, then do a water change. eventually your nitrates will lower if and only if you are removing more bio load than you and animals are putting into the system. you may want to increase the frequency of your water changes or amount. good luck and happy fishin.

 

[animalwhisperer]

Good news, nitrates dropped. Now only 2.5, looks like all the different ideas combined worked. New skimmer, testing all sources of water, stopping additives, and waiting as always. Seems to have worked. Only when do I start adding the fish to the tank. I will one at a time but how long to wait? Thanks again for all the help!

 

[bkv1997]

Great news? refresh us again what size tank, how much LR, and what is your current live stock.