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[mega]

hello
i am new to the site but not to the hobby but im not very good with it seems to be im doing more work and fighting with the tank then sitting back and enjoying the view im not sure if i made a wrong choice with equipment i will list below or substrate but maybe y'all can get me on track nitrates ,nitrates ,nitrates seem to be the only and frequent problem i haven t lost any live stock because of it but what am i doing wrong

144 oceanic dual overflows

megaflow 4 sump with bioballs taken out and replace with lr

mag 18 for the return

had a kent nautlis skimmer with mag 7 seem never work properly sense day 1 i never got that dark thick gunky foam always seemed to wet skim i just upgraded a little over month to a octopus extreme 200 with the purple wheel which should be a major upgrade but i don't think it works efficient enough because it crammed in my sump and requires 8-10inches of water

i use crushed coral as substrate

2- ebo jager 250w heaters but one is for back up

Coralife Lunar Aqualight Compact Fluorescent Fixture, 4X65 Watt, 48 inch

live stock - Harlequin tusk , hippo tang , yellow tang , sailfin tang ,naso tang

 

[yote]

Welcome aboard.
One thing I can see that could be causing the trouble,is the fish you have.
Tangs produce a lot of waste,so does the tusk.
How often are you doing water changes and how much are you changing?
Also that crushed coral will cause all kids of problems.It traps waste.

 

[Smitty]

+1 Yote...also, hello and welcome to the site.

 

[Bifferwine]

What are your nitrates reading at anyways?

 

[dcantucson]

Welcome mega :wave: Glad you've join us at Living Reefs.

 

[mega]

nitrates at or around 100ppm

 

[Bifferwine]

Those are very very very high!

Time to start going through the list:

How deep is your crushed coral?
How often and what do you feed?
What kind of water do you use (tap, or RODI)?

 

[messiah023]

Hi Mega,

Everyone's got you on the right track.
First thing I saw was the bioload (waste producers) and your waste trap (crushed coral).

Even with the MOST efficient skimmer, you will be battling nitrates & algae in that tank.

Biff's got you covered with the immediate questions. Also, how long are you keeping that light on during the day?

 

[mega]

How deep is your crushed coral? is about a 1.5inch
How often and what do you feed? i feed 1 to 2x a day if i feed twice i usually skip the following day i feed a random of mysis shrimp , formula one flakes and pellets ,frozen krill , seaweed salad
What kind of water do you use (tap, or RODI )?i use ro water
how long are you keeping that light on during the day ? i have timers i have day light that run to 11am to 8pm and night 8 pm to 11pm and moon lights from 11pm to 11am