need some advice! please

[Ryan Joel Smith]

Quick question!

I know this is prob somewhere on the forum but i think my situation is a bit different. My tank has been running for three months now and is just about fully stocked with no deaths due to water parameters. (just beating each other up) Just ran a test for nitrites and nitrates, and came up with 0ppm nitrites and i think over 5 ppm nitrates?!?!? Not to sure about this one. I'm going to retest but does anyone have any thoughts? All of my corals look great and the fish seem to be doing well also.

Tank inhabitants: 2xcraxy frogspawn/ 1xhammer coral/ 5xdifferent zoos/ 1xlarge leather/ 1xpulsing zenia/ 1,000,000xstar polyps/ 1xrock of yellow polyps/ 1xelegance coral/ 1xbubble tip anenome/ 1xelephant ear rock/ 2xsps (just bought tonight , not sure of specific names/ 1xniger trigger/ 1xpicaso trigger (just bought tonight)/ 1xpep shrimp/ 1xcleaner shrimp/ 1xstarfish/

Everything seems good......am i in for a bad surprise tomorrow morn. All parameters have been A+ untill tonight so i'm hoping this is just a quick spike due to the new additions tonight and their store water

[lastlight]

isn't 5ppm nitrates really great? It's never 0 is it?

[shrimpchips]

Rates - 0 ppm nitrites 5 ppm? Did something die recently?

Also 3 months to fully stocked from a scratch tank is really soon.

If nothing is showing distress, just hope it's testing error.

Also, never add store system water to your tank. Store system water can carry many pests/pathogens. As well, when adding from a fish only system, a lot of the time they use meds/chemicals in those systems (when they operate separate of any coral systems) and the addition of those chems can be particularly deletrious in a reef system.

[lastlight]

he said 0 nitrite.

it was nitrate that was 5 ppm.

[shrimpchips]

Hey, I learned to read from a TV guide, leave me alone.

Ignore points 1 and 3 then. The rest still apply.

[Ryan Joel Smith]

shrimp chips* The store i buy all of my livestock from takes care of their livestock intending it to end up (with some water) in my tank. I have found for myself by way of trial and lack of error i am safe but i can see there being potential problems like you mentioned. I had an algae bloom early on that covered now more than 1.5 square inch area i syphoned it up and have yet to see any problems unless this nitrate issue is a big one? My main concern is whether or not i need to be worried if nitrates were between 5ppm and 10ppm. I am doing a ten percent water change tomorrow hoping it will address any problems (tank+sump volume is 70gal).

Also, i had been running a skimmer on my tank all the way up until monday this week when i had a prob with it and it was down for until late yesterday. Could this be where the nitrate spike began seeing as my system (not very mature) probably was relying on the skimmer to remove a good percentage of the nitrates.

Lastly, should i run some carbon? Not sure if it would be completely irrelevant in assisting me with my problem.

[Ryan Joel Smith]

haha will do.

Understand that i am aware of my lack of patience and it's only through some very good monitoring (way to many hours every week) that my little exception to the patience rule has been a success thus far.

[lastlight]

A skimmer will remove organics that will eventually become nitrates. So yeah for sure not running your skimmer will lead to elevated nitrates.

[leducreef]

i would run some carbon for a bit

[naesco]

haha will do.

Understand that i am aware of my lack of patience and it's only through some very good monitoring (way to many hours every week) that my little exception to the patience rule has been a success thus far.

Well, it is simply not acceptable Ryan. Your lack of patience will stress your fish with the result that the water parameters will become out of wack.
The result will stress your fish which are already stressed as you have indicated they are fighting each other even before the additions.
YOU are responsible to provide optimum conditions for the critters you choose to keep.

[Ryan Joel Smith]

Awesome guys thanks. My new picaso trigger seems to be settling in nicely. I noticed a spot of ich on one of his fins but the cleaner shrimp has been on him since he got in the tank so I'm assuming he should be fine by tomorrow. The polyps on one of the sps are almost all out already; everything is lookin great.

One last question: Out of all the inhabitants that i listed which would tell me there are problems first if there was a decline in water quality? (i left out a red/green brain from the list).

thanks again guys

[shrimpchips]

As sensitive as SPS are chalked up too be, if anything is amiss from the usual state, the plusing xenia for me is one of the first corals to show any changes - hence why I Keep it around.

It tends to pulse less vigorously or not at all when something is out of the ordinary.

[Ryan Joel Smith]

Well, it is simply not acceptable Ryan. Your lack of patience will stress your fish with the result that the water parameters will become out of wack.
The result will stress your fish which are already stressed as you have indicated they are fighting each other even before the additions.
YOU are responsible to provide optimum conditions for the critters you choose to keep.

"simply not acceptable Ryan" i hope this isn't intended to be as authoritative as it sounds to be.

The "fighting each other" is what happens when you add two different types of fish who have both decided they would like to inhabit the whole tank rather than just a specific territory of it. If their "fighting" and "stress" was due to poor water quality; there would also be stress noticed in the corals. Gold banded maroon clowns are known to be quite aggressive if not given enough space or they decide that no one else should be in the tank. Also, noticing a spot of ich on a newly introduced fish is not very unusual (I tend to get a soar throat and cough when my environment changes from summer to winter but hey what the heck ;).

This has potential to go down a path completely useless to everyone so thanks for everyones comments and suggestions.

#1 Carbon is in.
#2 Retested and it seems my initial test was a bit off but still nitrates are close to 5ppm.
#3 Water is being prepared for the water change tomorrow.
#4 Going to continue enjoying my 3-4 month old nicely stocked tank keeping a close eye on everything making sure to ask at least a hundred more questions before the 1 year anniversary!

Thanks guys :)

ps: Leduc reef* Shannon mentioned you fired that skimmer up and it was working fine?!?! unbelievable! It sounded like i had a tank rolling through my sump when it was on. Anyway, using the hang on in my sump now and it seems to be working great.

[kien]

My new picaso trigger seems to be settling in nicely. I noticed a spot of ich on one of his fins but the cleaner shrimp has been on him since he got in the tank

Wow, a picaso trigger with cleaner shrimp? I would make sure that picasso trigger is well fed if you value your ornamental shrimp, as they do enjoy snacking on inverts like shrimp and hermit crabs. Even then.. you may find that once he has settled in he may go for the shrimp anyway (well fed or not).

[leducreef]

ya i dont think you will have them shrimp to long with that trigger mine even eats my crabs it its a niger trigger thay say thay are one off the better triggers but a trigger is a trigger :lol:

[Ryan Joel Smith]

HA yea i know i was pre-warned :). The two shrimps for some reason have been picking at my zoos and polyps so i willing to let nature run its course i guess.

[leducreef]

i have a few mor q for ya man
how big is you main tank ? yo say 70 gal total going to be to small for 2 triggers the niger is going to get to be about 18 to 20 inches long
i think you are moving a lil to fast also what kind of lighting do you have for those sps
i just dont want to see your tank crash man