Tank chemistry
 

Having a hard time getting nitrates down and maintaining Ph and alkalinity levels. Have rock in sump but looks very dirty , lots of sludge on rocks. Suspect this is a contributing factor. Agree?? Would a sand bed be a better choice than rock with some algae?

what are you doing to get nitrates down and what are you dong with your ph and alk exactly?

Dosing for Ph and alkalinity , have Fluval clearmax in sump, added more snails and crabs to tank and have been feeding less for quite awhile. Only have six fish
And zoas in sixty gal. tank so am at a loss why levels are so hard to maintain. Using H2 Ocean and change ten gallons weekly

yes but what are you doing to remove nitrates ( just water changes?) and what are the current levels , previous levels?

when you say your dosing to keep alk and ph stable what are you dosing and how much exactly?

its hard to give advice without numbers and records;)

Nitrates have been 30-50 since May, Ph has been 7.7-8.1 and alkalinity has been70-110. dosing Seachem as per instructions, buffer 1 tsp per 150 L twice a week and reef builder 1/2 tsp per 150 L same schedule

ditch the buffer and go with a sodium carbonate additive, forget your ph for a bit and dose based on alk numbers.

the only way to raise alk is to add it , if its not going up then youll need to add more and buffers arnt a good way to do that, IMO its ok in an emergency but i wouldn't be using as my sole alk supplement.

as far as no3 is concerned if your doing 10% water changes a week your removing about 3-5 ppm in each change so by the time the next water change happens 1 week later that 3-5ppm is back or has risen , it comes down to efficiency and water changes arnt efficient . a larger water change will remove more nitrates but that's a poor way to keep things in check and expensive.

you'll need to look at your equipment and natural processes in order to find out what you'll need to do.

what skimmer do you have?

how much rock?

all live or dry?

po4 levels?

Using CAD 100 skimmer and have @ 20lbs of live rock, phosphates are 0, nitrites 0 and ammonia is 0, magnessium 1150

what are you testing with?

Hagen , the complete kit

Just in process of taking all the rock out of sump and rinsing off, cleaning pump and skimmer and rearranging to get more flow through rocks do detritus doesn't settle, would it be an idea to put crabs and snails in sump