50% water change and still 20ppm nitrates

[Milad]

zeobak is the bacteria not the food
anyone got some more ideas?

[Gooly001]

Hi Milad,

Are you using R.O. water?

Cheers

Paul

[reefwars]

the ideas are never ending thats the best part of this hobby lol so youve always checked your nitrates right there must have been a point where you noticed them going up was it some thing you did think hard anything you changed or added or did it creep up slowly maybe from food or something small over time????? where did you get your rock and how old is it?? i had a problem with very old rock and lowering my nitrates so i did the ol switch er oo

[o.c.d.]

You said your sure it nitrate because of the algae growth. Frequent water changes should lower the nitrate if not your kit is probably bunk. Have you tested the po4? Cause it's the algae that is also making you mad right. So if you stopped using GFO your po4 may have started accumulating over what the zeo bacteria can handle consuming. Over time the po4 can accumulate then high enough it will precipitate and bind to the rock in solid form. Then slowly dissolves esp when the O2 drops, That then provides a perfect food source for algae, water change will do little for that situation. Also po4 in a solid form will not show up on a test kit. It then becomes a tedious process of removing the po4

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Milad

im running euroreef 250 clone

the food is on two feeders at different sides of the tank feeding a little pellets 4 times a day.

my return and my power heads are all on one side of the tank. You think I should run the return on the other side of the tank?

quote:


i feed pellets 4 times a day on a schedule
i try to feed once a day brine shrimp or mysis before they go to bed
I use to feed 1 5inx2in nori sheet once a day before all this pooping happened




how much of this have you changed?? how many fish are in your tank in total i browsed through your thread and i cant get a solid answer but i seen alot of tangs and clowns lol

[Milad]

about 20 total fish, bunch of them are small with only 4-5 fish i would consider large (3"+)

I do 10% water changes weekly on the money

Salt is stirred for 1 week

Skimmer runs 24/7

Lights are on a timer

Autotop off is set with RO/DI water so the level is solid

Ive reduced feeding in the last week to almost nothing, enough that someone took a huge bite out of my xenia

I felt bad for the tangs so ive feed them a small piece of nori (1x5) last couple days.

I'm fine with not doing anything but this wasn't something that has been around this whole time, thats whats bugging me. All of a sudden all these things went wacko.

ill get a phosphate kit and test it out.

[reefwars]

which is also why you cant get rid of it with water changes as fast as your wanting ,like fishytime said your tank is constantly playing catch up and since your never really removing the problem they never go down,if it does more nitrates are produced faster than you can change them out

i would be iffy on having 20 fish in a fully established tank let alone one that hasnt made the 6 mth mark yet.size is a factor of your fish but between a big fish and a lil clown a lil clown still excretes lots of waste may not be as much but waste is waste and your system needs to adjust.thats why i use the rule of thumb of no more than one fish a month ,not that i would buy a fish every month lol because it gives your system a chance to even out and thats your goal is to get things stable, once stable you allow time to pass then you know youve reached "equilibrium" once youve reached that stage you can get another fish but your system has taken a change and now needs to stabilize again and find equilibrium.

personally untill a system establishes(up to a year sometimes more)you should stick with a low amount of fish.20 fish must be hard to feed without feeding the tank and i bet your getting alot of your nitrates there too



go slow milad buddy sit back and wait for your system to establish, youve already got alot of fish and the damage is done so keep up with your routine regular water changes light feedings stop adding stuff to your tank as its not needed (yet) and possibly think of getting rid of a few fish and buy some coral in time your going to have trouble with all those clowns, if they get along now fine but when maturity hits and territorys are getting established the fights are gonna break out and if theres alot of tension your going to end up with disease, and you dont want that.

[naesco]

Milan I understand your tank is running for less than 5 month.
With respect, you need to have patience.

You need a skimmer,lighting, live rock and sand and di/ro water to replenish due to evaporation and a good test kit.

Stop using all of the additives any of the other equipment you are or are planning to use.

Feed substantially less than you are presently.

Do a weekly water change of 10% ensuring that the water has been throughly mixed 24 hours before adding it to your tank.

Keep your hands out of the water but remove the slick with a plate as discribed before daily.

Do not add any more animals to your tank.

Take a breather relax you will have a problem free tank if you take the patience to allow your tank to get there.

With confident test kit post all the parameters of your tank and let us go from there

[ottoman]

[quote=naesco;549350]Milan I understand your tank is running for less than 5 month.
With respect, you need to have patience.

++1.....if your tank is only 5 month, I think it is not fully cycled yet. Fish may be okay, but not even hardy corals. I remebered I lost a few corals when I first started saltwater years ago. Be patience. Check your flows, keep skimmer running 24/7, it helps cycling.