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#1
08/05/2007, 01:37 AM
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Nitrates?
My tank is 55 gallons with fish and corals in it the nitrtaes are around 20ppm and it has been up and running for about 4 months. The fish and corals look healthy I'm gonna buy a new test kit to make sure the readings are matching. I dont have any SPS in there yet, I wanna make sure before I put them in..... Can my nitrates be this high? I'm assuming no.
The fish include: 1 maroon gold striped clown 1 lawnmower blenny 1 blue chromis 1 blue yellowtail damsel 1 blue tang 1 diamond watchman goby There are a few corals, 2 brains, 1 mushroom rock, 2 torch, 1 plate, 2 clams, 1 polyp rock and a few other small pieces that i cant name off hand. There are numerous different kinds of cleaners also in my tank.... I plan to add more things slowly but surely and was wondering if anyone new if the sps would last with nitrates at 20ppm. I changed 3 days ago from a Coralife super skimmer to a Tunze 9010 (i finally see what a real skimmer works like). Will my nitrates go down a little and will my water quality be better now that I switched to a REAL skimmer. Thanx DRU |
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#2
08/05/2007, 06:22 AM
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You have alot going on in there for a 55gal. Nitrates are probably correct. I would wait before adding any sps to the tank. Personally I would start a separate tank with no fish for the sps. Considering nitrates are not that high. Do water changes to help lower the nitrates to 10-15ppm. Think about adding a refugium for better phosphate and nitrate control.
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#3
08/05/2007, 02:20 PM
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I agree that the fish population is very high for a 55g tank. Growing and harvesting a macroalga might help. This article covers nitrate in detail:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...t2003/chem.htm Water changes tend not to be very useful in this situation, since the nitrate level commonly bounces back up rapidly.
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Jonathan Bertoni |
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#5
08/06/2007, 12:00 PM
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That's a lot of fish? Am I overloaded--2 gsm, 3 chromis, lawnmower blenny and a small foxface, as well as the normal cleaner uppers and two rbta. i have a 44G with 50 lbs of LR, a 7 gallon fuge w/cheato and 8 lbs lr, and an octopus 110.
we are currently working on upgrading to a 65 w/ a 55g fuge, but that wont be for another few months (i've been saying a few months for a few months already...). besides bacteria, what in the ocean consumes or converts nitrates? thanks! |
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#6
08/06/2007, 01:20 PM
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Any photosynthetic organism is likely consuming nitrate, as one example, along with bacteria and archaeans. I don't know off-hand of many other consumers.
The foxface can get rather large, so the tank is over what I'd add to it.
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Jonathan Bertoni |
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#7
08/07/2007, 07:21 AM
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look in this Thread
DIY Coil Denitrator Plans |
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#8
08/07/2007, 07:47 PM
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We tried the DIY de nitrator coil, with little to no result. your best bet is maintenace. make sure sponges and pads are clean every 4-7 days, make sure skimmer is foaming good. and macro algaes, rake the sand bed at least once a week with the fish load you have, do it slowly to not stir it up. do a weekly water change as well 10% or so. should keep you in the 5ppm or lower, if you want 0, try mangroves, its what we are trying now. just started 3 weeeks ago to try to get it to 0.
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#9
08/10/2007, 02:41 AM
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i dont think your overloaded at all....nitatres in the 20 ppm range arnt all that bad for fish and soft corals and lps..with the tunze and bi weekly 10% water changes,youll get the nitrates down to 10 ppm in a matter of a month or two...there are a lot of by the book type of opinions on rc,so most people on here dont believe in a tang in a 50 gallon...i personally think a blue tang will be happy in a 4 ft. long 55 gallon for a few years,eventually youll have to get rid of it however....in my 90 gallon i have a blue tang,tomani tang,naso tang,clown tang,gold stripe maroon clown,six line wrasse,flame angel,royal gramma,2 firefish,engineer goby and 2 cleaner shrimps....oh yeah and about 50 various corals and 50 snails and 40 hermits or so....my tank parameters are perfect with the nitrates hovering around 10 ppm....i do weekly water changes and all my tangs are small and amazingly happy....i usually only keep my fish for a year before i trade to a freind with a bigger tank...im a jazz musician,so im constantly takin chances with music and reefing,and if your fish are happy,youll know it,dont worry about the by the book opinions,as there not always right....just keep up on your water changes..also,please dont flame my post,as this is my tank,im an adult,and i know what im doing.
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#11
08/11/2007, 09:06 AM
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i read the ENTIRE rdsb thread.
my two concerns for nitrate control using a device instead of a technique: size (limiting factor more than a concern) water under pressure outside the tank |
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#12
08/11/2007, 12:54 PM
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if the rdsb is set up correctly the water pressure outside the tank should not be a concern. as far as the size goes a 5 gallon bucket should be enough. in the rdsb thread they said 5 gallons per 50 gallons of tank volumn... your running a 55 which i would say close enough. if still a 5 gallon bucket is still to large for you maybe there is a way you could manage to have it hooked up some way just for the short time that you will need to get the nitrates down. after you get them down just do regular water changes.
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