Nitrate Jump

[dannyb]

Ok, Im new here, From Australia. So hello to you all.

I have a 55g cube, 2 powerheads, about 50kg of live rock, live sand, Protein Skimmer, Lots of mushrooms, Pink/red algae growing all over the rocks and sides of glass.

Fish
2x Percula clownfish
1x Royal Dottyback
1x Copperband Butterfly
1x Coral Beauty
1x Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
1x Zebra Wrasse/Dottyback (Not sure of the fish, But i know its zebra something. Sorry.)
1x Firefish/Fire Gobie
About 7 Snails

Corals
3x Anemones
Multiple Mushrooms
I have more coral, I just cant think of the names atm (I'll post a pic up of the tank.)

Now, My problem is, I have a Nitrate reading of 20ppm since yesterday. All my fish are fine, Corals are fine, Tank is clear and looking good. Now i may have over fed them, Im not to sure. Every other level of Ammonia, Nitrite, ect ect is 0, And is doing fine.

I didnt have a filter running, Water changes, Live rock and sand did it. But today i brought a filter, Nothing to flash, Thought it may help.

Im not expert on marine fish, But have studied alot about it and learning as i go on.

Here is a quick snap i took of the tank (Doesnt look to good in this pic)

But hopefully someone can help me out.

 

[dannyb]

Oh, Sorry for the double post, But i feed them a variety of pellet, A very little flake food, And live brine shrimp/Frozen marine food every 2-3 days.

 

[Aquarium1]

Welcome to AA . When did you last do a water change?

 

[dannyb]

2 weeks ago, I only had a little, About 15Litres of salt water left, And did a little water change today, I was meant to do one on the weekend, but the LFS had no salt water.

Will my fish die off 20ppm? I read somewhere i think, marine is stable at 16ppm, But im not 100% sure about aquariums.

I should be doing about 3/4's close to 1/2 water change this weekend comming.

Thanks for your help.

 

[austinsdad]

From the pic provided, the sand bed looks like it hasn't been cleaned in a while. What and how often you feeding the anenomes? And how often you doing water changes?

Last question, for me.... how old is the tank?

 

[dannyb]

I feed the anenomes once-twice a week. Water changes are about every 2 weeks.

Tank has been going for about 5 years, But it had been moved about 2 months ago. (I brought it off someone)

I think it may just need a decent water change, As its about 1-2 overdue as the LFS had no salt water.

But not 100% sure.

Also, Sandbed hasnt been cleaned for a while, Should i stir it up when i do the water change so i siphon up the debree? Doesnt look like there is much, if any.

 

[austinsdad]

Fish will be alright. I've heard of some with nitrates that stay at 20. But yes, siphon that sandbed when you do the water change. It does look extremely cruddy. Maybe it's just the pic. Check out the Python or something similar. No Spill Clean & Fill Python Productss
JBJ Instant Siphon Gravel Cleaner at PETCO

 

[Zer0]

Definitely do what austinsdad said, but i would advise against just stirring up the sand in to a whirlwind of detritus and decaying matter. That wouldn't be good for any of the fish or coral. You want to keep the water column as clean as possible. Not to mention that if you sweep something that is decaying in to the water column, it could go through your fish's gills, and i don't think that would be a very good thing. I did that once, being a noob and all, and a lot of sand got kicked up. My clown swam through it, and then for at least an hour he was just laying on the sandbed, gasping for air. After that he was fine, and after that i will NEVER do something like that again. It is best to just get the gravel vacuum like austinsdad said and just suck up the top layer of the sand, and anything that is accumulating in corners.

Btw, that's a really nice tank you've got there. I think you need to scrape some corraline off the glass haha. Unless you like that sort of look.

 

[dannyb]

Haha, Thanks heaps for the help guys.

Thanks for the comments, Im in the process of getting some decent powerheads that can actually stick to the side of the tank and looks a but tidy, Algae/Calcium has got to one of the powerheads suction caps and its rock hard. Lol.

With the algae, Yeah, Thinking about scrapping it off, I did a little, It was worse then that. But its good to know its healthy.

Once again, Thanks alot guys.

 

[melosu58]

What type water are you using? It could be your source water adding nitrates to the tank.

 

[dannyb]

Thats the other thing i possible thought, Well after a week i had some evaporation lose, So i topped it up with RO water. Not sure if that does contain nitrates, But thought it could have, And the nitrates have only been in the water since i have added that, Well i think anyway.

 

[thincat]

RO water should be very pure and would not have any nitrates unless your filters are very old and need replacement.

 

[dannyb]

Ok, Thanks. Filter is brand new, Brought it yesterday.

As i said in my first post, I just had the LR and LS doing the filtration. But i brought a filter yesterday as some help.

 

[thincat]

I am not talking about a filter for your AQ. I am talking about the filters on your RO unit.

 

[dannyb]

Oh, Sorry.
I dont have an RO unit, It was from the LFS.

 

[thincat]

Then check that water the next time you get some. They may have old RO filters that need to be replaced..

 

[dannyb]

Ok, Thanks for the help.

 

[dannyb]

Ok, So now i havent seen my Zebra Wrasse fish in 2 days. He usally comes out when food is out, And he gulps it all up quick.

I've looked through all the rocks with a tourch and havent seen him, Looked into his hole he usally stays in but nothing.

About 1 month ago i lost a firefish/gobie when i brought 2, Its seriously just dissapeared, Was out the day i put it in, Next gone.

And no where to be seen, I think my anenome may have got him.

Could this be the same with the Zebra? Or do you think his causing the nitrate spike? Ammonia - 0 and Nitrite - 0.

Really confused.

 

[austinsdad]

You got hermit crabs right? They can make a quick buffet of a dead fish and leave no trace.

 

[dannyb]

I had a crab, Well a hitcher. But i cought him because i thought he ma have killed the goby. Not sure what type of crab it was but it had a red shell with white big claws and like little lumps all over it.

I may invest in a hermit crab.