Nitrate Levels

[atwise21]

Okay, a lot of what you guys were saying made sense. I had no idea about the juices in the frozen foods, I was told by the lfs to just take the cube and put it in the tank and rub it between my fingers until the water melted it. Also, isn't 40 lbs of live rock in a little 30 gal tank quite a bit? I used to add a piece about every week until I got to where I am now and just stopped. So, If you respond to this, just respond with a YES or a No, and why. I should reduce my feedings to about a half cube every two days and make sure I do more frequent water changes, either 10 % every week or 20% every two weeks. Oh yeah, should I do something about the coral, maybe replace it with just sand?
Thanks for your help guys.

 

[RLG2182]

I never knew that the liquid qould lead to increased nitrates. But now that I think about it... it makes perfect sense. It's liquid form of the solid stuff, and the liquid doesn't get eaten. So you're basically throwing in liquid form food that just sits there.

From now on, I'll just strain the stuff and feed it to them that way. I would put 60 pounds of rock in a 30. I have a 60, and there's 100 pounds in there right now, with 20 pounds in the sump. You don't NEED to have that much... but you should a decent amount if you want it to properly filter your tank.

 

[lando]

Also, isn't 40 lbs of live rock in a little 30 gal tank quite a bit?

not for good biological filtration. 1.5-2lbs/gal is a good goal to shoot for.

should I do something about the coral, maybe replace it with just sand?

CC is not a bad substrate as long as it is vacuumed on a weekly basis to remove detritus. LS does not really require this type of maintanace so it is a bit easier.