Protein

[Pinky77]

Hi guys im runing a 20 g liverock tank i lost all my fish and some corals due to prolonged nitrate levels that i let get out of control due to work silly me im not runing a protein skimmer at the minute i was just wondering if a build up of protein would cause nitrate build up .....?

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[melosu58]

You dont have to have a skimmer. It`s nice but PWC`s will accomplish the same thing.

 

[Pinky77]

You dont have to have a skimmer. It`s nice but PWC`s will accomplish the same thing.

Does PWC mean proper water change guys ...?

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[ryshark]

Does PWC mean proper water change guys ...?

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It means Partial Water Change and without a skimmer you need to be even more diligent about doing them to keep your water in good condition. What were your nitrates?

 

[Pinky77]

It means Partial Water Change and without a skimmer you need to be even more diligent about doing them to keep your water in good condition. What were your nitrates?

Between 5..10 ppm im useing algone packets in my canister filter it seems to stay at that level i tested the wateri i buy from the lLFS and the nittrates are 5 ppm maybe should change to two PWC a week what y think .....?

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[ryshark]

Between 5..10 ppm im useing algone packets in my canister filter it seems to stay at that level i tested the wateri i buy from the lLFS and the nittrates are 5 ppm maybe should change to two PWC a week what y think .....?

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I think that 5ppm-10ppm of Nitrate did not kill your coral and especially did not kill your fish. Those are acceptable levels for nitrate. You should not need to do 2x PWC a week.
What we need to figure out is what really did kill your fish. What is your ammonia and Nitrire for starters?

 

[Pinky77]

All levels were sitting in range it looked liked the fish died from prolonged high level nitrate and corals to i had a copperband butterfly fish i read that if they get stressed they can get dieasead and spread it to other tank mates my goby is still alive i think the reason he is still alive is that he didn't swin with the others the rest looked like they had funges on them when they died and my pulseing xenia is still goin strong strange ......? ?

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[melosu58]

I`m with RYshark on this. 5-10 on the nitrates did not kill corals or fish. How about posting all your water test results esp. ammonia.

 

[Pinky77]

Last tested 4 th feb

Nitrates bewteen 5..10 ppm
Nitrites. Virtully not a trace
Salinety 35
Phos 0
Ph 8.2

No calcium test kit but i agree with regular pwc it should be fine i think neglect was the killer ......?

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