Fiteration question

[dralarms]

Ok it's been almost 2 weeks. My ammonia is at 0 my nitrites are at .25 my nitrates are at 20, I don't have any fish in the tank, I have a few snails, a few hermits, 2 or 3 peppermint shrimp, and a sea serpent. I am trying to figure out why mi nitrates are high. I am using a skilter 250, and a penguin 330 with the filters, no bio wheel just filters. Is it time to remove the filters?

 

[steve-s]

Is it time to remove the filters?

If you remove them do not do it all at once. There is a good chance you may remove a fair amount of bacteria with them. If the filters contain any media, try rinsing them in a small amount of SW (not fresh) and see if that helps. HOB filters can be useful but if not kept cleaned regularly, they can also be a depriment.

Cheers
Steve

 

[jerejohnson]

steve-s if he has two filters couldnt he remove one of the filter media from one and wait a few weeks and then take the other out? or would that be too big of a shock? you could also do some water changes to get the trites down... did you just go through cycling? was there a lot of die off?

 

[steve-s]

steve-s if he has two filters couldnt he remove one of the filter media from one and wait a few weeks and then take the other out? or would that be too big of a shock?

Depends on which tank we are talking about. Only the 46 lists any type of natural filtration:

46 gal 15 lbs base rock, 40 lbs live rock.

If it is the 29, I would urge caution if it is an FO tank. If the tank has a decent amount of LR, I would start with removing some of the media within one filter before removing the filter itself. Basically drop down in stages to allow the natural filtration in the tank time to catch up without risking spikes in water quality.

Cheers
Steve

 

[dralarms]

Yea, Follwed the stupid carbonated water dip. I'll know better next time.

 

[dralarms]

Yes, I'm talking about the 46 gal.it has just finished cycling. There was some die off but not as bad as it could have been. I was planning on tomorrow evening doing a 15 gal water change and taking 1 filter out. and then watch my levels to make sure they don't spike, then after it's been stable for a little while I was going to take the other filter out. the lr has already started taking over my base rock a little.