Help with nitrates in 75 gallon

[Oldbro]

I have a 75 gal with 9 fish that appears to be doing well, fish are healthy. My
nitrates are always over 40. I change 50% every 3 weeks. Doesn't matter whether
I spend an hour feeding fish a little at a time or just a single dump. Have lush algae
growth that yellow tang loves and keeps under control. What can elevated nitrates
Effect long term

 

[Oldbro]

75 gal tank
20 gal w/d sump @ 3 canister filters
100 lbs of crushed coral substrate in system.
Ph 7.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40+
4 damsels
1 yellow tang
1 triangle trigger
1 flame hawk
1 royal gramma
1 wrasse
Fish all healthy, set up 6 months ago .

 

[Sniperhank]

Well, it is that you are feeding too much. You should only be feeding 2-3 times a week. This is what is elevating your nitrates and causing the algae growth. Do a large 50% water change and follow it up with weekly 10% water changes. This will keep the nitrates lower.

 

[Oldbro]

So no more than 3 times a week? Fish will flourish with this rationing?
Will the trigger turn on less dominate fish. Thanks

 

[Big Tex]

So no more than 3 times a week? Fish will flourish with this rationing?
Will the trigger turn on less dominate fish. Thanks

i feed 2-3x a week and target feed my snowflake eel but only what he can eat, you could target feed the trigger meaty foods like frozen krill or mysis shrimp if your afraid he would turn, he shouldnt but its up to you.

if i read your post right you have 3 canisters running on your tank plus a wet/dry sump? THAT is your nitrate problem, wet/dry is such old technology because the balls catch alot of detritus material and just end up PRODUCING nitrates, the same as with canisters, unless you deep clean each one weekly at the least they also becoming nitrate factories.

also in your post you didnt list a clean up crew at all, as far as snails, hermits, or shirmp, these are beneficial to a fish only and reef tank because they clean up algae and uneaten food that may settle in your rock work and sand bed, this could also be contributing to your nitrate problems in addition to your overfeeding.

fish can go a while without eating, ive even heard of 2x a week feedings, they can live with it, and as far as corals, theyre mostly photosnythetic and filter feed out of the water column, so again they should be fine as well. i would invest in a refugium sump and adding nitrate consuming macro algae like chaetomorpha, that, paired with religious water changes should drop and keep your nitrates low.

and lastly i didnt read that you were running a protein skimmer, for a tank that large and your livestock plus your overfeeding you NEED a protein skimmer to remove excess proteins out of the water column, its absolutely a necessity.

 

[Oldbro]

Will get a protein skimmer. Am stuck with w/d for time being.
My concern with cleaners is 1. They can and do eat fish at night. 2. You
can not medicate tank, if necessary, without killing them off.

When you go into reef shops you never see invertebrates in their fish stock
tanks. I'm willing to try them but am not interested in anemones or corals.
We've had larger shrimp and crabs consume other occupants in past set ups , so the ones
you reference should be Ok?

 

[Big Tex]

Will get a protein skimmer. Am stuck with w/d for time being.
My concern with cleaners is 1. They can and do eat fish at night. 2. You
can not medicate tank, if necessary, without killing them off.

When you go into reef shops you never see invertebrates in their fish stock
tanks. I'm willing to try them but am not interested in anemones or corals.
We've had larger shrimp and crabs consume other occupants in past set ups , so the ones
you reference should be Ok?

i beg to differ, your cuc will not and shouldnt eat live fish at night, ive never heard of it and its kind of hard to believe that they have ever.

in fish stores they donty have clean up crews in the display sale tanks because theyre bare bottom, have no live rock in them, and are supported by ENORMOUS filtration system to support 9-12 tanks worth of fish in them.

and about the medication, you should keep a quarantine tank for new fish and sick fish so that worrying about medicating your display would never be an issue.

lastly, about the clean up crew, you can get a reef safe package of a crew from reefs2go.com and they go by tank size and demands, small hermits, snails, and reef safe shrimp will not eat live fish link--> http://www.reefs2go.com/category/sea_life.clean_it_up_crews/

 

[Oldbro]

Tex, your a wealth of information, thanks. Would you recommend a skimmer and what size/mix cuc. I get my equipt from either That Fish Place or Dr Foster and Smith.

 

[Big Tex]

Tex, your a wealth of information, thanks. Would you recommend a skimmer and what size/mix cuc. I get my equipt from either That Fish Place or Dr Foster and Smith.

That wet dry im sure has no room for a skimmer and since you plan on getting a refugium sump I would recommend the bubble magus curve 5 thats what I run on my 75g in my 30g sump with a single 4" filter sock, 4 huge clumps of chaeto and 2 huge clumps of red macro, and about 20lbs of live sand and 20lbs of live rock rubble for cultivating copepods and amphipods, 2 bags of chemi pure elite and an eheim 1262 return pump.

This setup is doing very well for me, the skimmer pulls good dark consistent skimmate every day maybe 36hrs so take it from me its a great skimmer, also comes apart at the base for ease of cleaning. Its a breeze to tune and adjust.

I can give you the schematics for my 30g sump its made from a 30g tank I got at petco during their $1/gal sale. Glass was cheap at a local shop for $5/pane and silicone was $5/tube and you need 2, so for $60-$75 dollars you have your own custom sump, all glass, and all done yourself.

 

[anteatergoanna]

I feed my fish 3 x weekly, alternate with peas, cucumber, wafers or pellets....they love the variety.

 

[Oldbro]

How deep does the water need to be that the skimmer sits in?

 

[Big Tex]

How deep does the water need to be that the skimmer sits in?

my skimmer is in about 6" of water right now, and i planned it that way to be able to tune up or down once broken in, but you can go i believe 8" deep as well.

 

[Oldbro]

Is there a range, will it function in 4 inches? I have an open
area in the w/d sump. Just need to know how much additional
media need be submerged in my set up. Thanks

 

[Big Tex]

i wanna say 4" will be pushing it to its limits, skimmers are in the most literal sense a game of inches, so i would say 6" would be the minimum, if anything in that empty chamber you have you can add a piece of plexiglass on top of the trap just before to increase water height in the chamber. ive done it to a wet/dry to convert one to a refugium, all you need is plexibond from any hardware store to glue the plexiglass to plexiglass.

 

[54seaweed]

This tank is a F O W L R correct ?
40 ppm on a F O W L E R is totally acceptable
you need to take into consideration you have some dirty fish on that list

 

[Big Tex]

i actually didnt even think of this, my bad, but it is the in the reef section, to the OP theres a fowlr only section for fowlr tanks bud. and i agree with 54seaweed above, 40ppm is completely fine.

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

Well, it is that you are feeding too much. You should only be feeding 2-3 times a week. This is what is elevating your nitrates and causing the algae growth. Do a large 50% water change and follow it up with weekly 10% water changes. This will keep the nitrates lower.

Either way, op if you want to keep your nitrates lower just do what hank suggested

 

[Oldbro]

Sorry folks, fish only. I'm going to add a cuc, but corals,stars and anemones are not our cup o tea. My best gal likes triggers and we have 4 damsel from hell. Very aggressive/active tank. I'm gonna get the skimmer just as an aid to water quality. Thanks all.

 

[Oldbro]

One thing I just learned. Even with very healthy fish, you can put cuc in a tank with 40ppm nitrate. Hermits, shrimp and snails all dead in 24 hrs.