Any way to help with nitrates?!?

[noteworthy]

Hi. I have a 125 gallon tank with plenty of circulation and about 80 lbs of live rock.

Fish list:
1 yellow tang
1 bicolor blenny
1 diamondback goby
2 bar gobies
1 sixline wrasse
2 percula clowns


Inverts:
20 red leg hermit crabs
10-20 snails - astrea or nass mix
1 skunk cleaner shrimp


Tank has been up for a LONG time. well.. about 11 months. Nitrates are at 60. How can I get them down to 5?

My coraline is disappearing and peachy fuzz all over my rocks and equipment.

I was thinking 60 gallons a week of change.. but that means I will go through a 40 dollar bucket of salt in 2 weeks.

I'd like to keep water changes to bi-weekly at minimum but once a month better.

Anything else I can do?



I have a sump but it just houses a return pump and two heaters. I have a aqua c remora skimmer but I want to ditch that for a sump skimmer I think.

Do I need to add mechanical filtration such as a whisper power filter?


There are two RIO HF20 pumps in each side of the tank blowing to the center. Lots of water movement and surface aggitation.

What exactly would you recommend besides another 100-150 lbs in rock?


New Skimmer, Lighting etc? I would like corals soon. Skimmer is aqua c remora pro with mag . Lighting is 220w of VHO. Lets say five to six hundred is my max of my allowance?

 

[Lance M.]

I would suggest adding 100+ more lbs of lr and your gonna have to do pwc's to get those nitrates down.

 

[kansei]

Agreed -I would go for more rock , you want about 1.5-2lbs per gallon .

 

[roka64]

At this point, frequent PWCs are in order. They will reduce your nitrAtes and help starve out the algae.

 

[chase33]

Curious to know what type of filtration you're using other than the skimmer? I ask because I thought the Remora's were rated to be used ith tanks up to 120g and 80 lbs of LR is a small amount for a 125g tank.

 

[noteworthy]

filtration is just the rocks and skimmer... maybe I need to add some mechanical filtration?


I dont think I can plop down another 500 on live rock.

 

[Lance M.]

Well you need more rock. You should of started the tank off with around 180-200lbs of rock, not all had to be lr (like half lace or some other dry rock and half lr). That would of been cheaper and you wouldnt be having problems.

Like roka64 said your going to have to do frequent water changes to reduce the nitrates.

Just looking at the catalog from LiveAquaria.com lr costs:
$119.99 for 45lbs Fiji
$312.99 for 85lbs show size Fiji
$239.99 for 72lbs Tonga branch

Maybe you could get like 50-60lbs of lace rock or something like that (it runs at $2 per lb. at my lfs), place it underneath the rock you currently have, and then get another 50-60lbs of cured lr to save some money.

This is SW! You can't get away with being cheap or lazy lol

 

[noteworthy]

What do you guys think of making your own rock?


Well I was given the tank for free. The rock I have actually came out of my 55 gallon tank, which is now a goldfish tank.

 

[KurtsReef]

I just replaced several pounds of non-ocean rock with 45lbs of live rock that came in with much dying plants etc...should have scrapped it off....now my tank is cycling again and I am having some nitrate problems of my own. I have not owned a RO/DI unit in the past but have one coming in this week and plan on doing a 50% change to get the levels down.

The reason I wrote this is just to suggest if you do go the live rock route and get a bunch in that has things that more than likely will not live...scrape it off, I left it hoping some of the things turned into nice hitchhikers.

The rock I had used to save some cash when setting it up were from older freshwater tanks...some sandstone and some other stones that were porous and just used them as base rock putting the real live rock on top.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

While it does seem like you could use a bit more live rock, I don't think that's going to help you at the moment with your nitrates. The only thing to get those down to 5ppm is water changes. And weekly, at that. Once you get them down though a once a month PWC, as you commented on, isn't going to keep them down.

Looks like you can either spend money on rock, or spend money on salt. But for now, spending money on salt is the only way it's gonna happen.

 

[melosu58]

I noticed you have a sump. Is there any way to clear out a space for some macro algea to grow in there. I agree with the others that right now frequent 15-20% PWC`s will help but I would suggest adding a refugium to your sump to control nitrates. Works for me. HTH

 

[Lance M.]

While it does seem like you could use a bit more live rock, I don't think that's going to help you at the moment with your nitrates. The only thing to get those down to 5ppm is water changes. And weekly, at that. Once you get them down though a once a month PWC, as you commented on, isn't going to keep them down.

Looks like you can either spend money on rock, or spend money on salt. But for now, spending money on salt is the only way it's gonna happen.

I agree. Right now you have to do lots of pwc's to get the nitrates down, but for the long term you are gonna need to get more rock to increase ur biological filtration and like melosu suggested a refugium would help out with the problem.

 

[noteworthy]

well next month I should be getting a slight bonus so I can add about 100 lbs of base rock and 50 lbs of live rock. I'm thinking I should take apart the tank completely.. move it off the stand.. fix the stand and put a 55 gallon tank under the main 125. Put a mix of a sump/refugium and then redo plumbing. Put in the new base rock then live rock then sand.

So about 240 lbs of rock should be enough. I will add a refugium with a new 55 gallon tank underneath.


I need to remake the stand so I have enough room for a 55 gallon underneath. I also would like to have some ideas on bracing. i would like to be able to remove the tank if need be from under the stand so bracing might be an issue. The stand is about 6 1/2 foot long. so bracing along the back every 2 foot but there will be 4 1/2 foot without any bracing on the front. Except the corner bracing. Polyurethane the stand and Canopy.


Sounds like a lot of work!

Is there a way to do an overflow where I dont have to worry about the siphon breaking. I have seen air collect in the U-tube. The tank itself is all tempered so drilling is out of the question. I have a cpr like overflow that uses a luft pump, but it tends to suck sand into the luft air line and stop pulling air out.



Question tho:
As far as needed to modify the stand I will have to keep the fish and rock in tank water till those modifications are done. Will the fish be okay in a trash can for a few days? Just run an air diffuser and heater in the trashcan?

 

[MT79]

there a way to do an overflow where I dont have to worry about the siphon breaking. I have seen air collect in the U-tube.I have a cpr like overflow that uses a luft pump,

Many people use a PH instead of those crappy pumps. I use a maxi-jet 1200. I have not had a siphon loss in over 2 years. Just put the PH in the sump and run airline up to the overflow. Use this venturi on the MJ for best results- http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...reen=PROD&Product_Code=MJ-VENT&Category_Code=

Will the fish be okay in a trash can for a few days? Just run an air diffuser and heater in the trashcan?

Just be careful not to overcrowd the container w/ fish and also use as much water as possible. You will also need a bio-filter in there to neutralize ammonia. A few larger pieces of LR should do it. Just monitor ammonia, nitrite and PH to be safe. If you see ammo or nitrite do PWC w/ good water. FWIW adding a sump/fuge was probably my best investment. HTH and good luck w/ the new set up.

 

[cmor1701d]

Save the money of LR and just add base rock. It will become LR in short order and not create a mini-cycle. You can get 50# for $52 of Reef Rock from ThatFishPlace.com

Just keep doing the PWCs every week till the nitrates come down.

 

[seaham358]

No one asked what type of water are you using? Tap? ro/di?
Have you tested your new SW and top off water for nitrates? Any way to add a small fuge? I always had some nitrates until I added a 15 gal tall fuge, Now for years 0 nitrates.
Base rock would be the cheapest way out and like stated it will become live over time and there will be no die off to worry about.
what brand of tank is it? you sure its all tempered glass?

 

[noteworthy]

nitrates are under control... currently at 15.. lots of gunk in the tank I had to suck out.. hidden under my rocks.


I am currently building a stand at http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26269

Going to put a 55 gallon down there and put a fuge in there.


As far as the tank I'm not real sure.. the guy who gave it to me said it was all tempered. Most websites say large/thick glass tanks are almost never tempered. Anyway it is what it is.