I think i need to recycle my tank

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Section8

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Messages
6
Location
Fredericksburg, VA
I've been having serious ammonia levels lately which i've tracked down to my tap water. Even when conditioned with Aquasafe or something like that, the ammonia levels are around .25 - .50. Worse still, the levels in my tank itself are off the chart, 5 to 7.5 8O

I've tried treating the tank with some ammonia de-tox, ,and doing water changes ever few days, but I just can't get the levels down. I'm amazed that my leopard spot puffer and blue spot puffer are still alive.

Today both fish looked really bad, so i pulled them out and put them in my 20gal long tank i usually use for letting newly mixed saltwater settle. ammonia in that tank is still .15 to .20 but much better than the main tank. I moved some LR into that tank and both fish are looking much better.

As for my main tank, some background:

I inherited it from a friend that didn't want it. 46gal bowfront with UG filter and crushed coral substrate and fluval 203 canister.
I've since added much more LR, better lighting, and a Magnum 350 canister with biowheels.

What i'm thinking of doing is tearing the tank down, using the 20gal tank to hold the LR (and buckets if I have to) and getting the UG and crushed coral out of the tank and replacing it with a deep sand bed, then cycling the tank again.

Does this sound like a good idea or am i off my rocker? I've never been fond of the UG filter, and I figure this is a chance to get rid of it. I'm also planning on using RO salt water from the local store for the new setup.

TIA
 
Well, as much work as will be involved with that, I would agree with your decision. The UGF and CC could be part of your problem. Also if you are getting ammonia from your tap water, you should look into getting an RO/DI unit. It will save you alot of headaches in the future.
 
Fluff also brought out a good point about the CC. If you are going to redo I would change to LS.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies, looks like i need to start my process planning. I am planning on buying an RO unit but for now I think i'm going to just buy the RO water from a shop to get this thing going.

melosu58, I see you're in Richmond - are there any good shops down there? I've only got one shop here in Fredericksburg and they are charging $1.89 a gal for RO water, I've heard that is kind of expensive?
 
There is one place down here that if you prepay 50.00 then he sells SW for 50 cents a gallon that is usually 1.00 a gallon. The place is Richmond Aquarium. He calls it the water club. If you are ever in the area let me know. Where are my manners. Welcome to AA :flasingsmile: :flasingsmile: :flasingsmile:
 
Thanks melosu58 :) I actually ended up goning to Atlantis Aquariums yesterday and bought 35gals of RO/DI water @ $1/gal which was still better than $1.89/gal. I found some playsand at Home Depot and used that as substrate and managed to get the whole tank resetup by 9pm last night. The blue spot is now doing quite well in the 20gal long with some of the old substrate and some LR.

I'm planning on getting a protein skimmer to sumplement my canister so hopefully once i get this pupply recycled things will do much better.
 
Well i got it all done on Sunday. Here's a pic of how she sits now. I ordered a protein skimmer yesterday, and once i figure out the best RO/DI unit for my needs/budget I'll order one of those too

Fish%20Tank%20Reloaded003.JPG
 
Nice tank. Those two additions will have you on the road to success. Like I said if you`re in the area, Holler at me
 
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