AdamHorton
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I've had a 150G FOWLR tank for about three years now. I've been able to keep fish in the tank pretty successfully, but the dream was always to have corals. I've been trying for quite a while to get my nitrates to the point where maybe I could have corals, but it hasn't been working so well.
I got a biopellet reactor and I've been doing large (>100 gal) water changes, but it doesn't seem to have had any effect on my nitrates, they're still too high for corals and it seems like the only way I can keep them there is to do these huge water changes every week, which is more maintenance than I'm willing to put in, not to mention the cost of the salt for that much SW every week or so.
I understand there's probably a serious problem with nitrates, even if I plan to only keep fish in the tank, but my fish seem to be OK with the way things are. I've been tempted recently to just get some cool non-reef-safe fish like puffers and just resign myself to the idea that my tank will never be a reef.
Maybe I can try a smaller reef tank, but the reason I got such a big SW tank was because I thought bigger tanks were easier for keeping the levels good. Is that just me not understanding things correctly? I'd like to think that I could easily maintain a small reef tank (10-20 gallons or so) but is this a good idea? Would I be better off just giving up on this dream?
Any thoughts?
I got a biopellet reactor and I've been doing large (>100 gal) water changes, but it doesn't seem to have had any effect on my nitrates, they're still too high for corals and it seems like the only way I can keep them there is to do these huge water changes every week, which is more maintenance than I'm willing to put in, not to mention the cost of the salt for that much SW every week or so.
I understand there's probably a serious problem with nitrates, even if I plan to only keep fish in the tank, but my fish seem to be OK with the way things are. I've been tempted recently to just get some cool non-reef-safe fish like puffers and just resign myself to the idea that my tank will never be a reef.
Maybe I can try a smaller reef tank, but the reason I got such a big SW tank was because I thought bigger tanks were easier for keeping the levels good. Is that just me not understanding things correctly? I'd like to think that I could easily maintain a small reef tank (10-20 gallons or so) but is this a good idea? Would I be better off just giving up on this dream?
Any thoughts?