Breeding Clownfish/Nitrate Problem!

[Andy Sager]

One thing I noticed in this thread was there was no mention of lighting. Marine fish generally breed with certain moon phases so you might want to install some lunar lighting to better "inspire" them to spawn. The rest of the suggestions sound in line: too much food and not enough cleaning.

Hope this helps...

 

[reef lover]

I would agree with the over feeding part. Twice a day would be way too muxh plus each time how muxh did you feed?

 

[LaWoWee]

Are you using a protein skimmer? I buy skimmers that are rated for twice my tanks sizes. Skimmers will dispose of waste before it can be converted into nitrate. my tanks are always between 0-0.2 nitrate according to my salifert test kit.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Too much feeding. By "live gravel" what do you mean? Crushed aragonite, or crushed coral is the proper substrate for a reef, not silica sand. Aragonite helps buffer PH and I would suggest something like a goby to keep the substrate stired up. By vacuuming it, you release a lot of detritus into the water column that can crash oxygen levels and certainly spike nitrate levels.