water changes

[jimiwa123]

Right now I have a 10 gallon reef tank. There are about 6 pounds of live rock in it. Right now my nitrates are at 30, nitrites and ammonia are at 0. I have lost 3 peppermint shrimp within the last week and a half. One of my stony corals is bleaching and is missing growth on parts of it. I am guessing that the bleaching is due to high nitrates. Am I correct in assuming that? I do not have a protein skimmer and I want to get my nitrates down to 0 so I was wondering how much water I should change and how often.

[Pikelet]

How long has the tank been in its current configuration? I would go with at least 10lbs of lightweight LR and 20lbs of aragonite sand as a minimum to ensure that the nitrates were being completely converted. It sounds to me that either you're adding too many nitrates via food and contaminants on your hands or the tank hasn't completely cycled.

[jimiwa123]

The tank is about a year old. I have been adding live rock, small pieces every

here and there, but not a lot. I have a

friend who is suggesting to get 10 lbs

of live rock all at once for my tank. Until

then, what about water changes?

[sobe1]

Try 10% once a week and see what that does. It's been working for me. I also don't run a skimmer, just water changes, a 2in dsb, and 7lbs of lr is what I use for filtration. Also good water flow with 2 small ph and a skilter 250 as a sort of refugium.

[Pikelet]

Originally posted by jimiwa123

Until

then, what about water changes?

 

I'd do two 20% water changes 3 days apart and remeasure.