Pgreco Posted September 10, 2002 Share Posted September 10, 2002 Hello again, As stated b4 i have a ten gallon nano. HEre are the specs, a biowheel 140 i believe with the biowheel removed(carbon only), a modified skilter 250 with no media and about 20 pound of live rock. I have less than an inch of Crushed coral on the bottom. Inhabitiants include a royal dottyback, perc clown, coral banded shr, about 10 hermits and 2 snails. Corals include(which were just introduced BTW about 1 month ago) a few button polyps, a lone mushroom on a piece of LR and some xenia. All things appear to be doing fine. The only problem I have is that no matter what I do my trates stay at a baseline 40ppm. When i say baseline I mean it has been at this level for a long time. I feed the fish every 3 days and when i do its only one or two flakes. I change the water every week (1-2 gallons) and I run my mod skilter 24/7. The test kit says that the level is in a "safe" zone but I cannot seem to get it down. I tried testing my water source and only get trace readings of NItrate. I want to add oter corals but i fear doing so because of these levels. Any suggestions? Link to comment
TNreefguy Posted September 10, 2002 Share Posted September 10, 2002 try a deeper sand bed this will help with the growth of anarobic bacteria that will help digest the nitrates Link to comment
Pgreco Posted September 10, 2002 Author Share Posted September 10, 2002 Since i have very little CC on the bottom of the tank would it be safe to but live sand on top or should i add more CC? Link to comment
TNreefguy Posted September 10, 2002 Share Posted September 10, 2002 go with more live sand it already has the bacteria in it so the bacteria growth rate will be better. only add a little each day until you get about a 2 to 3 inch depth. i also use a nitrate reactor on my 55 and my nitrates stay at or below 10 ppm Link to comment
Pgreco Posted September 10, 2002 Author Share Posted September 10, 2002 Is the 40ppm that i currently have at toxic levels? Link to comment
Sahin Posted September 10, 2002 Share Posted September 10, 2002 40ppm is too high for corals, might be pushing it for fishes as well. But for corals its too high IMO. I had about 40ppm nitrates at the start from RO water from LFS that was bad and generally due to cycling (very small) of the liverock. I just measured my nitrate levels yesterday and it came out at 5ppm which is just fine. It took a while for the nitrate reduction to take effect significantly in my tank. Tank is now about 3.5months old. I have a 3inch DSB composed of very fine sand. Aggressive (large--eg 30%) water changes will help bring levels down as well as using a DEEP sand bed. One thing though, check the nitrate level in the water used for water changes --even if its RO or DI water, you never know, the LFS could be selling bad water (ie not changed membranes) or your own RO system needs replacement filters etc. Good luck. Link to comment
Strife Posted September 11, 2002 Share Posted September 11, 2002 you can keep nitrates down by using a skimmer, but the natural way of doing it is by adding caulerpa.. they consume nitrates..but beware,,when they run out of resources, they can cause more trouble than nitrates.. Link to comment
glazer Posted September 11, 2002 Share Posted September 11, 2002 well I would like to make a suggestion since you asked for them... Try another test kit. You didn't say what your "source water" was, RO or tap or whatever, but you are getting "trace levels"? Your kit may be wanting to show 'trates no matter what the source and in the prescence of them could be reading wrong... Test kits are not 100% accurate and readings CAN and DO vary between different ones. Link to comment
Pgreco Posted September 11, 2002 Author Share Posted September 11, 2002 OK, So i tried a new test kit last night. The water i use is R/o water. The test kit I tried last night at the LFS gave me a reading of 30ppm. This is much better than the 40 pmm reading. To throw another wrench in the mix, I realized that after 2 years, the stand i had my aquarium on is beginging to bow! I'm gonna take this as an opportunity to upgrade to a 15 gallon. What would be the best way to go about transferring my livestock to the new tank. Will it go through a cycle? Link to comment
JSinger884 Posted September 12, 2002 Share Posted September 12, 2002 how do you convert a 12.5mg/l reading to pmm?? Link to comment
Sarnack Posted September 12, 2002 Share Posted September 12, 2002 mg/L = ppm milligrams per Liter are equal to parts per million. Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted September 12, 2002 Share Posted September 12, 2002 all lots of LS and oolitic. Get rid of the CC after that establishes in like 2 months. It will eventualy rise to the surface. Detritus is getting trapped in the CC and will become a nitrate factory unless U (UGH I HATE TO SAY THIS) Gravel Siphon out the Sh*t. I dont want to be a dick, but its what Im best at pointing out..... Ya need to redo the tank or look into alternatives for nutrient export. ALL new set ups go through an excessive nutrient build up in the beginning. Be patient and do water changes every week. DONT MAKE ME BEAT U.. LOL Link to comment
Pgreco Posted September 12, 2002 Author Share Posted September 12, 2002 thank you for the inspring response, what exactly is an oolitic? Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted September 12, 2002 Share Posted September 12, 2002 Sugar sized "golfball (or soccer ball)" shaped pieces (under a microscope they look ) of sand that are reccomended fer sandbeds. Ya could also use some Special Grade reef floor Aragonite from Carib Sea mixed in or Aragalive. They are a little larger in grain size than the oolitic, but I generaly mix them both into my reef setups. Link to comment
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