At my Witts End

[Braves Fan]

Ya'll know I want SPS corals in my tank and I just bought two a couple of weeks ago and I want to buy a frag package from someone in the near future, but not before I get the numbers right in my tank. My Nitrate number is killing me, 20 to 25 is as low as I can get it. My tank is a 125g, has a (sp) Berlin sump system but I have just last week put some sort of sea grass (not the right word, but I don't know what its called) in the sump with a light which I leave on at nite when the DT lights are off. I feed my fish 2 frozen cubes of (sp) Mysis shrimp a day, one in the morning and one in the evening, I feed a piece of Nori every other day, about a 1/3 of a sheet.
My Fish, one of each, except for the Clowns their are two of them

Fox Face
Yellow Tang
Hippo Tang
Midas Blenny
Some sort of Wrasse bout 4 inches long
Flame Angel
2 Marrone Clowns

I have been down the Water change road, it helped
got my numbers down from 100 to 25 but I can't get them lower.
My LFS dosn't seem really that concerned about the # being this high,
says his number in the tank at the store is higher and he has no problem with his SPSs. Anyway, I am at one point going to buy a big frag packge from someone for my tank, and I want this number lower if it is going to kill my corals?

 

[Stray32]

What kind of lighting and circulation do you have?

 

[Braves Fan]

Just a bit more info, I have been told that my skimmer is not the best but not the worst, but have also been told buying a better one will not cure my problem. I don't mind spending the money to fix this problem I just don't want to throw money at this problem if I won't be going in the right direction. I have T5 lighting and 3 250w MH lights, Circulkation is two cir. pumps at either end of my tank, dont know the size but seems to blow stuff around my tank pretty good.

 

[rocko918]

First gt another test kit just in case the 1 you have is off. I had a mag test kit that was only 6 months old and was way off.

second, those frozen cubes have lots of extra crap in them to preserve them. best thing to do is rinse them in water until completely thawed and then put whats left in the tank. don't dump the water in the tank. put the cube in a net and run it under tap water or something. seems like alot of food for only 7 fish.

you didn't say anything about a skimmer?

 

[Paul_N]

I can tell you initially the last 20 on the nitrates is always the hardest. When I switched from a fish and live rock setup my nitrates were 180-200. How long have they been at 20?

**Also what are your phosphates? That is the most important when starting with sps. There are very successful tanks out there with nitrates in the 10-20 range.

 

[Paul_N]

Also see if your LFS test water. You can take a sample and pay them a couple bucks to do a complete test and compare it against what you are getting as far as test results.

 

[Braves Fan]

My phosphates, I just bought this kit the other day and the number was 0.5, the reading right below my reading says retards coral growth, not a good sign. I am using two tests for my nitrates a salifert test kit and also have some of those cheap dip sticks, they both say the same thing as far as my numbers. I will start thawing my fish food in some RO water before putting in the tank and I will go to half my fish food that I am feeding if you think that will help, lol just dosn't seem like enough food for my fish. I hve been doing two or three water changes a week for about two months with the largest at about 50g, that is about have the water in my tank, I have alot of live rock in my tank that displaces alot of water.

 

[J&O'sdad]

Do you know the brand and size of the skimmer? I believe a larger rated skimmer is almost a must have in a sps tank.

 

[rocko918]

What type of skimmer is it?

Your fish will be fine with 1 cube a day. The more you feed the more they poop.

 

[sprinklerdudes]

have you checked the water that you are adding to the tank during the water changes?

 

[sprinklerdudes]

+1, cut feed in half

 

[swissgaurd]

by chance are you using bioballs
do you have a sandbed
as per feeding try
one day mysis the next nori and so on
what kind of saltmix are you using


vic

 

[aerius007]

Also what is your sand bed like? Could you have stuff in there being released into the water?

 

[Braves Fan]

Ok, just got home from work after making a stop at the LFS, he sold
me a product to help with my Phosphate problem. Its called Pura Phoslock. I will try and see if I can answer all of your questions: The skimmer is a Coralife Super Skimmer 250gallon. I will cut the fish food in half, one cube a day, is this best to give in the morning or afternoon or does it matter? No I haven't checked the water that I am using for my water changes, I will do that, I am guessing that I do this after I put salt in my RO water. I am using Oceanic Salt in my tank, I asked my LFS about the salt, he just got back from Alanta and saw some big Aquariums there, guess what kind of salt he says they use, he said my problem isn't my salt. My sand bed is, I would say is about 2 inches deep. My LFS says to get another skimmer and clean my pre filter in my sump everyday, that and my regular water changes is about all I can do. Anyway, if ya'll have any more ideas let me know, nitrates and phosphates.

 

[Angels 2010]

Read Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com

 

[Braves Fan]

I read that and was prepaired to go the Vodka Dosing rt, but was told I may need another skimmer before starting this. I am waiting to see if the majority of people think my skimmer needs replaced.

 

[J&O'sdad]

I would replace the skimmer if it was me. They are the back bone of your system.

 

[CoralBandit]

I disagree, the skimmer can be modded to work more efficiently.

1) Add a tetra air pump with a bleed valve in between the airline to your skimmer that will introduce more air making more bubbles. You need to adjust the amount of air going to the skimmer body with the bleed valve or else it just overwhelms the pump with too much air.
2) You can also shorten the tube from the pump to the skimmer body this decreases head pressure on the skimmer pump.
3) Finally, you can add mesh to the needle wheel but after the first two mods the mesh is unnecessary and only will reduce pump life in the end IMHO. The con to this skimmer is that the impeller and pump go bad after ~ two years or so if you just get the pump (which includes the impeller) it will only cost you ~$50 for a very efficient skimmer every two years.

Also I would strongly recommend dosing vodka. Bacteria NEED a carbon source I think on the order of 10x the carbon to 1x the nitrogen its reducing. The reducing bacteria are the ones that convert nitrate into nitrogen gas(N2) which leaves the tank. If you strain your food, add vodka, and do the above mods you should be crystal clear.

 

[DaveA]

To make your skimmer work better, you can just have it skim more "wet." You do this by raising the water level inside the skimmer.

What I would suggest to lower your nitrates, though, is to add a remote deep sand bed (RDSB). If you need more info on this, let me know and I'll post links. Your RDSB should be at least 6" or 8" deep, and the more surface area you can get, the better. An RDSB will lower your nitrates within 2 weeks.

 

[Braves Fan]

Thanks for all the advice, I will take and use what I can and will post and let ya'll know how the numbers are going in a few weeks.