MattyA12
New Member
I apologize in advance because I know this question has been asked at least 1,000 times on these forums. I have a 20 gallon Eclipse tank running a saltwater setup that's three months old at this point. Tank currently has 20 lbs of live sand and about 30 lbs of live rock (per recommendations I read online). Used raw shrimp to cycle ammonia zero nitrites zero and have been that way for weeks. Nitrates however, are a different story as I've never been able to get them below about 50ppm (using API test kit). About a month ago went to local aquarium store spoke to the owner who was convinced it was just part of the cycling process and suggested I add a couple of fish. Added one clown and one damsel (they've been thriving with no issues). Been a month with the addition of the fish....still ammonia zero nitrites zero but nitrates still won't drop below 50. Have done multi 25% water changes and am using RODI water to replace. Recently picked up some Seachem Prime thinking adding the right bacteria may help, however I don't think it does what I originally thought it would as there hasn't been any decline in Nitrates.
Thoughts on next steps? I know I'm probably not using the best setup (Eclipse 2) at 20 gallons, but at the time it was the option that was available to me and I didn't want to invest a ton in a hobby I could easily fail at. I know starting this ecosystem is a slow process....I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.
Matt
Thoughts on next steps? I know I'm probably not using the best setup (Eclipse 2) at 20 gallons, but at the time it was the option that was available to me and I didn't want to invest a ton in a hobby I could easily fail at. I know starting this ecosystem is a slow process....I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.
Matt
