hi guy I have some questions I need help to figure out how to solve my problems. here goes I have a 400 gallon tank ive had running fish only for about 7 or 8 years now and I wanna get it ready to add corals. my problem is high nutrents i didn't keep up with water changes and i don't have anything besides a skimmer to lower them right now my nitrates are 50ppm and phosphate i know is at least 1ppm ive had it as high has 2ppm. i have about 10 fish in the tank 3 are large tangs over 12'' i have about 400lbs of rocks and i have removed about 95% off the sand bed. i would like to know what would be the best option or easiest of equipment to buy to keep these in check like ats,gfo + bio pellets, sulfar reactor ,marine pure blocks btw my feedings are 1 full of sheet algae and some pellets for smaller fish.
filtration questions
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Jack Eskay
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You can always try a massive water change and maybe a skimmer upgrade+ add a fuge.
Jack Eskay
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What coral do you want to keep?
Carbon dosing would be the simplest. If your adding coral youl be looking into dosing Cal and alk and probably mag anyway so a dosing pump with an unused port..
do you mean vodka dosing?i did this a long time ago I was able to get nitrates to zero and phosphates .08-.16 but fish seem to breathe heavy dosing it. it took 75ml if I went past that I would get a bacteria bloom
MaiReef
Valuable Member
Keep the filtration the same add the new lights and increase flow. Then test. You need the light and flow for the SPS. Add that first and test. More flow through LR and over sand seems to decrease Nitrates and as for the Phosphate a GFO reactor would work fine. I am a minimalist and don't dose and if you just have some coral you may not need to use more than Kalkwasser to maintain ALK and Calcium.
Id use vinegar. Both are meant to be long term solutions like a biopellet reactor.. If you got the No3 down to good levels, that's when I'd add a gfo for a time, then remove it and let the bacteria work..
prsnlty
Jackie
Once you get to the point of bacteria bloom (hopefully just before it) you are supposed to cut what that current dose is in half for your maintenance dose. Maybe that was the issue with the fish?
Same here.
Depending on bio loads cal and alk and PH it may not be enough, two part may become spendy, but that's a time will will tell. Were it the plan to go big on the sps and acros and I had the cash I go right to the calcium reactor. ESP in a tank that big.
Florida Sunshine
Well-Known Member
If this is true, I would check your water source. Do you use RO/DI water for water changes?
If you did a water change equal to 50% of your tank, your nitrates would be reduced by 50% unless there were nitrates in the new water as well.
If you did a water change equal to 50% of your tank, your nitrates would be reduced by 50% unless there were nitrates in the new water as well.
water is free of nitrates and phosphates I tested new seawater I use a 6 stage ro-di system I change filters every 3 months or so just cause its cheap they never look dirty and I change the membranes 6-8 months I think from not keeping mantience on the tank maybe the rocks are full of phosphates
Rick.45cal
2500 Club Member
If I wasn in your shoes, I would Dose Red sea NO3-PO4-X. (NOPOx) and brightwell aquatics MicroBacter7. Just take it slow!
Your fish were breathing heavy because you were dosing so much vodka that your bacteria colony became large enough to increse the BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) to such a high level that O2 levels dissolved in the water dropped! The lesson to learn from that is to go slow and let them come down over time. (Waterchanges in my experience are really lousy at nutrient control). That way your fish aren't stressed, and when you get towards 2-5ppm of NO3 and .02-.06 PO4 you will have an very good idea of how much to back off. (You don't want 0 NO3 and 0 PO4, you want a little of each).
If you go real heavy on the carbon dosing you really run the risk of overshooting and ending up with a big carbon surplus. Go slow with it, skim heavy and in a couple months your tank will settle where it needs to be (and it will be stable).
Your fish were breathing heavy because you were dosing so much vodka that your bacteria colony became large enough to increse the BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) to such a high level that O2 levels dissolved in the water dropped! The lesson to learn from that is to go slow and let them come down over time. (Waterchanges in my experience are really lousy at nutrient control). That way your fish aren't stressed, and when you get towards 2-5ppm of NO3 and .02-.06 PO4 you will have an very good idea of how much to back off. (You don't want 0 NO3 and 0 PO4, you want a little of each).
If you go real heavy on the carbon dosing you really run the risk of overshooting and ending up with a big carbon surplus. Go slow with it, skim heavy and in a couple months your tank will settle where it needs to be (and it will be stable).
prsnlty
Jackie
Yes, why the dose is supposed to be cut in half.
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