HELP !!High nitrates? Phosphates?

divewsharks

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i use rodi from the lfs also no filterfloss just a sponge..i thought floss was a nitrate breeding factory and cant really vaccume the sand it always gets sucked up and out of my tank i do try though

I would also suggest testing the RO/DI water from the LFS. I know some that don't change the filter/resin often enough, as a result not as pure as you might like.
 

NanaReefer

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I would use floss before a sponge. No rinsing required, just toss and replace. You can get huge bags of it from Wal-Mart for like $4 :) Just make sure it's the Non-flame retardant which is chemical free.
Also instead of getting ride of the rubble have you ever tried blowing it off with a turkey baster? Works wonders for intank also. Helps dislodge detritus where it can then be removed via your filtration.
I agree with 6 fish being a lot for your tank but thats just an opinion. Coming from someone who has 2 in her 26 :) lol
Phosphates are an issue for everyone! Main contributors are the foods we feed which really can't be helped and our water source, which can be. Have the LFS check their water. Who knows maybe they are slacking on changing the filters ;)


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jservedio

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You have no skimmer and a huge fish load for 29g - especially if you feed a lot. Biopellets will work great for Nitrates, but how long have you had it? They take a while to start working. A drip system onto LR rubble is just going to trap detritus and make your nitrate problem even worse. If your sand is too fine to vacuum it is probably small enough not to trap detritus and you should get more flow to keep it from settling (or at least wave your hand over the sand bed occasionally to throw the detritus back into the water column).

If you are going to keep that heavy of a bioload with corals, you should probably have a skimmer and add a little more flow to prevent detritus from settling.

Chemipure will help - but it will be very expensive in the long run. Better off buying BRS GAC and GFO and bagging it yourself and changing it more often. It will be cheaper and you can control how much GAC and GFO are going in.
 
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larryhaynes

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thank you all so much. i would also like to add that under the live rock rubble in the false floor of chamber 2 in the biocube i have put a pump to blow the detritus free before it gathers should i have it set up drip or full what does drip do why not full and again not trying to question everything just want to understand why thank you all
 
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larryhaynes

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awsome no3 po4 0 ppm thank you all so much chemipure elite and purigen work great in 24 hours pluss all the great advice i got from all of you
 

Reef Dog 29

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Im having the same problem in my biocube 29, my nitrate spiked from 10ppm to 40, no clue why . it hasn't lowered any in the past few weeks at all.
 

fernb

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Make sure you clean the sponge between compartment 2 and 3 with every water change and also I siphon all detritus out of all three chambers at the same time.
I have noticed that my nitrates have remained stable at 0 since I instituted these measures.
Fern
 

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