I think I am screwed - URGENT HELP PLEASE

[Eienna]

If corals and fish show no signs of stress, don't do anything big fast. The first thing I'd do is verify your nitrate levels with multiple test kits. If it is indeed as high as 200+, then to Eienna's point I'd slowly bring it down week by week. If everything is fine now, everything will be fine at 10% lower nitrates next week and the week after until the level is in a more normal range.
Most importantly - don't panic and don't do anything too fast.

Normally I would agree.However, if the sandbed is kicking up that kind of nitrate, it isn't safe to clean it with the animals in, even in small increments; they'd just have to keep water changing it back down every session. That's why I suggested moving the animals for a fairly drastic clean and then normal maintenance after they return.

 

[Eienna]

What stumps me is how the nitrate could be so high without an accompanying high phosphate.

 

[Baronen]

I put 10 cubes of food in my 250 gallons system a day and have a nitrate of 7. I would look elsewhere besides the emerald crabs even if all 10 of them died it would not caused this

Okay I am not trying to derail this thread but I’ve seen others mention how much they feed. Ive seen people mention multiple cubes for a 40 gallon etc. I’ve got 4 fish in a 20 gallon and I feed like 1/4 of a cube of frozen mysis. Am I underfeeding? There’s still food floating around by the time I power up the overflow.

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

Okay I am not trying to derail this thread but I’ve seen others mention how much they feed. Ive seen people mention multiple cubes for a 40 gallon etc. I’ve got 4 fish in a 20 gallon and I feed like 1/4 of a cube of frozen mysis. Am I underfeeding? There’s still food floating around by the time I power up the overflow.

Probably. What fish do you have?

 

[Tamberav]

Okay I am not trying to derail this thread but I’ve seen others mention how much they feed. Ive seen people mention multiple cubes for a 40 gallon etc. I’ve got 4 fish in a 20 gallon and I feed like 1/4 of a cube of frozen mysis. Am I underfeeding? There’s still food floating around by the time I power up the overflow.

What type of fish? I would feed them LRS instead but if food still floating around then idk… doesn’t sound like much food but my fish leave no scraps.

 

[Tavero]

My system has gone too far , approximately 250 gallon -

Nh3 - 0
no2 - 0
No3 - 239 - Checked with 3 different kits numerous times - including hanna, API all pointing above 200 number
Phosphate - 0.06

All other parameters are normal (Ph, Salinity, Alk, CA, Mg).
RODI water is pristine.
Switched over to using Zeovit method.

Do i have any other option but a 100% water change ? Roughly even 90% water change will bring me to 23.9.


Corals - no sign of stress all fluffy - SPS extending their polyps and LPS are good too. / fish are good and no sign of stress - but failure is certain only a matter of time.

20% water change was just day before yesterday.

HELP PLEASE.

Let me calculate this fast.
239mg/l NO3 means there is approx. 200g NO3 in the tank.
That's around 500g protein or 1,5 kg high protein food.
Do you have a cat? When have you last seen it? Can you check if it drowned?

Jokes aside that amount is almost impossible to get though natural means.
Was there a mixup of additives somewhere and now you are dosing nitrate instead of alkalinity?

 

[k2-]

Okie

If corals and fish show no signs of stress, don't do anything big fast. The first thing I'd do is verify your nitrate levels with multiple test kits. If it is indeed as high as 200+, then to Eienna's point I'd slowly bring it down week by week. If everything is fine now, everything will be fine at 10% lower nitrates next week and the week after until the level is in a more normal range.
Most importantly - don't panic and don't do anything too fast.

yeah I am not sure how the logistics of 100 gallon + will work out so I am going to go with 10-20 % daily with deep cleaning everyday.

i have no clue what is causing the issue but sudden rise from 3.1 3 weeks ago to this today is very troubling. My kit seems fine - my other tank reads 3 and salt mix reads .5 which is within the range of error. Perhaps tomorrow will be another day and I will reevaluate all the tests.

phosphate being within acceptable limit is something I am not able to comprehend either. Thanks going back to basic and do daily 10% water changes , like many mentioned a few lps or crab dying shouldn’t be the the cause.

 

[Baronen]

What type of fish? I would feed them LRS instead but if food still floating around then idk… doesn’t sound like much food but my fish leave no scraps.

2 Pygmy wrasse, barnacle blenny and a helfrichi fire fish. So all super meek fish. The blenny might actually eat the most lol. I do need some different food. I feed pellets too. The wrasse actually love bloodworms

 

[Eienna]

Try to make sure food gets down where the goby will pick it up. Otherwise, he'll starve over time. Other than that...if they're not finishing it, make sure they can actually swallow it and aren't spitting it back out.

 

[Eienna]

Those are mostly very small fish. If you want to feed more, try a bit less but more frequently. They may appreciate smaller foods if you can get them. Otherwise, just keep an eye on them. If they start getting a little skinny, you have your answer. Again, make sure they're actually swallowing it, and make sure the sandsifter gets some.

 

[Tamberav]

2 Pygmy wrasse, barnacle blenny and a helfrichi fire fish. So all super meek fish. The blenny might actually eat the most lol. I do need some different food. I feed pellets too. The wrasse actually love bloodworms

Ya that makes sense then. They are not the bottomless gluttons of clownfish, damsels, larger wrasses, and so on.

 

[k2-]

Let me calculate this fast.
239mg/l NO3 means there is approx. 200g NO3 in the tank.
That's around 500g protein or 1,5 kg high protein food.
Do you have a cat? When have you last seen it? Can you check if it drowned?

Jokes aside that amount is almost impossible to get though natural means.
Was there a mixup of additives somewhere and now you are dosing nitrate instead of alkalinity?

Good question - I did dose nitrates some 2-3 months ago - and I am not feeding much and my cat - just checked and she is eating her dinner so didn’t drown (lol).

but something is not right - it will be interesting to get to the bottom of this. My refugium is also fine - I turned up the light to 24x7 and will retest everything tomorrow

 

[Eienna]

Good question - I did dose nitrates some 2-3 months ago - and I am not feeding much and my cat - just checked and she is eating her dinner so didn’t drown (lol).

but something is not right - it will be interesting to get to the bottom of this. My refugium is also fine - I turned up the light to 24x7 and will retest everything tomorrow

Best of luck. Keep us posted!

 

[k2-]

Stopped all the dosing -

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

As @Lavey29 said no test goes that high. Hanna, Red Sea, Api etc so not sure where you came up with that number. No crab death caused it and i doubt there is anything wrong with with your salt mix.

Y'all need to read his posts! He diluted the water sample 1:10 with fresh sw and got 23.9.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Okay I am not trying to derail this thread but I’ve seen others mention how much they feed. Ive seen people mention multiple cubes for a 40 gallon etc. I’ve got 4 fish in a 20 gallon and I feed like 1/4 of a cube of frozen mysis. Am I underfeeding? There’s still food floating around by the time I power up the overflow.

The only way to answer that question is with another question of what are your nutrient levels nitrates and phosphates that is where we will start and then I can give you an answer

 

[Eienna]

The only way to answer that question is with another question of what are your nutrient levels nitrates and phosphates that is where we will start and then I can give you an answer

That was in the very first post.

 

[moosevandyke]

Tank looks newer and lots of fish. My guess is heavy bio load new tank = nitrate’s possibly spiking.

 

[Eienna]

Tank looks newer and lots of fish. My guess is heavy bio load new tank = nitrate’s possibly spiking.

I'm no expert, but I'd have to say no. If they had been added after the water change, maybe, bur I don't believe they were. It would be more gradual. Not off the charts a few days after it was fine.

 

[Eienna]

Question, what do you do for phosphate control?