Giving Up.....

[sweetriden76]

without posting your test results we really cant help to much, I am usuing conditioned tap in my nano, but our water is decent plus it sits in the bucket for a few days before its used, and when i fill the bucket I add the conditioner and PH buffer, seems to be working for me, but I also test it all the time to check it, amonia, PH, nitrites, and nitrates are the crucial ones, also alkalinity, salinity, and calcium if your kepping corals, also I use kent 2 part nano tank buffer which boosts calcium and the other important trace elements, get yourself a good heater, Id say at least a 100watt, I have a 75watt in my 12 gal, and its getting turned over more then 20 times an hour which seems to work good in a small tank...hopefully the eel and crab stay alive long enough to figure it out...

[cooljjay]

I think its tonga, its all live rock no garden rocks of any short. the snowflake is way to big hes like a foot, eats at least 6 small or 3 large goldfish aday. so I am home now, I am doing the ph test now but my nitrate is at 160, my ammonia is at 0 and same with nitrite. I believe the nitate is whats doing the damage, I looked at my water conditioner and it doesn't remove nitrate so I am going to run and find the right one at the lfs.

[lunatik_69]

No3 at 160ppm, that will do the damage. Either your feeding too much or you dont have a good filter system, refugium, wet/dry, sump, skimmer. I think that that eel is whats hurting you.

[ReefSparky]

Cooljjay--nitrates at 160 is PRETTY STEEP! After a 75% water change, your nitrates would be at 40, which is still unacceptable. Maybe you should think about starting over? Do you do water changes? If so, something is afoul somewhere. If not, you should start.

Another thing, you mentioned you don't have a protein skimmer. Get one. The dissolved organics in your tank are becoming nitrates; but they wouldn't if they were removed before they had the chance. This is precisely what a protein skimmer does.

I hope you don't take offense, but you "giving up" without taking many of the ordinary, everyday steps that we as reefers must take; is like a surgeon who does surgery in an unclean operating room and decides to quit because he is losing patients to infection.

Running to the LFS to find an answer in a bottle to rid you of nitrates is going to be a lost cause. The way you get rid of nitrates is through prevention and water changes.


Ask as many questions as you need to here, and more useful yet--read up on the things you'll have to do to have success at SW aquarium keeping. It's not too hard, but you must be armed to fight this war.

Good luck.

[cuttingras]

Ditto to ReefSparky and Lunatic...160 is what is killing your livestock, but I think a 75% water change hurts too......While your at the LFS trade the eel in too, that's just too much food into that tank especially without a skimmer

[ReefSparky]

Originally Posted by cooljjay

. . . and in the sump theres around 5in of crushed misc shells sand and what have you. the tank has been going for about a year now.

This could be another harmful variable. I used to have crushed coral substrate before I went reef, and that combined with an algae problem (which I also had), meant a metric ton of detritus collecting in those big crannies provided by the rock and shell. This is a breeding ground for nitrate production. You might want to get rid of the crushed shell in the sump and go bare bottom (in the sump). If space permits, perhaps put a light on a timer over your sump, light it opposite daylight, and put some chaetomorpha down there.

There's probably a few other things you can do, but there's a start.

[baugherb]

I live in the city.. I topped off my nano with tapwater although RO/DI is much better.. Like their saying above, the nitrates are causing you much of your grief....

[sweetriden76]

nitrates out of the tap should be under 20, mine are only between 20-30 now that its been cycling a week with the cured LR and LS, I use PRIME water conditioner for my topoff water, supposed to remove all three things, and premote a slime coat, then kent PH buffer, Id remove the animals, either trade them in or see if the LFS will hold them for you, and start with a total water change, scrub the rocks down, clean the sand all out and start at square one, thats just my opinion if I was in that situation, and I wouldnt put the eel back in there, to much food and mess associated with it...oh not to hijack your thread or anything, but the guy at the LFS(I was window shopping, panning what I want in the future)said Id always read some nitrates, I have the skimmer attachment on though and they havent changed much in about a week, oh I did put two small hermits, and two astraea snails in to just combat the brown algae that was snuffing out my coralline, which is now making a good comeback(so happy about that)

[cooljjay]

Ok I did go to the lfs just to get proper water conditioner. I have been using a conditioner that only removes metals and chlorine nothing about ammonia or nitrate. Since I have a 30gal tank the water loss is horrible, and seeing that I have been replacing water with pretty much non conditioned water I made the whole mess worse. I have some beautifully purple on my rocks now and would hate to start all over. I am going to do a water change now and look for a good skimmer, suggestions?? and as soon as the eel gets better I will trade him in, right now he tends to eat his tail, so I have to wait for that to be better so they don't think it has a disease. I like most beginners didn't know the harm of a snowflake when i got him...but now i do. the sump does have chaetomorpha in it but for some reason when the tank went under it died way back. I will try a little more to help save this tank before i let it go.

[bmshehan]

good luck with everything and remember that when it comes to saltwater... research, research, research