enough of a filter?

Hello all,

right so i have recently finished cycling my tank and have added my first few fish, naturally i got a nitrate spike that i fought by changing 30% of my water and am now watching the situation. my question is the following my filtration system in my 180 l tank is composed of 5 cm of live sand paired with about 20 kilos of live rock. i also have a "biobox" whos filtering systems have been replaced with a single block of blue filter sponge. i also have a skimmer running all day but not at night as i cant sleep otherwise. is this enough to keep my water quality high? what are my limitations im assuming my spike was due to the fact i added too many fish too quickly.

 

bump

 

Images would help as whilst 20 KG or 40 lb of rock, sounds adequate in a 45 gallon low stocked aquarium. it depends a lot on density of rock used, and an image can often tell many of us if the rockwork seems enough

the sponge may become an issue later if you do not remove and rinse it in tank water at water change time
accumulated waste builds up on sponges and they can become the source of future nitrate issues
with enough rock in the set up, you do not need the biological capacity afforded by the sponge, although it can be a usefull mechanical filter in that it traps debris / particles that would otherwise reduce tank water clarity , you just need to remember to rinse it each week, every week.

when you say a few fish? how many do you mean

its often best to stock a single fish at a time and then 2 weeks later make further addition
the exception being fish that you want pairs of such as clowns, and these are better added at same time, to hopefully prevent any territorial issues that you may get, if adding a 2nd clown a fortnight after the 1st one

bear in mind the general stocking capacity for salt water fish tanks is 1 inch allowing for total potential size per 4 gallons of water - thus in your tank 9 inches would be a good general target total

the addition of a sump, 24/7 skimming etc, can increase the stocking capacity of any given tank, but for beginners its probably better to stay within that general principle until they have grasped fundementals such as water quality, dissolved oxygen levels etc
and are in a better position from experience, to know just what their set up can accomodate

skimming 24/7 would be a better option as there is always a slight delay between turning on the skimmer and foam being generated
so whilst you may percieve you have a skimmer on for 16 hours and then off for 8, in reality its probably closer to 14 and 10 or 12 and 12 ( depending on efficiency of your chosen skimmer)

Steve

 

thx steve, ill set up pics soon. i currently own 2 clowns, 1 6 liner, 2 skunks, 2 peppermint and 2 yellow tale dams as well as 5 snails.

 

+1 to Steve's post.

Is that skunk cleaner shrimp or skunk clownfish? FWIW, shrimp, snails, etc are added to your CuC, not your stocking limit; that only applies to fish.