Nitrates

How many fish in there???

It does seem you are feeding too much.

M

 

Whoa, 5ppm phosphate is way too high, def pick up a two little fishes phosban 150 reactor they're cheap. You'll need to couple it with a maxi jet 400 pump and some tubing to connect the reactor to the pump.

FYI for feeding, get a tea bag strainer and rinse those frozen cubes under tap water if you don't have an RO unit. Once the food is thawed put it in a little cup of tank water and feed with a turkey baster. You should feed maybe one cube every 3-4 days. Fish can go long stretches without eating, they don't need food everyday. The water those frozen cubes is packaged in is filthy and filled with phosphates.

Agree that the water you're using may be suspect for attributing to the high P04 & NA also.

How many fish are in your Itank & what kind?

 

I feed them about a cube a week... there are three fish(clown, cherub pygmy, and a green clown goby) and a fire shrimp lots of snails and hermies . I think im over feeding still Im doing a water change tomorrow. I use tap water with API stress coat. should I get rid of the filters all together then? andddd I never knew that about the cubes. Its just wonderful they are filled with phosphates. Should I thaw out the whole cube and leave it in a cup of tank water ? that sounds gross.. re freeze it? Its scary to realize im doing so much wrong. haha thanks reefers! I hope this will help my fishies

 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this. Cheatomorpha Algea is the BOMB DIGITY!!!! it sucks up all you nitrates and phosphates. I use to have a major problem with nitrates but a week after i got some cheato i was set. if you really want to get down and dirty with it you could also do a refugium with a DSB with cheato, macro algea and some mangroves. then you would really be rockin and you could feed twice a day. Any arguments

 

Using tap water can be quite bad depending on the quality of tap in your area.Using tap water conditioner only neutralizes the chlorine and chloramines but does not remove any nitrates or phosphates that may be in it.As mentioned above an RO/DI unit is the way to go for most people,but since your tank is small you also could look into getting your water from a LFS or water store or vending machine if theres one in your area.

 

I dunno the quality of water :/ I live in salt lake. i'll test it after using the stress coat. I don't really even know what a RO/DI unit is. I just know it gives you cleaner water to put in your tank. and where can I get some Cheato? I dunno what they look like.

 

An RO/DI unit is a filter system that forces water through a membrane and removes almost all contaminates.If you go to the sponsors forum you can click on Spectrapure or Airwater and Ice,you can get alot of info and prices from they're sites.If you would like to try some cheato click on reefcleaners.com,it's listed under macroalgae.

 

USE RO/DI WATER. TAP WATER HAS WAY TOO MANY NUTRIENTS.

 

RO/DI is certainly a must if you aren't already doing that.

M

 

FYI my tap water has lots of Nitrate and Phosphate and it can be a never ending battle when every time you think you are doing a water change you are adding more nitrate. Very frustrating. Last summer I went to Sandy Ut. for a soccer game and before the match I went to an awesome reef store right by Rio Tinto stadium and I remember seeing Chaeto. It is usually pretty cheap and works well! They may sell RO water too, they had a bunch nice corals so I think they know what they are doing. Buying the water from the store may be good until you can afford a good RO/DI unit. I think the store was The Aquarium?