Tips on keeping trates low?

get biopellets 8)

 

50% is more efficient than 25%.

 

There is no "correct amount". It's a guideline. You then tailor your practices to get the results you need.

 

i want to ask how to determine how much fish need to eat? i was a freshwater aquarist for 7 years before starting a saltwater tank. and in freshwater i found that the less i feed the longer fish live, i donno if that is correct for saltwater. now i feed my freshwater fishes 2 times/week and they are doing great. for saltwater i set the feeder to dispense 2 pinches of flakes 2 times/day and i add 1/3 to 1/2 cube 2 times /week. and some nori for the hippotang. and so far the tank and fishes are doing better. the tang was fighting ich under this diet and now there is no sign of parasite on him. i'm assuming it is working well for him.
i donno it seams each tank has its own personality and require some variations under the general rules.

 

Okay, well ill do 10g water changes on the 29g for now one haha.

 

5 fish in a 29 gallon is simply too much. 2 might be too many depending on what they are.

 

Fish don't frequently have empty bellies. If you cut them open, there is usually something found in there. Hence, I do not believe it to be a natural or beneficial condition to only be fed several times per week.

There are exceptions as in predatory fish.

When I started paying close attention to what I was putting into my fish, I saw a tremendous change in color and growth in even my mature fish. Overfeeding is also not recommended, but to lower feeding to combat a nutrient problem?

Kind of like a dog in a cage. You don't fed him less so he'll poop less and keep your cage cleaner.... You get in there with a scooper and clean it out. Same idea,


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Sent from Tapatalk, so please forgive grammar and spelling

 

I feed every other day, unless I have a new addition, then I feed once a day for a bit to get the fish eating. Then I back off to every other. Seems to work for me.

 

The following will all either directly or indirectly help keep nitrates down

-Efficient Protein skimming- Keep protein skimmer clean and use a good one.
-Clean water source- RO/DI water - make sure output is 0 tds.
-harvest macro algae in fuge
-feed smaller amounts more, rather than lots less often.
-keep amount fed consistient to maintain steady biomass rather than allow fluxuating biomass.
-good cleanup crew
-Run carbon and GFO.
-Keep filters clean - remove detritus
-Keep substrate clean of detritus.
-Avoid dead spots, make sure there is flow
-Probably best to avoid any biofilter other than sand and LR.
-Remote deep sand bed
-more advanced and may be much more risky, but carbon dosing can be effective.


Last, don't go crazy worrying too much if you don't have algae issues. Nitrate is not really toxic or detrimental otherwise until getting into the hundreds of ppm

 

Whoops I forgot water changes LOL. I think there is a limit if you change too much, you can destabilize your system IMO. There is debate about this though.

This may be some of the graphs your looking for and IIRC most of the issues are discussed.
Water Changes in Reef Aquaria by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com