25 gallons of disaster

I've been checking out some successful nano tanks and most just do calcium alkalinity and water changes. It's so easy to get sucked into the trace elements and what not. But I guess those are for tanks with lots of sps.

I shall step back into the simple approach and will let you guys know what happens

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/warner-marine/official-ecobak-thread-103809-23.html#post1276428

sometimes thats best. good luck which ever route you go.

 

My .02 fwiw: sometimes people can be overwhelmed by a plethora of advice and information when it's thrown at them all at once. It sounds like you're still learning some of the basics regarding water chemistry, animal husbandry, and general maintenance, etc. Please know I'm not insulting you in ANY way because everyone has to start somewhere. With that being said, I believe making some simple changes that you mentioned will help your system quite a bit.

Trading or receiving store credit for your eel is hopefully at the top of the priority list because I suspect it's one reason your nitrates are high. The eel is putting more waste into your system than your filtration can handle.
Additionally, it isn't fair to the eel to keep it in such a small tank. However, you now know that thus there's no reason to keep bashing about it.

As your water quality improves, and I think it will, you then can determine if your system needs more to keep your parameters stable and in a desired range. For example, calcium levels need to stay consistent and for that to happen much of it depends on what animals you are keeping. LPS and SPS use a lot of calcium whereas soft corals do not. You're definitely on the right track to test those levels so you can determine what you need, and how much. For many tanks weekly water changes replenishes trace elements so again, IMHO you're definitely moving in the right direction.

Additionally, keeping your ph stable is extremely important which is why I asked about water movement at the surface. Knowing your ph should be a priority. Truthfully, I would be concerned about that before I would worry about the nitrates. Nitrates aren't good but high or low ph levels, and/or swinging levels are worse. Oceans' ph fluctuates, but not dangerously so. I can't even remember if you mentioned ph, I'm just stating that it's definitely a priority, especially with a tank that's struggling. Your water also needs to stay well oxygenated which is another reason to keep the water moving at the top.

IMHO, once some of the aforementioned are addressed you can determine if you need to do more to reduce nitrates and/or phosphates. Using different carbon sources is what many people do, or they use macroalgae, and in some instances people do both. Dosing vodka, or vinegar, or using bio pellets are different methods. You're using bio pellets so stick with that. If used properly they are great at reducing nitrates and phosphates. However, using them can cause cyano so watch for that as it's then just one more problem to address.

IMHO you are using all of the information given to you to make positive changes in your tank and I applaud you for that. Keep up the great work!