FAO Nemo79

Equip: 55g,aquaclear filter(sponge/carbon,200gph)
1-mj1200,1-mj400,
t5 ho 4 x 54w w/lunar lights
aqua c remora w/ mj1200
35lbs LR(lost count could be 40lbs) and 20lbs tufa(base rock)

FISH: yell tang,firefish,2 clowns,jawfish,yellow watchman goby

CORAL: frogspawn,rics,shrooms,xenia
seamat,leather,feather duster

INVERT: 2 cleaner shrimps, 2 pep. shrimp, 2 margarita, 6 nerite,11 nassarius, 2 trochus, 6 blk turbo, 20 hermits, 3 scarlet herm., 2 halloween herm.

Ok...let's talk about carbon.

First off, Carbon in your tank is not necessary. Although carbon sucks up a lot of unwanted chemicals, it also sucks up a lot of useful compounds that your corals love. That's why companies such as Kent Marine make products such as Essential Elements...because they know that folks run carbon even though in the vast majority of cases, they don't need to.

Frankly, I'm convinced that your nitrate problem stems from two things:
1) Reusing carbon.
2) Not doing proper and regular water changes.

A lot of folks LOVE to tell you that you can get away with doing a 10% water change once a month if you run _____________ fill in the blank. That's not so. Well, you can, but you run into problems one way or the other. End of.

The other thing is that if you have a hang on filter as your primary, that's not a problem...IF you know how to use it. There is one major rule of usage:
NEVER clean and change both filters (Layers) at once.

What you want to do is start right now. In a 55, you should only have to pull an 8 gallon water change every two weeks. The next time you pull a water change, clean only ONE filter in your hang on. Don't even touch the other one. Leave it be.

Then, two weeks later, pull another 8 gallon water change. Don't TOUCH either filter in your hang on.

Then, two weeks after that, pull your water change and clean the other filter out that you didn't clean the first time.

What's that's going to do is this:
A) You get on a regular two week schedule of water changes at roughly 14.5% by doing 8 gallon water changes...MORE than enough to keep your 55 in great shape.
B) You clean/change when worn one filter every month allowing for your biological to get set up in the filter you just cleaned/changed BEFORE you change the other filter. That way, you don't kill ALL of the biological in the hang on at one single time.

That's the biggest issue: If you're cleaning out and changing both filters/layers at the same time, you're killing ALL of the biological set up in those filters. I'm willing to bet a million bucks I don't have that you're running them both under the sink until they're clean. Guess what? That's cholorine. That just killed ALL of the biological in both filters in an instant. That shifts the load to your live rock alone and if you're a bit short on that (which you are) you're in trouble.

Follow those directions, and I'm more than possitive that in two months time you will not only not have a nitrate problem, but your tank is going to look better than it ever has before.

Best regards,
Tom

 

I agree with you Tom except for the idea that you are killing all of your beneficial bacteria in your tank when you clean your filter! Yes you do kill that which is living in your filter media by cleaning with fresh water-another option is to rinse in salt water. The other thing is that even though you may be killing the bacteria on the filter media, nemo79's gravel and live rock should be more than able to handle the bioload without having that high a nitrate spike IMO.
Nitrate also accumulates in tank water from other sources such as protein rich foods, tap water, nitrogen fixation.
A high nitrate level is not all that bad as long as the pH, calcium and alkalinity of your water is up to speed! Nitrates are needed by corals and clams especially for their growth and development as they feed on it. An iodine supplement should be implemented as well to inhibit the reduction of iodine in your water from the elevated nitrates as well as that removed by the protein skimmer and adsorbed by fish etc.

 

Hello. Okay I do regular water changes every two weeks but have been doing water changes every other day to lower the nitrates. I never replace both my media at once because I know it's a no no. I have removed the sponge from my filter with no ill effects but remain to use carbon. I do supplement reef plus for iodine and I usually add phytoplex and zooplex. Since my nitrates were up I haven't added any phyto or zooplex. My alk, ca, are fine, no ammonia, no nitrites, my ph is 8.4 between 7-8pm. I use the aqua c remora skimmer.

 

...and I usually add phytoplex and zooplex

Be careful with that stuff. Your corals don't really need that as much as the bottle/sales person tell you they do. If you're overdosing, that can lead to a pretty good nitrate problem as well in a pretty good hurry.

Are you target feeding or just adding to tank? And how often?

Regards,
Tom

 

Well since this problem started I haven't added it at all. And from now on I will only add it once a week! I don't want to go through this again, it's exhausting all the water changes. I also find that with the remora skimmer everytime you do water changes it takes a while to kick in again. Needless to say my skimmer isn't skimming as much these days since I am doing water changes every other day.

I think once I fix my problem I am going to post learning experiences for newbies.

I also only feed every other day now.