Nitrate Problem

could there be too much nitrates for even my fuge to absorb? this is killing me

 

Yes, even cured rock can cause a spike in ammonia and nitrites due to some die off. Do not add both sand and rock at the same time. When I read your post the first thing that jumped out at me was how little rock you have and since you have a thin sand bed (something I prefer and use also) you will need to add rock. Right now your biological filter is insufficient and not keeping up with your large (relatively speaking) bio load. You are pushing the limit with that many fish. I have a 55 gal. and I keep 3 Green Chromis, 1 Royal Gramma, 1 Yellow tail Damsel and a Coral beauty.
Add a phosphate reactor (if budget provides) and add the rock 5-10 lbs. at a time and add "Cycle" live bacteria (or any other suitable choice) at twice the marine dose each time you add rock.
Your fuge will be fine in time so leave it alone. I would not remove the rock. No need to further shock the bio filter. Why would you take out fish? With the fuge and after you add more rock to bolster the bio filter, the tank should handle it, but, you will done adding fish.

 

yeah, im done adding fish, i just need to take the rock out of the tank if im going to catch the chromis and remove them...im not 100% sure tho

 

If you like those fish then I would just add more LR. You need about 50 more LBS of LR. Add no more than 10 LBS at a time every few days.Is your macro algae growing well in your fuge? Get some Ferric Oxide phosphate remover either a reactor or a HOB filter. I use Chemi Pure Elite(has carbon and ferric Oxide mix). With the correct amount of LR eventually your nitrates will lower. If your able to aquascape the tank with the addition of the LR I would go that route first. Is your skimmer working well? That could cause you problems with nitrates/algae. You need a good skimmer.

 

my skimmer is filled with skimmate, dark brown and stinky (lol), every two days...so i guess its going pretty well...although i would like to buy a mechanical one.

i do have the space for more live rock, so that will be my next angle...
Ive tried some of the remover medias before with no success...i guess its because i dont really have a canister or anything to run that stuff in....my only option is to put it next to heavy water flow....

Im gettin growth in the fuge, but im wondering if the bulb may be bad...i just cant understand how my parameters are bad, but everything in the tank it alive...

 

First dont get an canister filter that will only add to your problem of nitrates. I would add a good 50 lbs of LR over a month and see where you are then. If nitrates are still high thenyou can think about taking out the Chromis.
Adam

 

I think the above advise is the way to go. The only thing I would add is a sulfur denitrator. That's what finally worked for me. I tried the deep sand bed (helped a bit), I tried the coil denitrator (utterly useless), I tried commercial nitrate removers (even more useless) and finally built a sulfur denitrator. For me, it was the ultimate solution.

Z