Nitrates and some other concerns.

Ok, well i'd liked to start off by saying hello to everyone and to thank you in advance for your replys. I am a first time poster and pretty new, well pretty much a virgin to the saltwater expeience.

I have a couple a questions hopefully you guys and girls can help me with. Ok lets get to it already. lol

1) I was wondering if Snails waste(poop) can trigger the nitrate levels and make the nitrate level rise?

Also
2) I have some plants in my tank and the tips of the plants seem to be turning white almost a see-thru colour/shade and i dont know why or how this is happening and i just wanted to know and if there was something i can do to help?

So those are the 2 questions i have so far and i do have a few more but i dont want to make anyone bored of reading my stuff. ANY ADVICE WOULD HELP!

Thank you.

Shawn

 

Hi and welcome. We'll need some more info on your setup. Size of tank, equipment, how old, what's in it, lights, water chemistry and parameters, for starters. You'll find lots of info here!

 

Hello and welcome to 3reef

 

welcome to 3reef

steve

 

welcome to 3 reef

I assume its a planted fresh water set up?

basically any waste created by any life form fish, snails etc - will add to your bioload and can if left un checked manifest themselves as Nitrates

as stated above - tell us more about your system. filter etc and you will get more approperiate replies

Steve

 

No, its a saltwater tank and i just added plants for the look.. and sorry for not explaining more about my set up and things. But here they are.

My tank is about a 30 gallon, fluval 305 filter, with live rock and just the sponge media. Ive had it in my possesion for about 6 months now. And i bought it off a guy who had it running for about a year. so its a year n a half in total i guess. In my tank I have 30-50 pounds of rock uh about 3 inches high of substrate and 2 hermit crabs 3 turbos and a Brown clown goby. Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, pH 8, Nitrates 20

 

welcome to 3reef aok. good to see a local on here. the nitrates could be from over feeding your fish. cut back on that. you could use more snails for sure and clean up crew in general. what type of "plants" are they. so many different corals and each would have a different prblem.

 

Hi, welcome to 3reef, I have a planted SW tank connected to off my DT. New growth in my seaweeds is clear, if it's the tips that are clear then this is normal and healthy. When seaweeds dies it can also go clear but on a larger scale; not just the tips of the plant. If your seaweed is suddenly dieing this is usually because their isn't enough nutrients or carbon to sustain itself or that the lighting isn't good enough to sustain it. This can lead to excessive die off or (depending on the species of seaweed) to the seaweed going sexual and practically exploding. Regular pruning/cropping will help, I crop mine about every month or so.

 

Hi Aok

do you rinse that sponge in your old salt water each week when you do a water change? if not the source of your nitrates is in the sponge

Steve

 

well the last water change i did, i ended up washing out the sponges. i was told i didnt have to do it every water change i made, and i was also told i woulndt have to change my sponge for a few months or something. So you recomend i wash it out every water change/every week, and what would be the best way to wash it out? in the tank water that i take out from the water change, or in fresh water?

and thanks everyone for your posts.