Newbie seeking help to reduce the Nitrate

[Tom]

Hi,

 

I jumped into saltwater fish keeping in about 2 months ago by acquiring a 20g complete system. I move everything into a 29g to be a little bit easier to maintain for a newbie like me. Since the first day I got the tank, the Nitrate level has been consistently high; sometimes over 100ppm. I have been doing 20% weekly water change, but can only get down to around 60ppm for a few days. Plan to build a sump/refugium(10g) to host MacroAlgae to removw the Nitrate, but still in the process of research and planning. It seems to be a lot of work and still lost on those piping and pump. I am thinking of just throwing some MacroAlage into the tank. Will it help a lot? I saw there is a post selling "red marine alage" and green macro alage locally. Are those good to put in the tank? Besdies, I am looking for some nice LR (5-10lb) as well to help up to break down wastes. Please let me know if anyone is selling LR, too.

 

BTW, here is the list of livestocks in my system. I believe the tank is too crowded, but it is what I got from the previous owner. I will need to get rid of some in the future specially the eel. :(

 

1. Snowflake Eel : about 1 foot long

2. maroon clown fish

3. Yellow tang

4. 2 Anemone -- one Bubble tips and do not know the other one.

5. coral banded shrimp

6. Bristle star fish

7. Two Chochlate chip star fish

8. two serpent star fish

9. Sand sifting star fish

10. 20 Hermit Crab

11. 8 Snail

12. Sea Urchin

 

I have lost scooter blenny, Feather duster, and fire mouth scallop last month.

 

I attended the Winter meeting last week. I met some nice people in the meeting and quite enjoyed the speech from Steve. This is a great forum and I hope to learn more on the reef keeping. My goal will be converting my FOWLR into a real Reef tank.

 

Thanks,

 

--Tom

[Jarosh]

Wow, that's a lot of stuff for a 29gal never mind the 20 they came in. I would continue with the wafer changes and post half the fish in the for sale section or just give them away, especially the yellow tang.

 

I'm not sure if more smaller water chages a few times a week would help vs one large one once a week, but you can give it a shot.

 

Also if you want to have corals you should think about getting rid of the CC stars.

[michaelg]

find new homes for the eel and tang sooner rather than later. And probably the anenomes- as they are not in ideal conditions now and will pollute the tank bigtime if they die.

Is there live rock in there now?

What sort of filter is being used?

Sand/substrate?

Big water changes are in order to get it down, but make sure you are using RO/DI to make your salt mix.

 

Michael

[Lee Stearns]

Have to admit at this stocking level you are never going to get the nitrates down. The yellow tang will outgrow your tank- and will not allow you to put macro algea in the tank, because it will eat everything but maybe chaeto- even then it might eat that as well. With the tang gone you could put in a rather attractive long feather caurpa in the tank which would help some. The scallop clam was a goner the day you bought it- The BTA is about the only anenome that will do well in less than hallides- I take that back condi's can also do well. Some soft coral such as anthelia, xenia, and capanella could do ok and be used as a nutrient export which is what you want the Algea for. But as you indicated you were getting rid of the eel- then the nitrates will start to balance- keep doing water changes til then. let any of us know if you want some of these easier soft corals. Glad you are here asking advice.

Regards,

Lee

[Tom]

Wow! You guys rock! I can't believe that I will get the responses so fast! Thanks a lot.

 

To answer some questions.

1. There are about 20-30 lb LR in the tank. I plan to buy more, but miss the sale two weeks ago in the LFS.

 

2. The system I bought comes with Eclipse 3 for the light and filter. I got rid of the bio-wheel and the carbon inside the filter. This is the advice I got from LFS. I clear the filter pad when doing the water changes.

 

3. The substrate I think it is aragonite plus some sand in about 1-2 inches deep.

 

4. Upon my search on the Internet and advice from LFS, I bought a RO/DI filter to mix the water myself instead of drving to Marine Scene every week.

 

5. You're right about CC star, it ate the small piece of Xenia I brought back from the meeting yesterday. Thanks to the donations from the members, I got some small pieces of Capnella from the meeting. I am not sure if the CC star will eat them eventually. They should be in the for sale list, otherwise I can keep any corals.

 

The Yellow tang is about 2", which I consider not very big. It will be very hard to get rid of it since he/she is my wife's favorite. The red/green alage is not very expensive. I saw posts selling like $9 per bag, so should be all right if the Tang eat them in a few months. Now I feed the tang with frozen food, flake and seedweed salad.

 

 

It seems to me there are a lof of things need to be taken care of to maintain the tank. What would you think the first few things to do? My plan is to add LR, and alages, then trade/sell some live stocks. Next, I will build a refugium and upgrade the lighting. For the refugium and lighting(maybe canopy), I will definite need a lot of advices.

 

Thanks,

 

--Tom

[Lee Stearns]

most folks will give you the macro algea- Is there a refuge area- That yellow tang grazes all day- If it is there he will eat it- you can not keep the remainder of the bag of macro algea alive very long out of the tank. I have seen two tangs clear a 180 gallon tank that was crammed with macro algea in about a month. Nothing wrong with activated charcoal in there it will take out some of the organics out of the water- another good filter is the samll packets of Purigen a syntetic filter - it will absorb nitrogen based byproducts from the water. When it darkens significantly you can just put it in clorox to recharge it. Dry it out and then put back in the fiter area- about once a month or more depending on how much nitrogen stuff you have in the water.

[Grav]

That Tang will be leaving your tank one way or the other. Sooner or later it is going to stress out and you will lose it. It's sad and I'm sorry you are in a spot that isn't your fault. Trust me there is nothing worse than when your wife comes home to find her favorite fish belly up. You are lucky to have a wife that likes the hoby (mine does too) you want to keep it that way. Better to find it a good home while you can.

 

29g is just not big enough. A 90g tank would is pushing it for a tang.

[cabrerad]

All the previous advice is very good. I would also second that the tang is eventually not going to be happy in the tank. Not only will it reach 9 or so inches, it also needs more swimming room than a similar sized clownfish for example. In addition, a fish that eats a lot, poops a lot. That will tax a smaller system such as yours. If your wife wants to keep it, strike a bargain..tell her you need a 75 gallon or so tank so you can keep the tang! :P Also, I think you may be a bit high on the seastar side as well. I think their food may overlaop somewhat and their may not be enough food for that size tank. The sandsifter may or may not have enough sand to sift through to eat. I would definitely get rid of the chocolate sea stars if you are thinking of going reef. Also you might want to add a powerhead to improve water movement. Once you cut down on the livestock, I think you will see dramatic improvements.

[Tom]

Thanks for prompt replies.

 

I have one MaxJet powerhead and two small one to circulate the water, so water movement should be all right.

 

Question for Lee

What is Purigen? Should I get it and where? What's the benefit to have it?

 

It seems that all of you agree that the Tang will be out growing my tank. Will 55g big enough? I don't think my wife will agree with me to buy a big tank, but I can work on 55g tank. One step at a time, right.

 

Now, it seems to me getting MacroAlage won't help me because of the Yellow Tang.

 

--Tom

[Grav]

The tang police seem to agree that 90 is the minimum for a tang.

 

Go to glasscages.com and note the difference in price between a 125 and a 55. Truth is, you will spend a load more to light and filter a 125 (over time), but for the glass box the difference is minimal and the other costs will occure over time as you choose.

 

Thanks for prompt replies.

 

I have one MaxJet powerhead and two small one to circulate the water, so water movement should be all right.

 

Question for Lee

What is Purigen? Should I get it and where? What's the benefit to have it?

 

It seems that all of you agree that the Tang will be out growing my tank. Will 55g big enough? I don't think my wife will agree with me to buy a big tank, but I can work on 55g tank. One step at a time, right.

 

Now, it seems to me getting MacroAlage won't help me because of the Yellow Tang.

 

--Tom

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[Guest mikesroth]

You can also keep an eye out here or on CMAS for people that are selling old tanks. That is how I have gotten both of my larger tanks. You can save yourself a lot of money that way. You definitely want to step up when you can. Drag the wife around to look at some of our members tanks, we have a LOT of VERY nice tanks!!!! It has helped me out alot having Jen be just as interested as me in the tanks.

[cabrerad]

I also agree with the above. You might want to at least consider a tank bigger than a 55. It is possible once you have a 55 set up for a while tht you want to go bigger. If that's a possibility, then it's just cheaper to get abigger tank to start of with. Something to think about anyways. With that said, there is a balance to be struck as maintenance costs do become an issue with really large tanks, so talk to people who own the size tank you are interested in to get an idea. If you do decide to just stay at the 55, you might want to also consider a 58. The 55 is very narrow and makes reef aquascaping a bit difficult. Then again the 55 does have more length.

 

Just some thoughts,

 

David

[Tom]

It would ne nice to take my wife to see some member's beautiful tanks to get her into the hobby. For me, it will be very helpful to know how to set up a large tank and how to do the maintenance. Please let me know if anyone of you have the time to show me around. BTW, I do welcome you to see my tanks(sorry, can not compare with all of your tanks). Except for 29g saltwarer, I have two Cichlid tanks. One for Tang(20g) and one for Malawi(29g).

 

As to 55g, or even larger tank, it really have to take a lot of consideration in terms of space requirement, labor, time to commit, and financial isuue. Thanks for your suggestion, I will look into the larger tank if possible.

 

--Tom

[Lee Stearns]

Some folks in WAMAS use Purigen- not sure how many or what percent- not all stores have it-- Wally's World and most onlne retailers have it. Like I said because you do not have a fuge for nutrient export- and any macro you put in the tank will get eaten pretty quickly- Purigen in the filter area would absorb amonia, nitrites and nitrates. A small 100 mg self-contained nylon bag is about 7-10 bucks and can be rechared about a dozen times whenever it darkens appreciably. It would just take some of the pressure off the overcrowded system until you get homes for some of your stock.

[Tom]

Lee,

 

Thanks for your tip on Purigen. I sure will get some ASAP.

 

--Tom