A Major Crisis

chamic1

chamic1

Member
my nitrates have been high for a really long time. They have peaked at about 90 ppm on various occasions. When they are this high I changed 10 gallon of H2O, my tank is 29 with 45lbs of LR. The nitrates then drop to about 20. In a few days they climb to approx. 50 ppm. What is going on????? Is my tank over stalked?? I feed my fish Hakira frozen food such as mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, blood worms, mega algae, krill and dryed small marine pellets (I only give them one on alternate days.) I watch them eat and VERY little gets sucked into my filters. :help:
H2O chemistry:
Nitrate: 50ppm
Nitrite: .1ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
PH: 8.2
specific gravity: 1.025
Calcium: 420ppm
Phosphate: .25ppm
What I have:
1 jebo 180 protein skimmer
eclipse 3 lighting hood/carbon filter
45lbs LR
2inch sugar size sand bed
1 sandsifting starfish
1 false percula
1 sebea clownfish
2 blue damselfish
2 yellow damselfish
2 green cromis damselfish
1 firefish goby
6 turbo snails
6 various hermit crabs
a small-to-medium colony of green star polyps
 
N

nluchau

Guest
9 fish in a little 29 gallon. I would not go over 4 in a tank that small. I currently have a 29 gallon with only 4 fish in there, no problems for me.
They say 1 inch per 5 gallons of water
 
sw65galma

sw65galma

Active Member
i had to do a double take on the tank size...WAAAyy overstocked.
and that sand sifting star isn't going to make it..
Or the 6 turbos for that matter...1 is fine for that size tank.
 
chamic1

chamic1

Member
My snails are growing rapidly and I have had my starfish since Jan. 30, 05.
So too many fish cause the tank to cycle too fast or whats the prob?
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
Originally Posted by chamic1
My snails are growing rapidly and I have had my starfish since Jan. 30, 05.
So too many fish cause the tank to cycle too fast or whats the prob?
You've exceeded the bioload of your tank set up. With that amount of livestock in a 29 gallon your filtration system (natural and mechanical) can't keep up with the waste being generated, so your nitrates will soar.
FYI .... in that size tank a sandsifting star will make quick work of eating the beneficial critters in the sandbed, and usually end up starving to death down the road. :D
 
chamic1

chamic1

Member
Thanks for the input. I am going to get rid of my sebea clone and 2 yellow damselfish along with my sandsifting star. Will it still be over stocked?
 
ludachris821

ludachris821

Member
my 30 gallon has '
1 yellow tail damsel
1 tomato clown
1 damsel 4 stripe
1 purple pseudochromis
1 large featherduster
1 brittle star
1 sally lightfoot crab
2 emerald crabs
5 hermits
1 big turbo snail
50 lbs liverock
12 lbs live sand
and im not overstocked and the general rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per 2 gallons
of water according to doctor fosters and smith
"if you have a 30-gallon aquarium, ideally stock no more than 15 total inches of fully grown fish. Remember to consider your desired fishes' maximum size when calculating this amount."
hers a pic of my 2.5
 
chamic1

chamic1

Member
Wow, that looks great. Anyway I taking a hit and getting rid of my sebea clown, yellow damselfish, and the 2 green chromis. I also debating wheither to get rid of the 2 blue damselfish as well.
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
Originally Posted by ludachris821
my 30 gallon has '
"if you have a 30-gallon aquarium, ideally stock no more than 15 total inches of fully grown fish. Remember to consider your desired fishes' maximum size when calculating this amount."
If this passage appeared in the Bible it would still be wrong. No hard fast rule but 5 gallons per inch......give or take...but two per gallon...Overstocking...and disease to follow along with sure death. I guess the Doc's just want to sell folks some fish. I would not purchase fish food from such a site.
 
E

exile415

Guest
nice tank, doesn't look likke 30g though . looks like a 10g in that picture
 
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