Adaquate BIO-Filter

[craig110768]

I set my 155g tank up about 4 months ago. I have a 6" Naso tang, 6" poc puffer, 6" fox-face, and a few other small fish. I'm wanting a angel fish and maybe a purple tang.
I noticed that very easily my nitrite can rise to 0.25, if I over feed them a couple of days. I thinking maybe I don't have enougth bio-filteration. I also still get a lot of brown stuff in the tank - although not high nitates - maybe silicates.
I have about 2 inch *at most* sand bed, and 70 pounds of rock - not live rock. Its a FO tank.
I have just completed Hypo due to ick in the main tank, and not enough space to move them into my QT tank. So I just Hypoed the main tank.
I have a wet-dry system with a good protein skimmer and UV.
Thinking about adding more LS. If I do that, would that cause problems as I have already fish in there - or is there enough sand in there already.
Any comment.

 

[beth]

You are talking about "nitrite" right, not nitrate?
Yes, you do not have enough LR, more sand would be good; if you want a DSB, you need at least 4". The wet-dry with filter media that is not often [like weekly] cleaned or changed out will cause nitrate problems.
How big are those fish...particually the puffers? What are you feeding the fish? What type of protein skimmer are you using? You didn't mention what you are doing for ciculation within the tank? Just the skimmer and the Wet/Dry? IMO, that is not enough to circulate tank water in your size tank. Do you have circulation pumps at the bottom of your tank?

 

[craig110768]

I checked the nitrates again yesterday, and found that they are above 80.
So I did a 25g water change last night. I will need I guess, to do another one to to night. Is this too much water too quickly?
I added another 20pounds of sand to help build the bed up. That took a while to settle.
I think I have enough circulation in the tank. I have 2 overflow boxes, and two return jets on either side of the tank. The water seems to be moving very well
I also replaced the sponge filter in the wet-dry and added 2 bags of phos-zorb. I'm still using tap water, so that may be part of the cause.
I'm at work, so I don't no the name of my Protein skimmer. Its the right size for the tank though.
Any other suggestion that may help.

 

[beth]

Also, your wet/dry may be contributing to the nitrate problem, epecially if you are not cleaning or changing out filter media weekly. What are you feeding your fish? Processed fish foods, particularily flakes, pellets, etc., tend to be high pollutants.

 

[craig110768]

Hi Anthem, Beth
Thanks for the comments.
I have been feeding everyday - 2 frozen cubes of blood worms, and then an inch square chunk of frozen scrimp. I then but some nori in after the food is gone for the foxface and tang.
I guess the amount of food is too much. You said just feed the puffer - 6" puffer though, only 3 times a week - is that correct - Just wanting to clarify!
I have already made 30g of water last night for tonight, so I will go ahead and do that. Maybe I need to buy somemore gravel.
Just real frightened that I crash the tank.
I just finished hypo-ing the tank 2 weeks ago, after 6 weeks of 1.009 salinity. The hypo worked well.
Should I just keep adding substrate once a week until I get a good bed?
Any more comments

 

[craig110768]

If I add some live rock while I have fish in my 155, would that help stabilize the tank, or would that cause an ammonia spike?

 

[craig110768]

Hi Anthem
You said "you are limited in what you can do with the burrfish in there as it will be a difficult fish to have a proper sand bed in there with".
Why would that be the case. Is a DSB not a good thing regardless of the type of fish in the tank?
any comments