ammonia, nitrates, best way to filter!!??

thisistodd

Member
ok. i know that nitrites and ammonia are a direct product from fish and their waste, and overfeeding. i have bioballs in my sump right now and my nitrates are sky high. If i were to add a fuge with a ton of algae, wouldnt this take care of the problem. If i were to eliminate the bioballs how will ammonia and nitrite get broken down? i only have about 35 lbs of LR in there right now and i have a clown, a yellow wrasse, a bangaii, and 4 small chromis. i dont plan on getting anything else till i get a bigger tank. ALSO, will high nitrate levels affect growth of coralline and/or my zooanthids? i really want these to floursih for my new tank. i need some good advise. thanks!
 

thisistodd

Member
well id like to build a sump with a wet dry and a fuge. i know its better to have it gravity feed into the tank, but i cant see a good way to do that. mabye ill find a way, but either way will the fuge solve my problem? should i ditch the bioballs? will nitrates hurt my zooanthids?
 
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big911dog

Guest
IMHO, add LR. decrease the bioballs a handfull at a time (to make sure you're not overloading the system). Bioballs add to the nitrate problem because they harbor waste. LR can be added to your main tank as well as put into the sump where the bioballs are now. Just my .02.
 
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tizzo

Guest
If you simply remove or replace your current bio balls, you are removing tons of beneficial bacteria thus causing an ammonia spike. If you think they are the cause of your nitrate problem you can clean them. Rinse them and rub them in tank water. Taking the water out of the tank of course, just fill a bowl and go to town. If those are not the cause we should look at what is... What's your substrate?? How and how often do you clean it?? What's your clean up crew consist of?? How often do you feed?? How many fish and what size are they?? And last but not least (I didn't pay attention) what's the size of your tank??
 

thisistodd

Member
well i have about 20 hermits, 20 snails, and a sand bed 2 inches deep for 3/4 the length of the aquarium. the other 1/4 is little shells some sort of gravel that is a great place for my pods, they are everywhere in there. i reallly dont clean the substrate at all, its stays damn clean. hardly any food gets down there and if it does, the crabs eat it in notime. i feed once a day, i think i underfeed, my fish go crazy when i feed. it a 50 gallon tank with a 2" yellow wrasse, 2 1" green chromis, 2 1/2" green chromis, a 2" royal G, a 2" percula, and a 2" bangaii cardinal. right around 1 fish per gallon. (50 gallon) im not worried how big they will be i am getting a new tank in spring. do you see a problem with any of that?
 

thisistodd

Member
also im getting quite a bit of the long seaweed kelp looking stuff growing. i got it from the LFS. should that help reduce trates?
 
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