anemone made nitrate jump

taylor1556

taylor1556

New Member
i fairly new to saltwater i have a 29gl tank with 20 pounds of argonite and 30pounds of lr. The tank cycled for about a month empty before adding any thing. Its been up and going about 6 months I have a dwarf lion, a clown , and a golby. Then for clean up i have 5 snails and a sally light foot. I have kept a log of the levels and water changes. The tank has been constant for about three months with 0 ammo. unreadable nitrites and 8.0 ph. I add a LTA to the tank and my nirites shot up to about 20. It was timw for a water change so i did the monthly water . Just wanted to make sure nothing is wrong . thank you.
 
swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
Ideally the tank should have been running for 9 months min, with no changes to livestock, bio load, water flow, rockwork, chemical levels (other than water changes)...etc. Meaning, the tank had to be doing nothing but growing for 9 months. My best guess is that the nem does not like how new the tank is, and is starting to bleach out.
 
taylor1556

taylor1556

New Member
The nitrite level is fine its the nitrate level that went up. The anemone is eating and is sticky and is a lot larger and colorful than at the store . The LFS told me the sand and live rock made the tank mor stable. the nitrates are were at 20 then after the water change almost 12 hours ago the level is almost unmeasureable could the high level be from the almost month with out the water change
 
fibinotchi

fibinotchi

Member
All the food and animal waste is being converted to nitrate, if you have no macro algae in the tank like cheato or a deep sand bed like 6 inches, or other means of nitrate removal, you keep it down by weekly water changes. If you don't do waterchanges you will end up with hair algae or something worse, plus the nitrate is hard on the livestock. I would suggest weekly and occasionally you could get by with a 2 week waterchange depending on how much you feed.
 
taylor1556

taylor1556

New Member
i was giving a lot of bad info at lfs thank you I will stay on the water changes more often. my fresh water tank in almost maintance free but the fowlr is so much more enjoyable
 
nycbob

nycbob

Active Member
a nitrate of 20 isnt much to worry about. fish and inverts wont be bothered by a reading of 20. i think the reason ur nitrate went up to 20 could be u feeding a bit more since getting the anemone.
 
hunt

hunt

Active Member
Nitrates at 20ppm are fine for fish and inverts but if you ever get coral you should lower them. Also aiptasia grow well in a nitrate rich inviornment so if you have any aiptasia you should lower nitrates as well.
 
taylor1556

taylor1556

New Member
I'm trying to keep it as close to 0 as poss. what would start to bother the nem? he is feeding and hes almost twice as big in my tank than at the store. Which is kind of a shock it is a lot bigger than what i intended. Im in the marines and fixing to go to afganastan so my wife will be in charge of maintance just do want to leave her any for seen headace.
 
hunt

hunt

Active Member
It would probably be able to live ok in nitrates of around 40ppm but any thing higher is dangerous to everything. Its better off to just figure out what exactly is causing the spike and fix it.
 
nycbob

nycbob

Active Member
nitrate is a sign of overfeeding and not enough filtration. more lr and fuge with macroalgae will help.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
What type of lighting do you have on this tank?
Sounds like you may not have done enough homework here.
These animals get very large and will probably outgrow this tank.
They are extremely aggressive and their sting in very potent. They are known fish eaters.
nycbob is correct here for the most part in that an increase in nitrates are often becaus there is too much food in the tank to be eaten. Also a water change schedule, filter cleanings in including biomedia and filter pads are a must. The dwarf linofish is a big contribute as it is a sloppy eater and a big pooper.
 
taylor1556

taylor1556

New Member
I have checked all of the water parmeters today and every thing seems to be in check amazing what new water does. Is it adviseable to change the filter at time of water change or should i stager them. I have heard that to much at once could start a cycle again.
 
taylor1556

taylor1556

New Member
The lfs suggested a coral life 20k. I have been trying to get as much info on what I have before I purchase but I think I put to much faith in the lfs. I am working on getting every thing to set a 90gl tank just started this one to one day become my isolation tank for new fish. I got the nem becuse he was a lot smallerin the store by half or two thirds. I have had no loss of fish from the time of set up just dont want to start.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
A Nitrite reading in an established tank always points to a disruption of nitrifying bacteria. The can happen from moving rocks, stirring the sandbed, etc. While a Nitrite reading of 20 is harmless, it does indicate a weakened biologic filtration system.
 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/3229443
A Nitrite reading in an established tank always points to a disruption of nitrifying bacteria. The can happen from moving rocks, stirring the sandbed, etc. While a Nitrite reading of 20 is harmless, it does indicate a weakened biologic filtration system.
I'm an oxygen atom away from having my head explode. Is it nitrate or nitrite that you're having a problem with?
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by PEZenfuego
http:///forum/post/3229488
I'm an oxygen atom away from having my head explode. Is it nitrate or nitrite that you're having a problem with?
See post#3, I think that is where he corrected his statement.
 
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