Canister help anyone ????

[gabbie]

I own a fluval( even tough I dont like to admit it). I am having a problem with the trates and trites.
The tank has been running for 4 months now. We have been recently adding southdown to get a DSB
Everytime we add a little bit of the sand cleaned within a few days or so we have a trace of nitrite. So is it the sand??? Or the canister?? We tested the tap water and the sand water there was a little trace of trite in the sand water from the bucket we were cleaning the sand in.
So my question is what exactly do you clean when you clean your fluval out everything but the baskets??? Also how often the sponges ive been cleaning out weekly., But I never cleaned the canister till I cleaned It ALL out last night.
Our tank is 55 gallon fluval canister , new seaclone skimmer, Over the head regular filter we added when the we had the last trite problem, which was two weeks ago.
We have cleaner shrimp, scopias tang, bangai cardinal, percula clown. 1 serpant star. 2 hermits and a baby snowfake eel.which is about 7 inches.
Thanks gabbie

 

[sdmarriott]

I've never heard anyone say that they got nitrites from southdown, but that does not mean it doesn't happen.
I don't have a fluval so my comments here are general. You probably need to clean out the sponges more often at least while you're adding sand as they can clog up an decrease the efficiency of the filter. Fluval owners can comment on changing or rinsing the media.
As I read your post I had a few questions or comments (no flames are intended).
Do you have any live rock?
Your tank has a pretty large bio-load for a 4 month old tank. Both the tang and the eel will outgrow a 55, any upgrade plans in the future?

 

[fshhub]

adding anything to the tank, especially if it is not full of bacteria(like sand which was not in a tnak already), you may experience a mini cycle, while the tank restabilizes itself, thus my show some trites or trates, or even ammonia, so be sure to not over do it at once

 

[jim672]

Gabbie,
I have a Fluval 304 on my 45 and haven't ever had any nitrite or nitrate problems. Your original post indicates you "cleaned it ALL out last night". I replace the sponges about every 4-6 weeks and replace the carbon at the same time. I replace 1/2 the filter media (the part that houses the bacteria) about every 3 to 4 months. When I rinse any of the filter media, rather than replacing, I use aged salt water.
As fshhub indicated, when you put anything into your system that doesn't contain bacteria, you risk a mini-cycle. That includes your recent replacement of everything in your filter. For the short run, you may have made your problem worse. To avoid that in the future, just change 1/2 the biological filter media, leaving lots of the good bacteria in the filter to help keep your system stable while the new filter media has a chance to grow back more bacteria.
At this point I would suggest daily testing. As soon as your nitrites are 0, begin water changes, 10% or so every 2-3 days, to dilute the nitrates.
Inverts are very sensitive to nitrites. If you have a place to put your shrimp, star fish and crabs while your tank is going through this, it would be a good idea. Of course, if you notice your ammonia elavating, try to find a place for the fish and eel, too.
Good luck!
Jim