could this be the problem????

codylowe

Member
What is your ammonia?
You may want to raise your salinity just a tad bit, but other than that everything seems fine.
 

trigger11

Member
If I may make a suggestion. Remove the bioballs from the system. They just build up ammonia over the long run and need to cleaned fairly often.
I would also highly consider going away from the canister filtration and moving toward a sump, refugium or a combination of the two depending on how much room you have. This would do several things for you. It would keep nitrates lower, give you a place to grow beneficial pods, have more water capacity allowing you get better water quality. Having read several of your previous posts I have learned you like to try to have as much livestock in the tank as you can. A sump/fuge would really help with that. (not saying trying to have a lot of livestock is a bad thing, it just requires a lot more patience. much easier to keep things going slow and simple)
In the sump/fug have sand, and LR rubble if you can.
Your alk was pretty low at 5.5 in a post earlier in this thread. I try to keep mine between 9 and 11.
Hopefully your corals will rebound.
 

codylowe

Member
Originally Posted by trigger11
If I may make a suggestion. Remove the bioballs from the system. They just build up ammonia over the long run and need to cleaned fairly often.


I thought the bioballs raised the nitrates over time? I may be wrong... i don't use them.
 

jessica47421

Active Member
i have just added the biohome plus they arent the bioballs. they are a new product, just added them couple of weeks ago.
 

digitydash

Active Member
Originally Posted by codylowe
I thought the bioballs raised the nitrates over time? I may be wrong... i don't use them.
I have had bioball in my wet dry for almost 6 yrs and never had a problem with nitrates or amonia..
 

ophiura

Active Member
Bioballs certainly do not build up ammonia. I think that was a type.
They also DO NOT build up nitrates per se - PEOPLE build up nitrates - from overfeeding, overstocking, improper maintenance, etc. Regardless of what you use as a filter media, you will have nitrate problems if you do not have enough nitrate export (water changes, macro algae, deep sand bed, etc.).
There are loads of systems that run just fine with bioballs. I do not recommend you make any major changes to your system right now until things are settled. And even then, I would not recommend removing bioballs until you feel really confident in your tank keeping skills. I would rather have a nitrate than an ammonia problem, and bioballs are EXCEEDINGLY effective at growing bacterial populations to quickly use ammonia.
 
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