do i need?

jessica47421

jessica47421

Active Member
i have a 55 gal with canister filter, made fuge, hob skimmer(not hooked up yet) im having nitrate problems for some reason. working on that. but my question is do i need a wet dry sump? would this help anything or should i keep what i got?
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
You have another thread on this. Please keep it to one thread at a time, as it gets repetitive and confusing to repeat things. It can have unintentional consequences (e.g people get tired of repeating things and think you are not listening :( )
There is no purpose to having a wet/dry if you have other filtration at this point. It will NOT solve your problems. Your problems are caused by overfeeding, overstocking and/or lack of maintenance. Those are the causes of nitrate problems. A wet/dry will not correct any of those problems.
 
jessica47421

jessica47421

Active Member
that is y i was asking again, i only feed once every 3 days, i only have 4 fish, and i do water changes at least once a week sometimes more if i have high nitrates and i have 5 ph in a 55 so i know none of that is my problem so i am looking for another solution.................
 
coraljunky

coraljunky

Active Member
Is there carbon in the canister filter? How often do you replace it? Over time carbon will release what it has absorbed.
 
sk8shorty01

sk8shorty01

Active Member
What kind of water are you using for your water changes? Have you tested your new water to see if it already has nitrates present? Some tap water will have nitrates already present, so replacing nitrate saturated water with nitrate saturated water is just spinning your wheels. This could be the problem if you do not have an RO/DI unit.
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Is your tank a reef, or FOWLR? How much LR and how long has the tank been running? How high are your nitrates? Are ammonia and nitrite at "0"? Answers to this and the posts above, should get you some help.
 
jessica47421

jessica47421

Active Member
but the overfeeding, overload isnt the problem as stated in those i am looking for other problems.
i have the cascade canister without the carbon. should i add it back in? if so where does it go in the canister?
 
nigerbang

nigerbang

Active Member
Originally Posted by jessica47421
i have lr and ls as well. canister and plenum and home made fuge
I am curious about the Plenum....Any pics of it...how and what did you follow when setting it up...My understanding of them are..If they are set right they can be great..If not..They can cause alot of problems..
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
Previous thread/info:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/291673/help-fast
Also:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/291681/difference
A lot of these things have been repeated, and it dilutes the overall help.

I looked at these links, thanks, ophiura, for saying something about this ever-growing myth that FOWLR tanks cannot thrive with a (pick a number) 20ppm or so nitrate reading. Of course, the lower the better, but I've seen so many hobbiests loosing sleep over minimal nitrate readings. I have never seen any evidence that 20ppm nitrate does any harm to fish. (I'm not talking inverts or reef tanks, just fish.)
 
groupergenius

groupergenius

Active Member
Originally Posted by jessica47421
so in a reef what is the highest the nitrates can be and for how long with out hurting fish and corals?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
jessica47421

jessica47421

Active Member
i was asking bc i do water changes a few times a week they go down but then right back up i have to drive a ways to my lfs to get the water and i just wish i could solve the problem
 
groupergenius

groupergenius

Active Member
Take pics of your tank and ALL of your equipment. So many good folks here are trying to help you out, but personally I think you are playing.
 
jessica47421

jessica47421

Active Member
come on i have been talking about my nitrates for what seems to be months now i am a manager of a group home that i put 60 weeks in a week do you seriously think i have time to play??????????? i dont think talking to ppl about nitrates is a whole lot of fun that i would keep doing it for months. check in the pic section i have pictures in there. since you seem to not believe me, i just find it kinda crazy you think someone would play about nitrates.
i bumped up one of my pic threads for ya, and by the way the reason i keep asking is bc i have said before its not my bioload its not overfeeding and it isnt not enough flow that is what i keep hearing and i know it isnt those things bc i have 5 powerheads, i feed once every 2-3days, and i have few fish.
 
sk8shorty01

sk8shorty01

Active Member
Have you tested your top off and water change water for nitrates? Just because you get it from the LFS doesnt mean it should be trusted completely. If the particular store doesnt keep up with the routine maintainence on their ro/di unit, then the water is not "pure" water. I would test your top off water that you get and see if there are nitrates present there. Also, Do you have live sand or CC?
 
nigerbang

nigerbang

Active Member
That is what I was thinking about. The fish store water. Check out Airwaterice and buy a rodi. Will save you money in the long run.
 
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