do i need?

earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
Originally Posted by jessica47421
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.
I've been following your threads talking about nitrates and everyone keeps telling you what needs to be done but you do keep coming back to this issue. It's pretty simple nitrates are the end result of the nitrogen cycle. The only ways nitrates can enter your water is through feeding fish which produce waste and water that has nitrates. To eliminate nitrates you need to do water changes regularly with water that is nitrate free. Also, you need to keep up on filter changes and cleaning equipment that can house nitrates. Make a cleaning schedule and follow it. If all else fails then look at your plenum and you may have to consider breaking your tank down and removing it.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Originally Posted by earlybird
I've been following your threads talking about nitrates and everyone keeps telling you what needs to be done but you do keep coming back to this issue. It's pretty simple nitrates are the end result of the nitrogen cycle. The only ways nitrates can enter your water is through feeding fish which produce waste and water that has nitrates. To eliminate nitrates you need to do water changes regularly with water that is nitrate free. Also, you need to keep up on filter changes and cleaning equipment that can house nitrates. Make a cleaning schedule and follow it. If all else fails then look at your plenum and you may have to consider breaking your tank down and removing it.


Overuse of bottled food would be a BIG concern, IMO. Keeping a mix of stuff for 2 months in the fridge is a big concern, IMO.
 
jessica47421

jessica47421

Active Member
with the frozen food do you just thaw out a peice at each feeding? i was beginning to think the way i was storing it might be a issue but wasnt sure.
 
groupergenius

groupergenius

Active Member
Originally Posted by jessica47421
with the frozen food do you just thaw out a peice at each feeding? i was beginning to think the way i was storing it might be a issue but wasnt sure.
Keep it frozen till your ready to feed. Also you say you have a hob skimmer your not using. Hook that bad boy up. It could only help.
 
jessica47421

jessica47421

Active Member
i have it hooked up now since last night, i kinda thought the same thing it could only help, the only thing is it has not pulled anything out yet, and it is blowing tiny bubbles every place i hope after a few days it starts to do its thing.
 
nigerbang

nigerbang

Active Member
Prolly going thru its "break-in" period..Or it might need an adjustment..
You keep saying you have "few" fish..I didnt happen to see what they were or what size they were...I did not dig deep though..You will have to forgive my laziness...I am not feeling up to par today.
 
b bauer

b bauer

Member
if you have sponge filters in your canister filter do you wring them out under your faucet or just rinse them?
 
jessica47421

jessica47421

Active Member
they are not sponges in the canister they are just white filters and i rinse them in the water from the water changes, there is a black on in there as well.
i have 2 clowns(one is about 1 inch and one might be 1 1/2) , scotter blennie(maybe 1 1/2) , firefish(1 - 1 1/2), and golden angel(about 2 - 2 1/2)
sorry not real good with measurments.
 
jessica47421

jessica47421

Active Member
very very important info for this.........i had a jug with a little of the salt water i bought from the store i was using for water changes so i decided to test the nitrates in it since i couldnt think of anything else that was causing this and it tested 10 for nitrates.....................could this be what is causing mine to go so high since i have been using the same place to buy water from since i started the tank?
i tested my tap water and it actually had less nitrates in it that the premade salt water had from the lfs.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
It does not explain why your nitrates are 150 or whatever, no. It is not ideal, and obviously if you had lower nitrates and were trying to get them to 0, it would be an issue. But it does not, IMO, explain your current situation.
 
jessica47421

jessica47421

Active Member
crap, i thought that might be my answer to just start getting the water some place else...

the lfs thought the reason it was up to 150 was bc i had just fed them the mix i had in the fridge and got some out of the tank and drove there and by the time i got there the food had started to break down causing it to be sky high, but that dont expalin why its still high after water changes, i never had this problem until i rinsed my filters from canister under tap water and i had a mini spike but that was a while ago everything else went back to normal but the nitrates, its about to make me want to give up on this hobby and i love it and spend alot of hours a week surfing the web looking at sw stuff and just having alot of fun with it but i also want what is best for my animals and it just seems i cant do it for them bc i have tried everything to get the nitrates down and with no luck, i know its bad when i even have dreams at night about how i can get them to come down........
 
jessica47421

jessica47421

Active Member
when i get this under control someone mentioned in a post that i might need to get a sand shifting fish for the brown algea on the sand, i was thinking about a diamond goby, but since i have a firefish and a scotter blenny can i get a diamond goby?
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Originally Posted by Waterlogged
I have read sand sifting fish are not a good idea.

I agree. They actually are eating beneficial animals in a sand bed. They are not fixing the cause of the problem at all, and in fact, adding additional fish will likely add to the problem.
Feeding so much liquid food is both unnecessary and a very easy way to overfeed the tank resulting in these problems.
 
b-baby80

b-baby80

Member
Have you thought about buying new filters?Since you seem to think they are the problem?
Just a thought.
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
A plenum is supposed to allow an area for anaerobic bacteria to thrive. This bacteria breaks Nitrate down into Nitrogen and Oxygen. I suspect something is wrong with the plenum.
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
Originally Posted by 1journeyman
A plenum is supposed to allow an area for anaerobic bacteria to thrive. This bacteria breaks Nitrate down into Nitrogen and Oxygen. I suspect something is wrong with the plenum.
Second
 
jessica47421

jessica47421

Active Member
good news all..........i stopped feeding the food in the fidge and went to just the frozen (no liquid), did some water changes, and got my skimmer working, and the nitrates are good!!!!!!!!!! they are actually at 0 right now i will hope and pray that when i check in a few more days they will still be good.
im not sure if i asked this but i have heard that corals, clams. scallops feed on nitrates is this true?
 
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