DSB vs. SSB

[teen]

Originally Posted by saltn00b
i had a problem and still do to some extent with trates. If your sand bed is not a DSB, 4"+ then it should be <1". otherwise you are in a no-man's land of sand depth, which is not beneficial at all. also, do you have and sand -stirring critters? cerith / nassarius snails and the like ? these all can help keep your bed healthy and your trates low.
also, do you have some sort of flow over your bed and no dead spots?
my trates are at zero and i have a ~3" sand bed. dont vaccum it, i treat it as a deep sand bed and just let the nassarius snails take care of it. i also have a persian sand conch and my pistol shrimp who stir it up. its full of critters too.

 

[marineguys]

Ok. If a coral that is smaller than a half inch that died cause this much nitrates?

 

[bonebrake]

Originally Posted by marineguys
Ok. If a coral that is smaller than a half inch that died cause this much nitrates?
No.

 

[marineguys]

Did a 90% water change. Nitrates went to down to 5ppm. 2 days later, nitrates are up to 20ppm. Vacumed sand bed. There is a gap and little sand undrneath the base rock... would that be cause of nitrates. Also, cut down feeding 50%. Removed fan worm because he stopped coming out presumably because of the high nitrates. He must have died because of the trates. Will do another 90% water change this Sat. and possibly add sand. Will rearrange rock to create more flow and remove it from the back. Will also add 15lbs of more live rock. Don't know what else to do.. Nothing is dying in the tank...Not usinf tap water. Where else do the nitrates come from? Mars?

 

[bonebrake]

What food are you feeding? Exact brand? It could possibly be really poor quality food.
:notsure:
Don't add anymore sand for the time being and don't add any more live rock unless you are positively sure it is cured and you transport it in water. Wait until you figure out where these nitrates are coming from.

 

[marineguys]

its good quality threw away the package but maybe i was putting too much dt's in.... since the duster is gone i wont put any in and see what happens after the next water change. i think it needs more live rock. what about the gaps under the base rock?

 

[bonebrake]

Gaps could collect detritus, but unless there is a dead salmon underneath one of them it is not going to make your nitrates go up that fast.
Try to vacuum underneath the gaps and fill them up with sand so they cannot collect more detritus.
Where did you live rock come from? Is it real deal live rock or homemade rock? What brand of salt mix do you use?

 

[saltn00b]

i would just like to add that doing 90% water change could be very hazardous, you may even spur your tank into a cycling again. in emergencies its wise to not do more than 50% - 60%. this allows your beneficial bacteria in the water column to stay with high enough population, and you are not changing the water chemistry of the tank so drastically.

 

[marineguys]

pic

 

[hatessushi]

Originally Posted by saltn00b
i would just like to add that doing 90% water change could be very hazardous, you may even spur your tank into a cycling again. in emergencies its wise to not do more than 50% - 60%. this allows your beneficial bacteria in the water column to stay with high enough population, and you are not changing the water chemistry of the tank so drastically.
Agree!!
I also had high nitrate problems of about 80 to 100. Water changes wouldn't make it go down. I have a diamond goby that sifts the sand and shifts it around. The sand depth varies around the tank. One group of rocks has been cleaned out by the goby and the trigger and you can see the bottom. The side are maybe an inch and the middle back and front are nearly 4 or 5 inches because of the piling up. Most of the deep part is untouched by the goby and there is life in there as well as a few littleneck clams. My corals, anenome, crabs and stars were doing ok with the high nitrates but I didn't think that would continue for long. I started researching the DeNitrators and found that the small one with sulfur from MidWest Aquatics might work. I installed it and began the slow drip process on Dec 12. Almost 1 month later and my nitrates are just below 20 plus my calcium is up to 420 which is an ecxtra plus with this unit since it uses calcium in the form of crushed coral. that way I don't need a kalkwasser. After the nitrates hit 0 I will rinse the unit out to wash away most of the anaerobic bacteria and restart it back up that way it can create an equilibrium with the nitrates and not get a rotten egg smell from the sulfur. You should check out one of these unit.

 

[clibby]

If this is an established tank, I would clean or replace all prefilters then clean the sump. If you have junk in the sump, its a nitrate haven.
Clean it out. In fact, remove all your bio balls and put in a skimmer.
Good luck.

 

[1journeyman]

I use a deep sand bed and heavy skimming.
Wouldn't go without either one personally.
They don't replace each other though...

 

[saltn00b]

Originally Posted by clibby
you have junk in the sump,
wow , i said that to a girl at a bar this one time..... never again!