fish waste, (nitrate)

khourglass

khourglass

Member
any suggestions as to what might possibly eat fish waste, either from food or the fish it self....
lost all my fish due to nitrate,, lesson learned there LOL.
but id like to add more fish and try again with a buffed up cleaning crew...
i still have 4- blue legged crabs and around 8 turbo snails in a 29 gallon.
Great thanks for any help at all...
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
More hermits...perhaps some sand sifters like nassarious snails to help stir things around. But primarily I would beef up the hermit crabs.
However, your nitrates may not completely be related to fish waste.
What kind of filtration do you have? How much do you feed? What kind of water do you use in the tank?
If you lost fish due to nitrate, it must have been extremely high. I really doubt it was that. Did you test any other levels? Ammonia? Nitrite?
 
hondo

hondo

Member
I doubt it was nitrates that killed your fish as they can withstand very high nitrates where your crabs and snails will die long before any fish.
What fish are you considering to put in the tank?
Best detrious eaters IMO are bristle worms, pods, nassarius snails, scarlet reef hermits. a 29g will not need much of a clean up crew and 8 turbos is quite a few. Maybe add some Nassarius (4-6) and a couple (2-3) more crabs if any.
 
austinreef

austinreef

Member
Agree with Hondo. Doubt the Nitrates would be the cause of the deaths. Try Fighting Conchs for eating the waste.
 
khourglass

khourglass

Member
my LFS tested my water, he said nitrate, but it could have been nitrite I wasnt aware there were two issues that sounded so similar. Now Im not sure which killed the fish.
As far as water I use tap water and condition it, Im using a
aqua-tech power filter 30-60 top flow.:confused:
 
khourglass

khourglass

Member
I lost fish on aug. 7, I have been cycling tank since with no food.
water quality is back to normal now according to LFS.
I have no sand in my tank itis all CC right now , i was thinking of adding sand . will this help?
 
khourglass

khourglass

Member
yes I vac alot, should I remove the CC or sand over it .
I agree sand seemed to do the trick for my seahorse tank, but the LFS was out of sand when I stared this tank so I gave the CC a try, mistake?
 
lovethesea

lovethesea

Active Member
I am following this thread because I too am thinking about switching cc for sand. Not deep though. I anyones opinion what is the best way to do this? The thought makes me cringe.:eek:
 
khourglass

khourglass

Member
I cringe also, but Id really rather not loose $160 in livestock again.
:eek:
There is also a few interesting species that require sand that I wanted ,then figured out it wasnt possible with CC. I have to switch, but im not sure of the process.
 
khourglass

khourglass

Member
Thank you kipass for all your help, I hope we can talk again.
Keep ya posted lovethesea, add me to your buddy list.
 
khourglass

khourglass

Member
not completly I am reaserching now, as far as i can tell you have to remove livestock untill the water settles again.
I am getting mixed respones , as to how to remove the CC some say you can Vac it out, and some say no scoop it.
This may take a few days to figure out..:confused:
 
lovethesea

lovethesea

Active Member
ok, you had me until the carbon thing? Sorry, we have a pretty simple tank, we have been researching for awhile on a reef tank, so my head is spinning on that too.
I have been reading on this board about southdown. Is this something you would add to Live sand?
THANKS!!:)
 
sheracr123

sheracr123

Member
Southdown is an inexpensive base sand. When most people use it they "seed the bed" with live sand. That is put the live sand on top of the southdown. I did this and seeded with AragAlive? Been a while and I can't remember the exact name, but my LFS carried it. Got tons of "Critters" in it. Great stuff.
 
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