lluv24
Member
Help@@@nitrate Problems@@@@
- Thread starter lluv24
- Start date
spanko
Active Member
couple of questions first, well a statement first.
The statement QUIT YELLING!!!!!! WHEN YOU USE CAPS IN A THREAD IT IS THE SAME AS YELLING!!!!! STOP IT!!!!!
There now that is out of the way on to the questions.
What is your water change schedule?
What is your filter cleaning schedule?
The statement QUIT YELLING!!!!!! WHEN YOU USE CAPS IN A THREAD IT IS THE SAME AS YELLING!!!!! STOP IT!!!!!
There now that is out of the way on to the questions.
What is your water change schedule?
What is your filter cleaning schedule?
spanko
Active Member
Okay so this is good enough for fish only but sorely lacking for a reef.
The water changes of 3 per month may be okay if they are large enough. Are you doing at least 10% each change?
The sponges and drip tray and collection cup should be cleaned at every water change.
On the bio balls they should have 1/3 of them cleaned at each water change. To clean take the water you removed from the tank for the water change and use it to take the bio balls and swish them around in it to remove all of the loose detritus. Do not scrub them.
Try this for a while and see if the nitrates start to come down.
Just my opinon, let's see what others say.
The water changes of 3 per month may be okay if they are large enough. Are you doing at least 10% each change?
The sponges and drip tray and collection cup should be cleaned at every water change.
On the bio balls they should have 1/3 of them cleaned at each water change. To clean take the water you removed from the tank for the water change and use it to take the bio balls and swish them around in it to remove all of the loose detritus. Do not scrub them.
Try this for a while and see if the nitrates start to come down.
Just my opinon, let's see what others say.
bulldog123
Member
40ppm is bad but its not the end of the reef(as long as it doesnt remain). The only thing I might ask is your test solution the same and you watched your nitrates go up, or is the bottle new. The reason I ask is I have two test kits and one shows less than 10 and the other shows 40(older one). The LFS agrees with 10.
spanko
Active Member
You will get a lot of differing opinions here, the most important thing in my opinion is that if you are going to use the bio balls, they require consistent maintenance to run properly. So if you don't mind doing the required cleaning then they work well for what the are designed to do.
oceansidefish
Active Member
baserock turns into live rock over time....If its been in there a while its now live rock
lluv24
Member
so do u think i can get rid of the bioballs? the live rock has been in there about two months. if i will get better results without the bioballs i will do that. and if i did take them out what can i put in that area or just leave it empty?%% i also just cleaned the bioballs just like u said hope that lowers it some ill test it tommorrow after work.
florida joe
Well-Known Member
Ok I will disagree with my good friend Henry on the cleaning of your bio-balls. If you do three water changes a week and you clean 1/3 of them every change you are greatly diminishing your bio-filtration (ammonia to nitrate). Do you have a refug( Henry you know where I am going with this)
florida joe
Well-Known Member
Place some new saltwater in a five gallon plastic bucket, or any other type of good-sized deep plastic container. This is where you will rinse and clean the bio-balls off. If you are planning for a water change, water removed from the aquarium may be used for this as well.
2. Turn off the filter.
3. Remove about 1/4 of the bio-balls from the filter chamber and place them into the container with the saltwater.
4. Stir and swish the bio-balls around in the saltwater to break all the gunk or organic matter loose that is stuck on them. If they are extremely dirty, you may have to repeat this step. DO NOT scrub the bio-balls! Just allow the saltwater to do the job, nothing more than that.
5. Scoop the rinsed bio-balls out and place them back into the filter bio-chamber. A plastic kitchen colander works great for this, but any type of cup or small container with drain holes in it will do. The bio-balls come out, the yucky water stays behind.
6. Restart the filter.
7. Test for the appearance of ammonia every few days for a week, then every several days over another week after that. If the tests read near zero after this time, it is ok to repeat the process. If ammonia does appear, wait until readings drop back to zero, then wait another couple of weeks after that before repeating the process with the next batch of bio-balls.
YOU HAVE HIGH NITRATES DUE TO LACK OF DINITRIFATION. Not because you have bio-balls Sorry Henry was I yelling
2. Turn off the filter.
3. Remove about 1/4 of the bio-balls from the filter chamber and place them into the container with the saltwater.
4. Stir and swish the bio-balls around in the saltwater to break all the gunk or organic matter loose that is stuck on them. If they are extremely dirty, you may have to repeat this step. DO NOT scrub the bio-balls! Just allow the saltwater to do the job, nothing more than that.
5. Scoop the rinsed bio-balls out and place them back into the filter bio-chamber. A plastic kitchen colander works great for this, but any type of cup or small container with drain holes in it will do. The bio-balls come out, the yucky water stays behind.
6. Restart the filter.
7. Test for the appearance of ammonia every few days for a week, then every several days over another week after that. If the tests read near zero after this time, it is ok to repeat the process. If ammonia does appear, wait until readings drop back to zero, then wait another couple of weeks after that before repeating the process with the next batch of bio-balls.
YOU HAVE HIGH NITRATES DUE TO LACK OF DINITRIFATION. Not because you have bio-balls Sorry Henry was I yelling
salt210
Active Member
Originally Posted by mkroher
http:///forum/post/3117266
i would start removing the bio-balls a little at a time.
there will not be enough biological filtration in the tank. he/ she only has around 130 in a 150g tank. if they are to do that they will need to add some rock to replace the bio-balls that they are removing
http:///forum/post/3117266
i would start removing the bio-balls a little at a time.
there will not be enough biological filtration in the tank. he/ she only has around 130 in a 150g tank. if they are to do that they will need to add some rock to replace the bio-balls that they are removing
salt210
Active Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3117271
Place some new saltwater in a five gallon plastic bucket, or any other type of good-sized deep plastic container. This is where you will rinse and clean the bio-balls off. If you are planning for a water change, water removed from the aquarium may be used for this as well.
2. Turn off the filter.
3. Remove about 1/4 of the bio-balls from the filter chamber and place them into the container with the saltwater.
4. Stir and swish the bio-balls around in the saltwater to break all the gunk or organic matter loose that is stuck on them. If they are extremely dirty, you may have to repeat this step. DO NOT scrub the bio-balls! Just allow the saltwater to do the job, nothing more than that.
5. Scoop the rinsed bio-balls out and place them back into the filter bio-chamber. A plastic kitchen colander works great for this, but any type of cup or small container with drain holes in it will do. The bio-balls come out, the yucky water stays behind.
6. Restart the filter.
7. Test for the appearance of ammonia every few days for a week, then every several days over another week after that. If the tests read near zero after this time, it is ok to repeat the process. If ammonia does appear, wait until readings drop back to zero, then wait another couple of weeks after that before repeating the process with the next batch of bio-balls.
YOU HAVE HIGH NITRATES DUE TO LACK OF DINITRIFATION. Not because you have bio-balls Sorry Henry was I yelling
Joe, if they have never cleaned them would it be beneficial to clean some of them using vinegar?
http:///forum/post/3117271
Place some new saltwater in a five gallon plastic bucket, or any other type of good-sized deep plastic container. This is where you will rinse and clean the bio-balls off. If you are planning for a water change, water removed from the aquarium may be used for this as well.
2. Turn off the filter.
3. Remove about 1/4 of the bio-balls from the filter chamber and place them into the container with the saltwater.
4. Stir and swish the bio-balls around in the saltwater to break all the gunk or organic matter loose that is stuck on them. If they are extremely dirty, you may have to repeat this step. DO NOT scrub the bio-balls! Just allow the saltwater to do the job, nothing more than that.
5. Scoop the rinsed bio-balls out and place them back into the filter bio-chamber. A plastic kitchen colander works great for this, but any type of cup or small container with drain holes in it will do. The bio-balls come out, the yucky water stays behind.
6. Restart the filter.
7. Test for the appearance of ammonia every few days for a week, then every several days over another week after that. If the tests read near zero after this time, it is ok to repeat the process. If ammonia does appear, wait until readings drop back to zero, then wait another couple of weeks after that before repeating the process with the next batch of bio-balls.
YOU HAVE HIGH NITRATES DUE TO LACK OF DINITRIFATION. Not because you have bio-balls Sorry Henry was I yelling
Joe, if they have never cleaned them would it be beneficial to clean some of them using vinegar?
spanko
Active Member
Originally Posted by lluv24
http:///forum/post/3116435
sorry
okay i do about 3 water changes a month. i clean the sponges and drip trays, and skimmer pumps and collection cups once a month.
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3117260
Ok I will disagree with my good friend Henry on the cleaning of your bio-balls. If you do three water changes a week and you clean 1/3 of them every change you are greatly diminishing your bio-filtration (ammonia to nitrate). Do you have a refug( Henry you know where I am going with this)
IDK backup and regroup. The OP said he does three water changes a month, not three a week.
Oh yeah and lluv24 how are the artificial coral looking? are they starting to accumulate any detritus. Those should also be cleaned on a regular basis.
http:///forum/post/3116435
sorry
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3117260
Ok I will disagree with my good friend Henry on the cleaning of your bio-balls. If you do three water changes a week and you clean 1/3 of them every change you are greatly diminishing your bio-filtration (ammonia to nitrate). Do you have a refug( Henry you know where I am going with this)
IDK backup and regroup. The OP said he does three water changes a month, not three a week.
Oh yeah and lluv24 how are the artificial coral looking? are they starting to accumulate any detritus. Those should also be cleaned on a regular basis.
florida joe
Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3117286
IDK backup and regroup. The OP said he does three water changes a month, not three a week.
yes that was my typo cleaning all your bio-balls in one month with out testing is not a good thing IMO
http:///forum/post/3117286
IDK backup and regroup. The OP said he does three water changes a month, not three a week.
yes that was my typo cleaning all your bio-balls in one month with out testing is not a good thing IMO
florida joe
Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by salt210
http:///forum/post/3117281
Joe, if they have never cleaned them would it be beneficial to clean some of them using vinegar?
not that i can think of
http:///forum/post/3117281
Joe, if they have never cleaned them would it be beneficial to clean some of them using vinegar?
not that i can think of
spanko
Active Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3117291
yes that was my typo cleaning all your bio-balls in one month with out testing is not a good thing IMO
I'll drink to that, of course I'll drink to anything...........
http:///forum/post/3117291
yes that was my typo cleaning all your bio-balls in one month with out testing is not a good thing IMO
I'll drink to that, of course I'll drink to anything...........
florida joe
Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3117300
I'll drink to that, of course I'll drink to anything...........
care to share a glass of Opus One my friend
http:///forum/post/3117300
I'll drink to that, of course I'll drink to anything...........
care to share a glass of Opus One my friend