high natrates why?

[tf]

I just built a 125 into my living room wall and all the fish are doing wonderful after 1 month, but my nitrate levels are still at 60-80 ppm. I have 1 yellow tang,1 flame angel, 1 coral beauty, 1 koran angel jr. 1 royal gramma, 1 maroon clown, 1 clarkii, 2 stripe damsel, 1 yellow tail blue damsel and 1 PJ cardinal. I have an Americal wet dry, a seaclone skimmer, and a fluvol 404 and 50 lbs live rock and 4 inches live sand. I just changed 20 gal. water last week. What else do I need to do? TF

 

[fshhub]

ok, here is what you need to do
slow down, after one month, you should not have hardly any fish at all, if any
did your tank fully cycle?
how are your other water parameters?at that level fish will probably do fine, but inverts may have a problem, but if you have a high ammonia or nitrite, then we need to do something
more live rock will probably help, in your size system, i would have at least 150 lbs of rock
but other than that, it just sounds like you are over stocked for your age of a tank, more lr, and some maturing may help alot
HTH

 

[mr . salty]

I agree,TOO MUCH TOO SOON.Also,that seaclone will not be enough skimmer for that size tank.Even with a minimal fish load,it will not do the job....Also,as said,more live rock would also help. If you have enough room,you should also look into setting up an algae refugium,to remove the nitrates.Although you do have a sand bed,I doubt if it will be enough to remove the nitrates in this setup.Without some serious denitrafying,your tank will show very high nitrates(100+)in no time...

 

[carrie1429]

When I had high nitrites I found a medicine called "Stress Zyme". It helps remove nitrite, ammonia, and helps the tank stay in a natural balance. This worked great for me, hope it works for you.

 

[jakob4001]

well we use the sea clone for our lrg tank...so far does great job; been up about 5 months;maybe because it's a "revised" model;probably adding more LR would be a good idea too;but if you double the amount and add directly to the tank, may cause a spike in chemicals because of die off; may want to add few pieces a week or soo at a time unless you have seperate tank that you can cure LR in beforehand or maybe using a nitrate sponge of some type

 

[cyn]

I dont like the idea of adding chemicals to fix problems. I would look for the root of the problem, most likley overload. So I too would feed less or less often.
As for curing LR, why not a big new plastic trash can with a powerhead or 2??
HTH,
cyn

 

[fshhub]

i agree wiht cyn, i refuse to use any chemicals other than vitamin type suppliments, especially to do a job that mother nature does more effectively, besides, adding such MAY only temporarily go away, you still need ot fix the problem
REMEMBER:
THE ONLY THING THAT HAPPENS HERE, FAST, IS TROUBLE!!

 

[broomer5]

For what it's worth.
STRESS ZYME is manufactured by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. It's not a medicine, nor is it a chemical additive.
It is mearly live bacteria in a bottle.
I've always had a personal problem with paying money for bacteria LOL
Broomer

 

[tf]

Ok lots to think about. Let me fill in a few holes. I had a 75 gal fo that I had set up for a year. It had all the equipment I am now using in the 125, but I had cc in it and an undergravel filter. I took everything in the 75 and transfered it to the 125 but bought the 4" of ls. I was hoping the transfer would be a good one. It seems to be working. All the fish look healthy and all eat great! I know I need about 100lbs more of lr but after building the wall and the new wet/dry I am out of money for a season. I did a 25 gal h20 change this weekend. all the levels are perfect except the nitrates. still about 60-80ppm.
I had an extra skimmer that came with the wet/dry I have them both in the sump. I am trying to stay away from chemicals too. but want to keep the fish alive. With this extra information does this help with ideas?
TF

 

[fshhub]

with no inverts, the fish should be fine, as i mentioned, especially if they have been doing fine jfor a month, i can't remember if i mentioned it but the dsb will take time to get working, just do you r water changes(if it has cycled completely), until things come down
at one time our old tank was over 100 for a bit and had no problems
HTH

 

[thefishpimp]

Cycle is a great live bacteria to help reduce the nitrate lvls in your aquarium... it helped my aquarium go through that cycle in 1 week...!!! Every dose adds like 1 trillion (benificial) bacteria to the tank...