inigomontoya
Member
mmmmm, delicious! Where's my straw? haha
High Nitrates...still
- Thread starter inigomontoya
- Start date
inigomontoya
Member
#1 flows over into #2. I usually put the food cube into #1 so it thaws and goes into the tank.. uh oh, I think I need to clean those right? There is red algae in #2 and I suppose that goes into the tank too? Is this correct?
inigomontoya
Member
Ingredients:
Artemia franciscana (brine shrimp). 100%
Artemia franciscana (brine shrimp). 100%
inigomontoya
Member
Oh geez, please ignore the post above.....can you tell I am frustrated???!!!
inigomontoya
Member
I am not sure what media is. I see slimy almost dirt-like algae inside of the cube, same with the other it flows into.
michaeltx
Moderator
then theres nothing in there LOL media is like plastic balls- fabric type things that are added in.
you dont have to worry about takeing this thing apart and cleaning it it will not effect the bio filtration at all. I think it probably usta have bioballs in one of the chambers but they have been taken out.
just remember when taking it apart to remember where all the pieces went to put it back together.
is there any sponge like material in the filter at all.
Mike
you dont have to worry about takeing this thing apart and cleaning it it will not effect the bio filtration at all. I think it probably usta have bioballs in one of the chambers but they have been taken out.
just remember when taking it apart to remember where all the pieces went to put it back together.
is there any sponge like material in the filter at all.
Mike
inigomontoya
Member
My husband just let me know that there is no media, just a series of baffles. So I can clean it? Everything that I showed you a picture of, or just not touch it at all.....??
michaeltx
Moderator
yeah you can clean it. there is nothing in there as bacteria breeding colony. if there was ball or other media in there it would be tricky but since there isnt not a big deal. there is probably a lot of things that are in the bottom of those chambers that has no where to go.
something to think about not doing is not to add the food to this the skimmer chamber will take a lot of the foods out or throw it out so fast that it goes into the CC.
here is what i would do .
clean that filter out and get it going again.
take a water sample to the LFS most of them will test it for you for free.
and then if it shows the same as yours do
vacum the CC as deep as you can each day for the next couple fo days.
do a 25% or so water change theeach day for the next couple of days. make sure the water is RO or RO/DI water and doesnt have any nitrates to start with.
and then retest your water and see if that doesnt help the problem. you might even look into a sump or refugium to sart a macro algae cluster that would eat ntrates and phosphates as the get produced it will not cure it but help.
also the change to LS will help as well but its tricky so read up before you do t.
Mike
something to think about not doing is not to add the food to this the skimmer chamber will take a lot of the foods out or throw it out so fast that it goes into the CC.
here is what i would do .
clean that filter out and get it going again.
take a water sample to the LFS most of them will test it for you for free.
and then if it shows the same as yours do
vacum the CC as deep as you can each day for the next couple fo days.
do a 25% or so water change theeach day for the next couple of days. make sure the water is RO or RO/DI water and doesnt have any nitrates to start with.
and then retest your water and see if that doesnt help the problem. you might even look into a sump or refugium to sart a macro algae cluster that would eat ntrates and phosphates as the get produced it will not cure it but help.
also the change to LS will help as well but its tricky so read up before you do t.
Mike
inigomontoya
Member
Mike, Thank you so much for your time and help!!
Paula
Paula
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
inigo: As I understand it you have an extablished tank which has been moved. Plus you have been running it for a few weeks and nitrAtes went from 20 to 80ppm? You feed once per day, have an older box filter with no media. Also a CC substrate. there is red and dark algae algae in the box filter. You have also conducted a water change using ro/di water to no effect.
First of all the red algae is probably not corraline and therefore the result of phosphates. A normal thing for newly (re) established tanks. As the phosphates are consumed the red should be replaced with green algae.
Because you have not mentioned an algae problem, I presume you do not have one.
First I don't trust the nitrate test kits. that is from recent experience. With your livestock being ok and only feeding once per day, it could very be you have much lower nitrates. The test kit in my case was too sensitive. 20-30 PPM were reading 160+. But 0.0 was still reading 0.0.
Although upgrading your filtration may help, adding plant life either macros or marine plants someplace in your system will reduce nitrates. This will be true regardless of the filtration or water used. Additionally, the plants will consume phosphates, heavy ions, carbon dioxide, and generally balance out and stabilize the system. If you don't have any macros or plant life I recommed you add some.
Finally, as long as you livestock is doing fine, you may just want to wait and let things settle out.
First of all the red algae is probably not corraline and therefore the result of phosphates. A normal thing for newly (re) established tanks. As the phosphates are consumed the red should be replaced with green algae.
Because you have not mentioned an algae problem, I presume you do not have one.
First I don't trust the nitrate test kits. that is from recent experience. With your livestock being ok and only feeding once per day, it could very be you have much lower nitrates. The test kit in my case was too sensitive. 20-30 PPM were reading 160+. But 0.0 was still reading 0.0.
Although upgrading your filtration may help, adding plant life either macros or marine plants someplace in your system will reduce nitrates. This will be true regardless of the filtration or water used. Additionally, the plants will consume phosphates, heavy ions, carbon dioxide, and generally balance out and stabilize the system. If you don't have any macros or plant life I recommed you add some.
Finally, as long as you livestock is doing fine, you may just want to wait and let things settle out.
inigomontoya
Member
Thank you for the advice Bob. I figure I will start by changing out my CC to LS and then have the LFS test it. Also, I looked in my tank today and there is a lot more purple on my LR and some little green plant things growing out of one of them. When I received this tank - no purple and nothing growing. I guess it cant be all that bad. yay!
michaeltx
Moderator
I still stand by my suggestion as to a course of action though.
this way you can narrow the problem down if there is one.
plus just because everything is looking good doesnt mean that the water chemistry is not out of whack.
IMO
Mike
here is what i would do
clean that filter out and get it going again.
take a water sample to the LFS most of them will test it for you for free.
and then if it shows the same as yours do
vacum the CC as deep as you can each day for the next couple fo days.
do a 25% or so water change each day for the next couple of days. make sure the water is RO or RO/DI water and doesnt have any nitrates to start with.
and then retest your water and see if that doesnt help the problem. you might even look into a sump or refugium to sart a macro algae cluster that would eat ntrates and phosphates as the get produced it will not cure it but help.
also the change to LS will help as well but its tricky so read up before you do t. .
this way you can narrow the problem down if there is one.
plus just because everything is looking good doesnt mean that the water chemistry is not out of whack.
IMO
Mike
here is what i would do
clean that filter out and get it going again.
take a water sample to the LFS most of them will test it for you for free.
and then if it shows the same as yours do
vacum the CC as deep as you can each day for the next couple fo days.
do a 25% or so water change each day for the next couple of days. make sure the water is RO or RO/DI water and doesnt have any nitrates to start with.
and then retest your water and see if that doesnt help the problem. you might even look into a sump or refugium to sart a macro algae cluster that would eat ntrates and phosphates as the get produced it will not cure it but help.
also the change to LS will help as well but its tricky so read up before you do t. .
lesleybird
Active Member
Originally posted by Steven the Fish
i don;t think that CC could be the reason, i've had my tank set up with CC since i started and my nitrates are very very low.
Yes, for all you crushed coral haters....I have CC and my nitrates in my little 40 gallon are always very low because I vaccuum it every two weeks. Lesley