I need your suggestions

[puff(er) daddy]

I recently traded my fish and all inverts in to focus on having perfect water conditions. As of now Alk. 3.31 9.3dKH , Phos 1.0, Ca 415, Ph 8.4, Ammo. 0.0, trite 0.0, and last but not lease nitrates are through the roof at 140.
I only have l/r 50lbs. and l/s 3 1/2 inches. Two ph's Aqua Clear 802's, wet/dry filter rated for a 90 gallon set up(it was a gift), and a Berlin Turbo Classic skimmer.
The main question is that I have a pretty clean tank and I've seen this bristle worm on top of my sand lately, is he searching for food and if so should I add something like brine shrimp to the tank so the little critters that I can't see feed on? There is a little coralline algae on the l/r from when I purchased it but it's dying out fast. Other than that it's no visible algae in the tank.
I would appreciate all suggestion on the high nitrate or the feeding question.

 

[trailer trash]

Originally posted by puff(er) daddy:
[QB wet/dry filter rated for a 90 gallon set up(it was a gift)
I would appreciate all suggestion on the high nitrate or the feeding question.[/QB]<hr></blockquote>
Ditch the wet/dry or remove the bio-balls.....

 

[kris walker]

Hi,
How big is your tank? How many fish did you have in it before you took them out? How long ago did you take them out? Do you use R/O or tap water? Do you have an algae problem, and if not, what test kit brand are you using? These all play into understand your nitrate problem.

kris

 

[puff(er) daddy]

I have a 125 gallon tank it's been running for a year now and I traded my 9inch Mappa Puffer in about three weeks ago. I also had a Sand Sifting star and about 11 large turbo snails. There was a algae problem (thick red algae). There is no sign of it now since I reduced my light time from 12 to 8 hours. I also brought two 50/50 Atinic white bulbs. I just have the fixtures that came with the tank, two 36 inch single bulb.
I've been using ro/di water for about six months now. I have many different brands of test kits: Salifert (Carbonate hardness/Alk, Calcium), Mine Lab Test (Phosphate), and Dry Tab Master Kit (Ph,ammonia,trite,trate).

 

[puff(er) daddy]

Also Dry Tab Copper test kit 0.0ppm

 

[kris walker]

Okay, I was thinking your nitrate test was bad after I heard there was no current algae problem, but I believe those kits you use have a good reliability, so that's not the case.
It sounds like the main reason why your nitrates are so high is that there is no biofiltration to handle them since you don't do enough water changes. 1/2 in of sand does not offer any anerobic places in it for colonization by nitrate-consuming bacteria (i.e. you don't have a deep sand bed). I would definitely add another 3 inches of sand to your existing tank. Here is the equation you need to determine how many lbs of sand you need:
(length of tank in inches) x (width of tank in inches) x (desired inches of sand) x .058 = (lbs of sand)
Once you add this sand to your existing sand, it will probably take a few weeks for the nitrate-consuming bacteria to colonize the DSB, and thus your nitrates will only start to fall then. In the meantime, I would not do any water changes, since the nitrates that currently exist will be the food for the bacteria.
kris

 

[kris walker]

Oh, one more thing. If you don't want to go with a DSB, and would rather do more frequent water changes, adding macroalgae to your tank would help with the nitrate problem (they will consume nitrates, so when you prune the macroalgae, you are effectively removing nitrate from your tank).
kris

 

[trailer trash]

Bio-filtration is the source of the NO3.
Bio-filtration will convert ammonium and nitrite to nitrate very effeciently.....before you LR and BSD can deal with it.
Do you have bio-balls in your wet/dry?
Since you have removed your fish do some water changes.
If macro-algae can lower nitrates is unclear. They will take up nitrogen more readily as ammonium and nitrite thus preventing it from becoming nitrate.

 

[kris walker]

That's interesting Trailer Trash. I didn't know that thing about plants taking up ammonium/nitrite more than nitrate. Where did you hear this from?
Just to clarify, what I call "biofiltration" means any living media (human or natural) that converts some nitrogen-bearing molecule ot something else, not just nitrite to nitrate. So to me, a DSB is a large component of biofiltration. LR is another, but to many, not necessary if you have a DSB.
kris

 

[ruaround]

What kind of water are you using when you do a water change? I would strongly recommend RO water.

 

[trailer trash]

KW
Dont know where I read that but my understanding is that the extra oxygen in NO3 makes it more difficult for plants to use.

 

[puff(er) daddy]

Sorry for the late replies but the board kept saying that I was banned from the message board.
Anyway, I have 3 1/2 inches of l/s you must have read it wrong. I do appreiciate your help. I'm going with trailor trash as he told me in another post weeks ago. Removing the bio balls and adding some macro algae ontop of my egg crates inside the wet/dry will be my next step.
How much lighting will I need? Nothing too fancy something basic(C H E A P!!!).

 

[joe's reefer]

try this stuff called cycle it has living nirtifying bacteria and other stuff to get ur tank cycled or get ur trites and trates down.

 

[kris walker]

Hey Puffer,
It's cool. I'm just glad Trailer caught what I completely missed (your 3 1/2 in of ls). I need to read more carefully before I reply sometimes. Good luck!
kris

 

[trailer trash]

You can use a LOA fixture from Home Depot. Just make sure you get the 65 watt model 9266
Can be bought for less than 30 bucks including pigtail.
Grows great macro and coraline
Refresher!!

 

[puff(er) daddy]

Trailor trash is that miricle mud or l/s under the caulerpa (sp)? I've noticed everything is under the egg crate. That's a good idea because I'm using PhosGuard and Carbon, which I could put ontop of the egg crate before the water trickles down to bio filter. thanks for the tips everyone I get paid$$$$$ tomorrow so off to the Home Depot and the lfs.

 

[trailer trash]

NOPE
If you seen something under that chamber its just gunk......
The sump has been running for 5 plus years and this is just garbage you may see

 

[dirtybilge]

Trailer Trash you have the coolest reef tank pics i have seen on this board! Thats just my 2 cents.
ED

 

[puff(er) daddy]

Trailer Trash I was at Home Depot today and I couldn't find a LOA fixture. What does LOA stand for? Do you still have the sku#? If not thanks anyway. I'm going back to work now so I'll go to HD's web page when I get back home.

 

[shootonsite]

Ditch the bio balls, get rid of the Sand Sifting Star, and start an eco similar to Trailer Trash. Eventually, you'll be able to sell your skimmer and buy whatever coral you want.