lower nitrates?

[jacrmill]

before i do a water cahnge my nitrates are about 25. i dont have any corals. all i have is fish and some inverts. first of all i was wondering if i need to worry about lowering nitrates? then how would i do it? i have an eclipse hood and i have about 2 inches of LS and 20 lbs of LR in a 37 gallon tank. i am going to purchase a protein skimmer soon i know this will help, but will it bring it low. the real reason im asking is that i added 2 hermit crabs the other day and i saw them for 2 days and now i havent seen them for about 3 days and i know nitrates are bad for inverts. so how can i lower them, or should the skimmer be enough?

 

[jacrmill]

i meant to mention that my bioload is really low right now. i just got done with my cycle so all i have is a royal gramma, 2 hermits and a camel shrimp. its a 37 gallon eclipse tank. ive heard that the biowheels can produce high nitrates. should i remove it or what?

 

[slk3599]

37 gallon tank: you don't have enough live rock; deep enough sand bed and no skimmer - there is not enough filtration there to sustain the tank without the bio-wheel. Get about 20 - 30 lbs more of live rock at least and add another 1-2" of sand, add a skimmer and then you can consider removing the biowheel
[ June 14, 2001: Message edited by: slk3599 ]

 

[jimi]

A skimmer should go along way to help reduce them but as Susan mentioned you may want to add more rock at least 10 to 15 lbs more.

 

[playtime]

Personally, I like perfect levels. This sometimes adds more stress to me than necessary. Nitrates aren't dangerous until 50+. With a tank that size, your levels can spike without warning. For exampble. I tested my water saturday and my nitrates were 40 so, I did a water change. On monday, I tested again and nitrates were 80+. Nothing dead, didn't understand. Did a 20% water change using bottled water everyday until levels dropped. I did anothe test yesterday and nitrate is about 5. Whew, was that close. I was lucky and nothing parished. I would suggest regular tests and water changes. 25 isn't bad but it can spike fast. Good luck!!
playtime

 

[jacrmill]

i cant wait to get my skimmer. i think im gonna order it this weekend. hopefully ill get it soon. i just wish SWF had dry goods so i could order it off them to help thank them for this board. thank you all for the help.