NEED HELP!!!!

[puff(er) daddy]

I'm having a number of problems with my water conditions. I have a 125gal fowlr(20lbs) and 3inches of sand(20lb bag of l/s)the tank has been set up since March 2001. I added my 7inch mappa puffer June 21st. I have a Amiracle wet/dry filter that is rated for 90 to a 100 gals(got it from a friend),a rio 3100 for a return pump, a Berlin Turbo Classic skimmer(added two weeks ago), and a power sweep 240(125gph).
My problems is that I haven't had good water parameters yet! At first I had high nitrite and now since about October I've had high nitrates. I have been doing water changes with r/o water from my lfs, because I started off with tap water. I did add the 20lbs of l/r two days after Thanksgiving but I didn't get too bad of a spike in my water.
As of now I have a reading of ph 8.2ppm, nitrite 0.25, nitrate 140, and ammonia 0.25. Can any of this contribute to my bad case of detritus(sp)? What should be my next step?

 

[fshhub]

did you cycle completely? or just panic and do water changes befor cycle could finish? YOUR CYCLE MUST COMPLETE also, check your test kit(easiest ot compare results with someone else, ex. lfs)
if not
my reccommendation would be first to add mor lr, but having fish you need to do it slow
ooops, 1st a 15 to 20 % water change, do you do these? now the lr
next, more powerheads, you need a lot of circulation(at least 1250 gallons) and forget powersweeps(keep the one you have),
next,
also, if you have detritus, you could be over feeding
and personally, i don't like wet dry's so i would remove the media and just use it for circualation and a sump only
IMO
HTH and good luck

 

[dshurett]

One additional thing that came to mind reading this. Check to see if you have any sponge type filters in your setup....are they being cleaned regularly? If food particles get trapped in them and allowed to decay, this could also cause water quality problems.
HTH

 

[puff(er) daddy]

My problem is that I started out without knowing anything about the hobby. So I've been kind of working backwards trying to correct all my mistakes. Thanks for the replies and I'm going to take both of your advice and make the adjustments.

 

[jimi]

More cured live rock would definately help the situation.

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

Pufferdaddy,
Jimi the shark is right - you should have about half to 1 pound per gallon of live rock to help stablize your biofilter. Also 4" deep sand bed for ditritus control (nitrates) is what I have seen on this sight as the norm.
Be patient - your tank is new and you've struggled to stablize it. Your on the rght track, be careful of the animals you put in right now but a year from now you'll be the one telling everyone what NOT to do.

 

[puff(er) daddy]

Thanks for the advice. I know how much l/r I'm suppose to have but I don't have the money right now for it. I pretty much had a idea on what it might be and you all just confirmed it for me.
Jimi, Thanks for telling me about the hidden reef. It's just what I needed in a supplie store. I haven't seen your name in awhile to thank you.