New tank out of control

chefjoeyp

chefjoeyp

New Member
I have no idea what happened, My f/o has been running for a litle over 2 months:
55gal
20# lr
seaclone 100 skimmer
emporer 400 filter
1 Oce clown
1 yellow tang
1 vol lion
1 porcupine puffer
1 brittle star
1 hermit crab
1 cleaner shrimp
1 damsel (the one I couldnnt catch after cycle)
1 anemone
2 days ago levels were fine
Ph 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates <20
sal 1.024
temp 78.5
Tested this eveing and temp, sal and ph all the same, nitrites barely traceable but nitrates shot up to over 80. I ran to my local grocers, bought DI/RO water (which is what I used from the beginning) and did a 20% water change, tested 1 hour later and nitrates dropped to 40 (I have stayed up all night to "babysit" my "kids", yep I'm a lifer)now 5 hours later the level is about 60. I have no idea what to do, from reading other posts I know not to do another water change, and I know the levels are not critical yet, but I want to stop it before it gets there. Before i started I read everything I could online and i think I bought every book on this, I Love it, I have a 100 gal as well that is going to be a reef tank that I just put a cleanup crew in. just want to make sure i am not doing anything wrong.
I have attached pics. Thanks in advance for the help

 
sly

sly

Active Member
Are you certain that your nitrates are high? You could try a different test kit to make sure. Get your LFS to test the water... It may be that your tesk kit is contaminated.
There are several ways to reduce nitrate levels naturally. Living rock is the most common. Deep Sand Beds work well and finally, adding plants works well too. You need large low oxygen areas in your tank in order to grow nitrobacter bacteria. This bacteria consumes nitrate and converts it to nitrogen gas. LR and deep sand provide this. Between the two, I would recommend adding more LR to the tank before I would try a DSB. You could also add a denitrifying filter. These are usually canister type filters that fit externally to the tank. Water changes are not bad as long as you use high quality filtered water that has had time to mix before adding it to your tank. The change water needs to be the same temp, pH, salinity and highly oxygenated before adding it to the tank.
As long as your nitrate stays below 80ppm you are ok in a FO tank.
 
hagfish

hagfish

Active Member
I would test the RO/DI water you are using before you put it in the tank. They may not change their filters often.
You're anemone isn't going to like ANY level of nitrates, greater than 10 or so. And if he's in that 55 he's not going to like your lighting at all either.
Try cleaning the emperor real good. Waste can gather in them and create nitrates.
It looks like you have crushed coral (CC). Are you vacuuming it like crazy? If not, you probably have excess waste in there that is turning into nitrates.
Also, as mentioned, adding LR would probably help.
 
maroonytun

maroonytun

Member
First your tanks is way overstocked.
The puffer and the lion will outgrow the 55.
The puffer will most likely nip at the lions fins.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
I didn't notice that you had CC... If that's the case then you need to make it shallower. CC can be a very good low maintainence substrate but only if you do it correctly. It can only be about 1 inch deep for it to work effectively. If it is deeper than this, then you will collect excess ditrius which will add dramatically to your nitrate level. Reduce your CC base 1 inch and you will see your nitrates drop off quickly. If you simply must have a deeper substrate than this, then you will need to switch to sand.
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
Most of the important stuffs were mentioned above. Really need to lower that CC bed to less then 1" Siphon it out everytime you do a water change until you get it down to less then 1" of CC. To really lower that nitrate, you need to do 20-25% water change every other day to lower it down. Is your skimmer working properly?? You have some major bio-loads in there contributing to your nitrates. I would go with a canister filter instead of a emporer filter. I would run carbon as well. This is still a young tank to handle this much stuffs, IMO you over stock too soon!!! That anemone NEEDS a well established tank and BETTER lighting to survive. Either get rid of it, or get better lighting. Unless you have a low light anemone, you still need better lighting then regular flourescents, but nothing like MH's...PC's would do good for it if it's a low light anemone. IF not, you should look into MH's instead. You should also look into getting a sump/fuge system for this tank as well, it will help you with nitrates. Just remember, most of your fish WILL outgrow this tank. :happyfish
 
chefjoeyp

chefjoeyp

New Member
Thanks so much for your help. It seems my test liquid was contaminated, I was using aquarium pharm, and when I switched to aquarium systems tests my nitrites and nitrates were zero, had my lfs verify this. As with the substrate, I use anout 60% sand and 40% cc, I do vacuum every other day. I am getting MH lighting for both tanks. the anemone I have had for over a month and sems to love it, every time I move him to a brighter spot he goes right back to the shady spot.
I am having another prob, I have my heaters turned off but can not get the temp below 80 uless I blast my a/c, curse of living in the desert i guess. any tricks to keep the tank cool?
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
Originally Posted by Chefjoeyp
Thanks so much for your help. It seems my test liquid was contaminated, I was using aquarium pharm, and when I switched to aquarium systems tests my nitrites and nitrates were zero, had my lfs verify this. As with the substrate, I use anout 60% sand and 40% cc, I do vacuum every other day. I am getting MH lighting for both tanks. the anemone I have had for over a month and sems to love it, every time I move him to a brighter spot he goes right back to the shady spot.
I am having another prob, I have my heaters turned off but can not get the temp below 80 uless I blast my a/c, curse of living in the desert i guess. any tricks to keep the tank cool?
I wouldn't have a mix of sand and CC! Either one or the other. You would need a Chiller to keep your tank cool. The anemone moves to where ever it feels most comfortable. :happyfish
 
hagfish

hagfish

Active Member
You dont' have to have a chiller necessarily. One or more fans blowing on the water can make a big difference.
If you just have NO lighting now, the anemone is probably moving to the place with the flow it likes IMO.
 
robpsca

robpsca

Member
Originally Posted by Chefjoeyp
Thanks so much for your help. It seems my test liquid was contaminated, I was using aquarium pharm, and when I switched to aquarium systems tests my nitrites and nitrates were zero, had my lfs verify this. As with the substrate, I use anout 60% sand and 40% cc, I do vacuum every other day. I am getting MH lighting for both tanks. the anemone I have had for over a month and sems to love it, every time I move him to a brighter spot he goes right back to the shady spot.
I am having another prob, I have my heaters turned off but can not get the temp below 80 uless I blast my a/c, curse of living in the desert i guess. any tricks to keep the tank cool?
palm springs here ours dont go below 80 either next investments gonna be a chiller have to try the fan thing until then though left the air off the other day it got to 85 stays at 80 to 82 whith a/c on 78
 
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