Nitrate Problems

italgal02

italgal02

Member
I have had my tank set up for over 2 months. I have 2 damsels who are doing great one pound of live rock (its a small tank). My PH is good and my Salt and Ammonia is good. For some reason though, I cannot seem to get the Nitrate and Nitrite down. I put about half a bag of the bacteria (biospera) in almost 1-2 weeks ago, and nothing. I had a clown fish, but my blue damsel beat him up pretty badly. Ia lso have a Sea Anemone which seems to be in great condition! What should i do? Should i add more bacteria? I also just purchased Algea blenny (lawnmower) and some clams (to help with nitrate) to help clean up the tank. I want to really get a few more fish, btu it seems as though my tank isn't healthy enough!
SOMEONE HELP ME!
 
J

jaybird101

Guest
What size is your tank?
Are you using any other kind of filtration?
How much LS do you have?
They say 1 lbs of LR to 1 gal water, makes a good natural filtration.
 
italgal02

italgal02

Member
Its only a 10 gallon. And all I have is regular filter witht he bio wheel. I ahve crushed coralf or the PH, but I dont knwo what you mean by LS ( ia m very new at this) I ahve cichlids in a 75 gallon who are very easy to care for.... But salt is tricky, especially since its only 10 gallons...
 
J

jaybird101

Guest
Yes here they use Abreveations alot. I guess because we can't speel and its easier LOL.
LS is Live Sand
LR is Live Rock.
Crushed coral (CC) adds nothing to the creation of good bacteria. LS is Live because it has the good bacteria in it. They say 1 lbs of LS to 1 gal water. I have about 2.5 inches in my fourty gall tank.
Get rid of the CC or cover it with LS. I know LR is expensive but need for a healthy tank. You can use the filters you have but you have to change the filter more often. The good bacteria needs some where to grow and filter.
I was able to go to my LFS (Local Fish Store) and he would sell me the small broken peices of Fugi LR for about $2.99 a lbs. A whole lot cheaper than the big peices for $6.99 a lbs.
You need at least 9 more lbs.
 
cyclops

cyclops

Member
Italgal02
I have the same problem with my 135g tank the Nitrate levels are way to high so what I did was a 50% water change and the levels went down some. What typ of damsels do you have, clowns are damsels too. But try the water change and check in two days.
James
 
dogstar

dogstar

Active Member
The nitrates must be removed by water changes or absorbed by/thru photosynthesis algeas or denitrification..
The nitrites should be converted to nitrate by bactirea. If you have nitrite then you dont have enough bacteria to handle the bioload. If there is not enough surface area for enough bacteria then you can not have enough bacteria..... so, increase surface area for bacteria or reduce bioload...IMO.
 
italgal02

italgal02

Member
I did a water change (about 50%) and it got worse. My ammonia went up and my nitrates went down. when i put the bacteria in, it reveresed Ammonia down and the nitrate/trite went up.
Im going to put some blennies in to help my algea prblems, hopefully they wont die and I can try to control the tank. Any other advice would eb great
 
pegandgrif

pegandgrif

Member
WE ARE 6 MONTHS INTO THE SALT WORLD. WE TOO HAVE NITRATE PROBLIMS, BUT WE FOUND THAT WE HAVE NITRATES IN OUR TAP WATER. WE NOW BUY DISTILED. AND WILL BE INVESTING IN A RO FILTER SOON. SO CHECK YOU WATER IF YOU ARE USEING TAP WATER. :happyfish
 
italgal02

italgal02

Member
So i let my Algea build up... and did not clean the surfaces of the glass or vacum for about a while (a pet shop adviced me to try this) and it worked. The levels went down pretty well. I think my Nitrate is still not at 0, but that can just be my eye looking and matching up the colors, but the PH, the Salinity, the nitrite and ammonia look fine now. Im so happy it leveled out, becuase im expecting my shipment of fish today So i hope it works well! Thanks for eveyrone's advice! i plan on getting some live sand soon and switching it out with the CC, but if i do so, what happens to the PH? Can i just mix the CC and sand? I hope someone can give me advice on that subject!
 
some1fishy

some1fishy

Member
Really quick.... You really should NOT do water changes during your cycle. Your tank is still cycling. You need to add more live rock. Bottom line. Dogstar is right on
, 1 lbs per Gal.
CC can be acceptable, but not preferred here as most will say. Changing CC to sand is a bit difficult. Ask Alyssia or sinnersgirl. They just went through it. CC can be a nitrate trap but also it doesnt have to be 0- mine has been at 5 for the last 2 mnths and tank is thriving. I also have a 2.5" sand bed.
I would let the tank cycle before adding more fish.
JM.02
 
italgal02

italgal02

Member
Was wondering if anyone would like to give me some step by step advice on how to change from CC to Sand.... I think ill purchse it from SWF.com.... becuase my local pet shops arent too clean...anyone ever buy LS from SWF.COM?
 
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