Nitrate with LR

tsdid

tsdid

Member
I was just reading on on saltwater.about.com, about nitrates etc. They mentioned cleaning the bioballs, and said if this is done it should be done slowly, just 1/4 at a time, they say the tank can crash if you do them all. Now in that article are they not takeing into account live rock? I have 55Lbs of rock and 40 of sand. If i cleaned the balls I would have enought bacteria to stablilize the tank right. Or is it good to take it slow?
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
The thing you have to remember is that bacteria will breed and colonize as such to reach an equilibrium with the amount of food (fish waste, etc) being produced by your inhabitants.
So the amount of bacteria you have currently is "matched" to the amount of waste being produced.
Therefore, any major disturbance to a location where bacteria colonize can cause problem with the system. It may not cause a crash, but then again it may. The best thing is any time you make a change to an area where bacteria colonize, you take it slow.
 
dcrawford

dcrawford

Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
Therefore, any major disturbance to a location where bacteria colonize can cause problem with the system.
If some bioballs are underwater and most are not, then if you let the sump fill up and all the bioballs are under water, does this count as a "major disturbance"?
DC
 
tsdid

tsdid

Member
so if I added 25 PBS if live rock to by tank and one scooter blenny, why do you think my nitrates are up from 0 to 10-15. Is my balance off? If so what caused it and how do I get it back to equilibrium?
 
tsdid

tsdid

Member
DC I don't think that would be a disturbance. On that site the say to take the water that you suck out of the tank during a water change and basicaly wash the bio balls off in that bucket of water. I imagin it is a light rinse to knock off all the dead debris but not the bacteria.
 
rcoultas

rcoultas

Member
How long ago did you put the new LR in ? The addition of the rock and the fish will cause an increase in the bioload and thus a temporary spike in the nitrates - if it does not level back out then you will need do water changes. If it was added some time ago then there could possibly be another cause for which we would need more info to attempt to discover.
 
tsdid

tsdid

Member
i put the rock in 2 weeks ago. It almost doubled the amount of rock I have in the tank. I have a wet dry with 2 clowns 2 pajamas and a scooter. I added a scooter 3 weeks ago and I added an anemone last week. Since the week I bought the rock I have been adding phyto for the sponges and dusters on the rock.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top