Nitrates off the charts! Help please!

florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
My point exactly, fecal material (detritus) would have to find its way through any pre filtration and accumulate on the bio balls that is why placement of ones balls is important. Proper placement of said balls after pre filtration would eliminate any build of detritus.
 
M

mhayes462

Guest
Spanko, you have the same setup I want to do just a different way of doing it. How does it work for you and do you like it? And about the nitrates, I was told it may be my testing solution. I have the API master kit, so I went to the lfs today and got a single nitrate test kit. API again because that's all they had besides strips. I tested it when I got home and it was somewhere between the 40-80 colors. A little hard to tell sometimes but I'm pretty sure it wasn't the almost maroon color that is 160.
Mike Hayes
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
if its 40-80 i would just leave the tank alone.joe i believe said it was 10 years ago for the wet/dry.i had one also for around 5 years i never cleaned them.this was over 10 years ago.imo wet/dry is an out dated piece of equiptment.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
My design has served me well. Took a couple of iterations to get there though. Agree with the Texan about leaving it alone now and let it rip itself into stability. I would however still vacuum the substrate as you just don't know what has been shaken up
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///t/389778/nitrates-off-the-charts-help-please/20#post_3447509
Just a word on the “balls from hell”. Now as my good friends would surly agree in this hobby as well as other instances, where you place your balls are very important.
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///t/389778/nitrates-off-the-charts-help-please/20#post_3447511

Why are you acting so surprised here? You know he's absolutely right! In any sport or hobby where balls are a factor, proper positioning and usage is always of paramount importance.
Baseball wouldn't be very fun if the pitcher couldn't get it across the plate....
Soccer would be boring if the teammates were trying to kick a cube rather than a ball....
....just sayin'.
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by mhayes462 http:///t/389778/nitrates-off-the-charts-help-please/40#post_3447618
Spanko, you have the same setup I want to do just a different way of doing it. How does it work for you and do you like it? And about the nitrates, I was told it may be my testing solution. I have the API master kit, so I went to the lfs today and got a single nitrate test kit. API again because that's all they had besides strips. I tested it when I got home and it was somewhere between the 40-80 colors. A little hard to tell sometimes but I'm pretty sure it wasn't the almost maroon color that is 160.
Mike Hayes
I'm glad to hear this. I also have the API kit, and it's notorious for going bad fairly quickly and reading high.
 
kiefers

kiefers

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///t/389778/nitrates-off-the-charts-help-please/40#post_3447615
My point exactly, fecal material (detritus) would have to find its way through any pre filtration and accumulate on the bio balls that is why placement of ones balls is important. Proper placement of said balls after pre filtration would eliminate any build of detritus.
mine are placed according to the manufactoring recommendations and spec's.

Just sayin'
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
Did you do a phosphate test I did read that in above? As for your other readings these are fine for cycling just wait it out till your test all hit 0. As for your ditrus you can siphon it out if you have a ton, plus since this is a old tank best time to siphon your sand and blast your rocks (as meowzer said), make a decision if you want to get rid of bio balls. But you will need to lower your salinity I keep my tanks at 1.025, others will differ. Other wise you are good, welcome to the world of Salt Water, once you go salty you'll never go back.
 
M

mhayes462

Guest
I haven't done a phosphate test yet. So should I do a cleaning now or just wait until the cycle is over and do it when I do a water change?
Mike Hayes
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Sounds like this tank was a tad dirty even when you set it up. doing the cleaning now will lessen the possibility of stirring up nutrients later after your initial cycle is built and taking a chance on causing an ammonia spike. I would do the cleaning now while the initial cycling is happening then as things are stirred up again and you don't get it all out it will be a good fuel for the bacteria colony establishment.
 
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