Okay I have to ask this...

darth tang

darth tang

Active Member
Or she could wait for the mini cycle to finish. Then the problem should be solved. I also think one more powerhead would be a good idea. I have 2 in my fifty-five gallon seahorse trank and they need a lot less flow than fish....so I think two would put her in a good GPM flow range.
More live rock could be added.....but I am sure space is limited. So that really isn't a viable option. The safe thing to do? Call your LFS and see if they can baby sit some fish for a bit. Explain your tank is going through a mini cycle....they might do it for you at no charge even. Mine does. This way you don't have to worry about fish dying through the cycle.
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
space is limited? she has 40lbs in a 55 gallon tank... i have 90... space probably isn't limited. She said that she can put in more LR.
and yes, i completely agree. she definately should add at least one more powerhead, but that's not the reason for the spike in organics...
 
suzi1780

suzi1780

Member
Hey guys I have waaaaaay more the 40lbs of LR, Sorry to yell that, but I have already posted that and I think it got skipped over, I am not sure where the 40lbs came from. I really have 60lbs. I tested this morning ammonia is sitting at .25, rite is .50 and rate is 20, really are those reading that off the charts? I ordered the HOB last night, I was going to buy it at the lfs but they wanted $72 and online it is $42! I feed once a day but man those little fishes beg and beg! And I found another home for the starfish. I did a 10% water change two days ago. I use distilled water. Thanks for the help!
 
darth tang

darth tang

Active Member
Originally Posted by jdragunas
space is limited? she has 40lbs in a 55 gallon tank... i have 90... space probably isn't limited. She said that she can put in more LR.
and yes, i completely agree. she definately should add at least one more powerhead, but that's not the reason for the spike in organics...
I got the tank size confused with Mrs. Twig who jumped in the thread. I was thinking of a 29 gallon tank. In that case I think two more powerheads. More live rock would help. But here is the problem I see. In order for the Live rock to be completely utilized you have to have good flow through, around, under, and over it. If your flow is low, essentially you have dead spots which doesn't allow that area of live rock to do it's job. More live rock may solve your current issue...but I honestly feel it would cheaper and far more beneficial to your tank to increase your flow rate so more water is moving through and around your rocks. One powerhead in a fifty five, I am willing to bet you have a dead spot or two whioch isn't working as actively to help breakdown ammonia, nitrites, and trates.
I would stil look into talking with your LFS to babysit regardless of which road you take.
 
darth tang

darth tang

Active Member
Originally Posted by suzi1780
Hey guys I have waaaaaay more the 40lbs of LR, I am not sure where that came from. I really have 60lbs. I tested this morning ammonia is sitting at .25, rite is .50 and rate is 20, really are those reading that off the charts? I ordered the HOB last night, I was going to buy it at the lfs but they wanted $72 and online it is $42! I feed once a day but man those little fishes beg and beg! And I found another home for the starfish. I did a 10% water change two days ago. I use distilled water.
any ammonia or nitrites are bad. They should always be zero. Have you had your LFS double check your readings? Your tests may be off....not likely but a possibility.
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
I completely agree with Darth. Sorry, i don't know where the 40 came from...

And that's not that big of a spike, but with a fully cycled tank, any spike in ammonia and nitrites is a bad sign. You should have enough bacteria to process ammonia quickly into nitrates. It normally processes so quickly that you don't even see ammonia or nitrites. So, having the amount you do is really undesirable. Your fish can survive in it, but they are most likely suffering, even if you can't tell. I would see if you can get someone to babysit them until your tank is done recycling.
 
suzi1780

suzi1780

Member
Yeah I was really thinking I needed to add another powerhead. Now I could be wrong but I think I saw one at Wal-Mart? Anyone else see them there? Also where is the best place to place it?
 
sleasia

sleasia

Active Member
suzie...I just quickly read through all of this. you are probably still cycling if you have nitrite or you are adding fish too fast or feeding too much. The problem with filtering with carbon is there are many different qualities. in general the least detrimental is coconut carbon...other carbons may decrease the ph too drastically. and all carbons do not last as long as the manufacturer claims. They also tend to remove some important trace elements. Also if you leave carbon in the filter too long it might release what it has filtered back into the water. I use purigen, another filtering product, because it does not pull out as much of the trace elements and it does not re release stuff back into the water. the problem is you have to be very careful with it if you plan to "relaim" it with bleach and make sure the bleach is really removed before using it again. but it works great if you are careful with the reclaiming process. I have an emporer 400 on my QT tank and it works fine. I don't use the carbon cartridges they sell. Instead I put two pieces of foam in both compartments which I leave in for an added area for beneficial bacteria to grow, and I throw in a purigen bag. This seems to work really well. Bio wheels are ok for smaller tanks, and the fact that you have a protein skimmer will help out as well. It takes a couple of months though for the wheels to culture enough bacteria to maintain the tank. If you switch to a bio wheel, use your old filter and the new filter at the same time for a few months to be sure the new one is established. in the mean time you can buy some bio-spira marine (marineland product) which has live bacteria to seed the tank and reduce nitrites. It will take about 24 hours. the stuff is a little expensive, but helps alot in an emergency. Do not use an ultra violet sterilizer while establishing your biological filter or it will greatly reduce the bio load and cause things to take forever to cycle. UV's have to be used in established tanks. If you would like to go with a wet dry you can easily build your own which will work just as efficiently as any you buy for much less money. there are examples posted under the threads for equipment diy wet-drys.
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
"UV's have to be used in established tanks"... you mean you can't use a UV in a new tank, right? not that every established tank has to have a UV...
 
darth tang

darth tang

Active Member
You can get them there. I would get two. Place one in each opposit corner, one near the bottom facing in at an angle, the other near the to facing down at an angle twoards the center. the other in the middle facing up a bit
 
unleashed

unleashed

Active Member
as i skimmed through this post I did not read all of them.but my input on the whole carbons have some definate benefits if properly maintained.I have used the HOT filters in the past with good results in a 55 your most likely going to benifit more from one than say a 100+ gal set up.they do add to water flow which in return helps keep oxygen levels up.having some type of filter media will help reduce waste particals floating around the tank.the carbons will only help remove harmful chemicals found in the water but will help keep the water clear.do you have one NO will it help at all YES its a matter of choice.as for the sand sifter you need to feed it it needs a calcium additive to keep healthy as do all inverts and crustations.you may spot feed it when ever possible cyclopseze and mysis shrimps will suffice .keep you water changes as a routine to id say 20 % weekly in the size tank the bioload builds up faster than a larger system.not all tanks need 3 power heads I keep 1 on eack of my tanks but I do have a return pipe which keep water moving on the oppesite end.I personally prefer the aquaclear brand hang on filters they do seam to be a little more effective and closer media inserts for a sw tank..I ran my 125 for 3 1/2 yrs on 2 aquaclear 70's(300) and 1 aqauclear 901 powerhead.which is very hard to find these days.20 % water changes weekly no amonia nitrate problems at all and I feed my tanks heavily daily.and that was aprox 50 lbs of LR.my nitrates never go higher than 10.as stated above it is a matter of choice to use one or not.
 
danedodger

danedodger

Member
the HOB bio-wheel filter WILL reduce your ammonia and nitrites. The bio-wheel houses the dentrifying bacteria, so that will reduce the organics in your system. The carbon doesn't remove organics, though.
Ack that's right!!!
I was only thinking about the mechanical and chemical filtration of a HOB unit and totally forgot about that part!
Nice catch, jdragunas
 
birdy

birdy

Active Member
Just do water changes, your levels will come back down. Certainly don't take the fish out of the tank that makes no sense at all. And like other stated get a second opinion, some test kits are really not accurate.
I would feed every other day at the most, believe me with 60lbs of rock in the tank your fish are not "starving", they will graze off the LR like they do in the wild. It is better for them than you feeding them store bought food.
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
how does it not make sense to take the fish out of the tank? The fish are causing the ammonia spike, so you remove the fish, and allow the cycle to finish, and then put the fish back in when it's done... how does that make no sense at all???
 
birdy

birdy

Active Member
the levels are not that high, water changes are easy to do and will fix the problem, moving fish around will stress them out and could cause ich or death. The tank needs to adjust to the new fish, taking them out just makes no sense to me.
You should reduce your feedings a lot until your levels come down though, I would only feed 3-4times a week, more food equals more waste equals poor water quality.
 
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