Pics of 150 w/ 8" Volitan

[madwabbit23]

Here are some pics of the tank I mentioned in my post earlier this week. Thanks again for all the feedback!
Got the LFS tracking me down a 5"+ Koran Angel and a 5"+ Naso tang to be tankmates for this lovely 8"-ish volitan.
Little Algae on the forward coral, as well as in the back...working on removal. Nitrites were off the charts today, (everything else was perfect) so I did a 20%water change, these were taken shortly after. It is a 150g with SCA375 Canister Filter and a 40g wet/dry with protein skimmer sitting inside the furthest chamber.
You can see in the side shot the PVC tunnel for the near 2ft SFE in there also ...he is quite shy, and usually only active if im feeding silversides.

 

[hammerhed7]

are you cycling the tank with the lion and eel? If your trites were off the charts, you are not done cycling yet. Adding anymore fish is asking for trouble, you shouldn't have any fish in there now.

 

[madwabbit23]

LoL Tank has had the SFE and this lion in it for over a year now...im pretty sure the cycle is complete

Yah, no earthly idea why the trites skyrocketed...its been a good long while since my last water change, and my canister filter needed a good cleaning, but otherwise im confused.

 

[mboswell1982]

tank is lookin good man, good luck on finding the other fish you want, and definitely post pics when u do get em

 

[madwabbit23]

Thanks! and will definetly do. Cant even think about new additions until I figure out the source of my nitrite spike though...Ill have to keep an eagle eye on water levels for next few weeks.

 

[johnnyd]

do you mean nitrates? nitrites off the charts and your fsh would be dead thats for sure.

 

[kjr_trig]

Originally Posted by johnnyd
http:///forum/post/2865456
do you mean nitrates? nitrites off the charts and your fsh would be dead thats for sure.
I wondering the same thing...Nitrites off the charts are deadly even to hardy fish like Lions and SFEs....Any Nitrites in an established tank are a serious problem.....Nitrates, you just need some water changes.

 

[madwabbit23]

Yes LOL I did mean Nitrate. I thought trate and typed Nitrite ...a few times.
Checked again this am, TRITES are a little high, but TRATES are still way up there ...the water change had a signifigant impact though, so I'll continue water changes to get it under control. How often can I change 10-20% of the tanks water safely? Every few days? Once a week?
I also notice the water is a little foggy (visible in my pics above also), is that perhaps a side effect of the same water issue? ...kinda hoping to kill 2 birds with 1 stone via water changes

 

[kjr_trig]

Nitrite should be zero, I would do a water change everyday of 15-20 gallons until nitrite gets to zero...Perhaps you might have a faulty test kit, I am not the foremost expert on the subject but nitrite doesn't just show up in an extablished tank, could you have something dead in there? How often do you do water changes and how much?
A Lion and SFE can live with "off the chart" Nitrates, but I would make sure that is under 50ppm before you add an Angel and Tang which are far more finicky to water conditions in a new surrounding.
As far as the cloudiness, kind of just looks like stirred up sand to me

Lion is awesome BTW.

 

[madwabbit23]

Ty for the compliments on the lion- I love him.
And to answer a lot of the confusion: YES, sadly, I found 4 dead silversides under a piece of rock that I missed post-feeding time, and apparently the clean up crew missed also. Removed them, and doing another 20g water change today. Yes, my test kit is a little old so Im going to pick up a fresh one. Will post new numbers this afternoon, TY for all the help guys!

 

[kjr_trig]

Originally Posted by Madwabbit23
http:///forum/post/2865706
Ty for the compliments on the lion- I love him.
And to answer a lot of the confusion: YES, sadly, I found 4 dead silversides under a piece of rock that I missed post-feeding time, and apparently the clean up crew missed also. Removed them, and doing another 20g water change today. Yes, my test kit is a little old so Im going to pick up a fresh one. Will post new numbers this afternoon, TY for all the help guys!
Gotcha, I think the decaying silversides would account for the Nitrite, I would just do daily 20g changes until you get back to 0.

 

[madwabbit23]

Yeah, just as I suspected. My old test was out of date or contaminated. Purchased a legit chemical test today, and came up with bad news.
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0.20ppm
Nitrate: 150ppm
PH: 8.1
After I inspected around the tank to check fittings/filters etc, I found that my canister filter was not running effeciently. Replaced everything inside today except Biorings.
I am pleased to say that the "foggy" water I was complaining about has already subsided only 2hrs after I got the canister working properly, and will hopefully post happier water test numbers very soon!
Going to change water daily and try and impact these numbers- but I am open to any other suggestions!

 

[hammerhed7]

My mistake, when I saw the trites were off the charts I assumed the tank was cycling. Can't wait to see the additions