Skimmer and Nitrate

[miafish]

First let me describe my setup. I have a 55G with 50 lbs of live rock and about 40 lbs of live sand. I'm using a wet/dry without a skimmer. Here is my current livestock list:
Gold Stripe Maroon Clown
Domino Damsel (huge bully)
3 Stripe Damsel
Bicolor Angel
Small Spanish Hog
sally lightfoot
emerald crab
2 random small crabs from the ocean
blue spiny lobster
I'm having issues controlling my nitrate levels, currently around 60 or so. I think I'm ok with my bioload but I might of added too many fish to fast. My question then is will a protein skimmer help with my nitrate levels. I'm currently doing 20% water changes every other day to try and lower my nitrates. What else can I do and what skimmer would you guys recommend?
Thanks

 

[stanlalee]

once you lower your nitrates it will help prevent them from rising by removing organic waste before it goes thru the breakdown process which end product is nitrate but adding one wont do anything to lower them from what it already is. May prevent them from going higher.

 

[saltfreak4]

there are other ways to reduce your nitrates. Put some plants in the sump/refugium. There is a LSF store that has this huge (to me) tank. Looks like 55 could be a 45. So I am telling him all the stuff I am reading on here and other places. We are talking about this stuff, and he looks at me as if I have two or three heads. "You don't need all that stuff. Open up that cabinet there on the right." <Cabinet is under this huge to me tank> I kid you NOT he has one maybe 5 lb rock in there with a skimmer, pump, and caulerpa living on this "live Rock" piece. That is all that is filter this system. Now there is LR and LS in the aquarium, but that is all. No water changes, no trates, nothing. Perfectly balanced system. The guy never touches a thing. I am going to take pictures of it for you guys, because I know you don't believe me. The tank has been up and running for YEARS with just this little rock. Unbelievable.

 

[miafish]

I have heard of adding plants in the sump to reduce nitrates. The thing is I dont have any lights inside my stand and my "sump" is kind of small. What needs to be done to support these caulerpa plants/algae. Please bear with my newbie questions I'm still trying to learn as I go. Thanks

 

[michael_t]

I was in a similar situation as you. I had a wet/dry filter and my nitrates were between 60 and 80. I was doing 25% water changes every other week and nothing dropped my nitrate levels.
I have a pretty reliable LFS and he suggested that I remove the bio balls from my wet dry if I did nothing else.
I asked him about a protein skimmer. He said, like Stanalee, that it won’t drop the current levels (your water changes will) but it will help control the build up of nitrates.
I purchased a skimmer and my nitrates dropped to 15 (after several water changes). They have stabilized there. I do way less water changes. (Now if I just had LS instead of CC!)
After each water change my tank water would look good for several days but then it would start to look crappy.
I came here again and found many people suggesting a clean up crew. I ordered the 30-90 clean up crew from SWF and my water has never looked better. It looks sharp every day even up to my water change.

 

[michael_t]

Current pictures. Advantage of working from home.

 

[miafish]

Your tank looks nice. Looks like I definitely need to beef up my clean up crew and add a skimmer then. Thanks for the info

 

[farslayer]

Have you calculated your nitrate production rate? Measure your nitrates after you do a water change and then measure again right before your do your next one and see what the difference is. The difference will be how many nitrates you're producing in a week (assuming weekly water changes). In a perfect world, you would be producing 0. Might help shed some light on the source perhaps?

 

[saltfreak4]

Your sump doesn't need to be huge for this to work, and any aquarium light will work. I have a reptile climp-on and a screw in coralife 50/50 10000k bulb in mine right now. It will work wonders for you.

 

[lilchris]

A skimmer WILL NOT lower your nitrates. What will lower them are water changes, getting those bio balls out of your system, watching your feeding. You have a big bioload so you will need to watch your feeding.
You can get by w/out having a skimmer. You have a FOWLR tank so a skimmer is not necassary.
You can add a fuge where your bio balls are at and get a regular light ( a criiter lamp) and run over yur fuge. The algae that you will have in your fuge will use up the nitrates. I think this is the best way. Don;t go out and buy a skimmer and think your trates will drop like that. It will not.

 

[joncat24]

I am sorry to say but I definitely disagree with lilchris. Just look at the skimmate coming out of the tank....that has to reduce nitrates. But along those lines it is not a fix all either. there has to be some reason you trates are staying high with weekly water changes. Either too much of a bioload, or heavy feeding. The sump with the calerpa or chaeto will probably take care ogf the problem. as for the lighting on the fuge/sump you can buy a regular clip on light with a 100 watt bulb and your macro algae will grow like crazy. Mine grew better that way that it does with the power compact I have on it now. Just my opinion though....

 

[miafish]

Guys thanks a lot for the recommendations. I think I'm leaning towards removing my bio balls in the tank and letting the algae grow. My question is, the water flows through the filter and into the bio-ball chamber. If I remove those bio balls and just keep a light pointing towards the water will the algae just start to grow or do I have to buy some calerpa to help start the process? Also I have bio balls in the corner of the tank where the overflow is. Should I remove those too or will those serve a purpose? Thanks again.

 

[lilchris]

I understand what JonCat24 is saying but what the question was If he/she adds a skimmer will their nitrates go down. A skimmer alone will not drop the Nitrates. sorry. If your skimmer dropped your nitrates alone then I would love to know what type of skimmer you have so I can go out and buy one tomorrow!!!!!!
If you add a skimmer YES it will help them a little. Because that is some nasty bi product that the skimmer skims out of the tank. But you have to find the root of the nitrate problem. ie over stocked tank, over feeding, lack of water changes, not enough substrate or LR (filtration). The Bio balls are a definate no, no in a marine system. Lose them.
The answer to your algae, you have to create a refugium. Deep Sand Bed(DSB), and Chaeto, calerpa algae, and lights. The algae will use up the nitrates to grow.
I would remove the bio balls in the tank also. You can replace them w/ LR rubble. Water changes, reduce you feedings.

 

[miafish]

I wish I would have known about this site before going out and buying my wet dry and all the bio balls. Can I keep the LR rubble in the overflow corner of the tank even though they won’t be fully submerged? The way I have the overflow setup the water just trickles own into the hole in the bottom of the tank. Ok let me make sure I have this right. The water flows into the wet/dry through the hose (the hose is attached to a lid that closes the top of that chamber) and passes through the filter into the chamber holding the bio balls. It then rises over a small "wall" which has another spongy type filter and into the third chamber where the pump is. If I remove the bio balls, I set up my fuge in that chamber correct? Can water be flowing straight into the fuge or does it have to overflow into it? Thanks for being patient and answering all my newbie questions.

 

[lilchris]

First let me take back what I said about the LR rubble. I wasn't thinking. You cannot put the LR in the overflow chamber in your tank if it is not going to be completely submerged in water. I was thought you was talking about the first chamber in your sump. SORRY.
When you remove the Bioballs in the sump, THEN you can put the live rock rubble in that chamber. Then that will overflow into the FUGE from the chamber w/ the "spongy thingy"

. Then from there you can have it overflow into the return chamber w/ the return pump to the tank. Not sure how many chambers you have.
Here is a link to see how I have mine set up. http://www.aquatic-hobby.com/index.p...opic=3216&st=0 SOrry again for confusing you earlier.

 

[bsd230]

As already stated, it will help reduce nitrates in the future by removing the materials that will eventually become nitrates. While your trying to get your nitrates down with water changes make sure to feed your fish as small amount of food as you can get away with, this will also help get your nitrates under control. I noticed that my nitrates are easier to control since I added my skimmer. I now do water changes when my nitrates get to 20.

 

[lambo]

Originally Posted by joncat24
I am sorry to say but I definitely disagree with lilchris. Just look at the skimmate coming out of the tank....that has to reduce nitrates. But along those lines it is not a fix all either. there has to be some reason you trates are staying high with weekly water changes. Either too much of a bioload, or heavy feeding. The sump with the calerpa or chaeto will probably take care ogf the problem. as for the lighting on the fuge/sump you can buy a regular clip on light with a 100 watt bulb and your macro algae will grow like crazy. Mine grew better that way that it does with the power compact I have on it now. Just my opinion though....

I bought some Red Garcilaria algae and put them in the sump but with no sand bed and added a small PC light.
Will that help reduce nitrates?? or does it have to have a sandbed?

 

[lambo]

Originally Posted by Lambo
I bought some Red Garcilaria algae and put them in the sump but with no sand bed and added a small PC light.
Will that help reduce nitrates?? or does it have to have a sandbed?
Gracilaria algae