suggestions please high trates, & itching

[oozy]

Hi,
I have a 45g
am=0
trites=0
trates=80
-penguin 300 bio wheel. i removed the carbon because it was old. i also have poly fiber media in the extra compartments.
-CPR backpack skimmer
2-maxijet 600's
~10-15lbs LR
~20lbs LS (natures ocean) topdressing 8lbs CC total=1"-1 1/2" deep
LIVESTOCK:
1 vagabond butterfly ~2 1/2 inches
2 perc's
10 scarltet hermits
1 cleaner shrimp
so, heres the thing. the tank has been up for atleast 2 months, it cycled at least 2 times, the second time because i added LR after the 1st cycle.
so my problem it the nitrates are not going down. its been like this for 2 1/2 weeks. Ive been doing 3g water changes, and am feeding light 2 times /day. Light meaning 2 pinches that is eaten within 30seconds.
my fish are scratching and swimming eraticaly at times. but otherwise they have a vigorous appitite. and have NO sign of ich (white spots)
they are scratching behind the eye area where the "temple" whould be. I am assuming its the nitrate level irritating the gill tissue....
ive been watching the butterfly get cleaned and it appears the shrimp is cleaning the gill area.
the clowns dont use the shrimp.
one clown had a "bruse" on his left flank.
any suggestions to get the nitrates to get down and stay down,
thanks!
-oozy-

 

[aw2]

Are you taking the filter media out of the Biowheel and rinsing it reguarly? That can be the source of the nitrAtes.
How often are you doing the water changes?

 

[oozy]

ive been doing water changes every other day for 2 weeks.
i have not rinsed out the filter media. will do this in my 20g quarenteen and see if this helps.
thanks!
any other suggestions
-oozy-

 

[oozy]

hi again, this is my results today after a 3g waterchange.
ph~8.2
am=0
trite=0
trate~80.
sg1.021
i rinsed off my filter pads in saltwater. they were filthy!!!
my test kit is really hard to read, the shades of orange arnt to different.
my fish are doing better, no scratching, but still seem starving. my butterfly espicaly wants to eat all day.
i feed 2x /day small pinches, all is eaten within 30 sec.
i dont want to feed less, because i dont want to starve my fish.
suggestions? please.
-oozy-

 

[qreef]

take you water to LFS have them test for you. Some trates test kit are unreliable...like a yo yo...
IMO... I notice if you put your water in a white container does it have the same white color before you put the water in? If water slightly brownish then i suspect you may have high trates. (hopfully you have good eyes sight)
by the way if you want to keep trates down in the long term you needs more live rocks ...total 60lb 3" of sands

 

[oozy]

my tester kit is SALTWATER MASTER KIT by AQUARIUM PHARMACEUTICALS.
also my cleaner shrimp molted yesterday and very active.
but my 2 astera snails are kind of just sitting around all day...
i plan on replacing my filter media one at a time, over the week...
-oozy-

 

[sharlagnew]

some plants help keep the nitrates down for the long term like shaving bushes. we used them and after about a week the nitrates went from 60 to 20. but you still need to do water changes regularly.