Will this help my nitrates?

kyarnkid

kyarnkid

Member
I have had a reading of 20 on my nitrates for the past 2 months. I have done my water changes(15 gallons every two to three weeks), I have cleaned my filters, I have a dsb of 3 1/2 inches.
I have a 55 that has been established for about 9 months now. I run an emp 400 and a protien skimmer. I have about 12 punds of live rock and about 30 lbs of "dead" rock( rock that was live once but was left out of the tank for 3 months dry, but i put it in about 9 months ago when i first started the tank). The "dead" rock should be tranforming into live rock. I have no ammonia, no trites, ph is around 8.2 and that is all i test for since i only have 3 fish and a limitied amount of inverts.( the inverts i have seem to do fine)
I was thinkin if i add more live rock it would help my solution. I was going to add about 100 punds of it. will this get me back to 0 trates?
thanks
 
jcb101

jcb101

Member
trates in themselves are not bad. Need more live rock probley not 100 lbs. would put in live sand, stick with skimmer do away with filters. everything should then go to 0
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
no, we only use ours for circulation now, unhooking or removing the media will not make your tank dirty
 
brooklyn johnny

brooklyn johnny

Active Member
Once your dsb starts functioning properly your nitrates should drop. Was your system seeded with quality live sand with all the critters? I've noticed that made a big difference. If it does just give it time and don't let it go up further. I've read it takes about 18 months for dsbs to fully mature. Also, dsbs dwarf the denitrifying ability of live rock according to Shimek and some of the other experts. Good luck...
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
yes, that is all, you could remove tehm and still use it for circulation if you would like, just do as you have mentioned
 
kyarnkid

kyarnkid

Member
Well all the places i have seen that sell livrock only sell it in 100lb clumps. Anywhere else sell it in smaller portions? Also I have had the DSB for 9 months I added live sand agra-live and carib sea. I also added reguler sand. Any more suggestions
 
kpogue

kpogue

Member
Are you talking local or I-net? Most places sell as much or as little as you want. Although you do get a price break per/lb the more you buy. Check out Tampa Bay Salt Water: http://www.tbsaltwater.com I bought 60 lbs and wish I would have bought more. It is fully cured and it shipped in water, fully submerged. It has corals, polyps, sponges on the rock as well as a multiude of other life.
As far as the sand goes the argamax(?) live sand. I have had great results in both my tanks with it.
Keith
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top