Rate My Fish Tank

Fri Oct 23, 2009 6:39 pm GMT   Reply      

I have a few questions about my 12 Gallon Nano Tank.

A few specs on the tank. It is a new tank, only 8 months old. We have a Aqua Pod with the built in filtration and 290 gph pump. One 24 watt Dual Actinic, one 24 watt dual daylight lights and two LED lunar lights. I added a Nano Hydor Koralia a couple months ago. Have unknown weight of Live Rock, Live sand bed, feather duster, pincushion urchin, crabs, snails, one green chromis, maroon clown and yellow watchmen goby.

Anyways.......My question is.

I have been doing my weekly water changes of 20%. I test the water once a week for PH, Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates. I've been keeping records of the water and over the past two months I have noticed that no matter the water changes my PH is always 7.8 my Ammonia is 0, Nitrites are 0, and Nitrates are 20 to 30ppm. I have tried several things to get the Nitrates down, 30% water changes, fresh carbon, ceramic and nitrate sponge filter media. But the Nitrates never seem to go down. The PH never seems to go up either, I have tried aerating the water with a air stone and I've tried a PH buffer. The buffer keeps my Alkalinity up but doesn't touch my PH.

What can I do to bring my Nitrates down and my PH up?

I'm using Instant Ocean reef crystals for my Saltwater mix and bottled RO water.
Included is a current picture of the tank.

Thank You in advance,
Tiffanie

Fri Oct 23, 2009 6:50 pm GMT   Reply      

ok buddy ill give you the run down on what we got here......
first of all my tank has been set up since august of 2008, so its been running for like a yr and almsot 3 months, my nitrates have never measured less than 20 ppm, normally register between 25-30 ppm using the API test kit, now my opinion is that my test kit is either messed up or expired. Ive based this theory on the fact that ive taken a water sample to my lfs and , even though i didnt get the exact number, they said my nitrates were "fine" in which if they registered 30ppm on their scale its not fine.

ill update you if i get a new test kit and it registers okay. you might try setting up a refugium.... i dont have one..

as far as your ph.... i use seachem REEF Buffer, works fine for me...idk whats goin on there...

Fri Oct 23, 2009 7:04 pm GMT   Reply      

Thank You for your reply. My test kit is kinda old, I might have to check the expiration date on it. Never though of that.


I was using Microbe-Lift Reef/Marine PH buffer, stabilizer. Does accordingly and didn't notice any changes in PH, but the Alkalinity leaves did go up quite a bit. So I stopped dosing with it.

Fri Oct 23, 2009 7:20 pm GMT   Reply      

humm............. i havent even checked my alkalinity, maybe should do that one of these days........ but yeah my seachem buffer is a powder, jus mixes right in with about a cup of freshwater, no salt, and i apply the buffed freshwater via an airline hose. Works fine with me, stays until i do a considerable amount of water changes

Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:32 am GMT   Reply      

you might try a different salt mix..............i used instant ocean for over a year and although its a decent mix and theres really nothing wrong with it it does have a lot of phosphate in it which can be a nusance, your tank might be dealing with the phosphate but generating nitrayes as a by product {your bacterias or algaes that is} your bio load might be a little on the hi side too - i dont know what the factory filtration on that tank is but it sounds like you at the top with fish load . . . good looking amount of rock and decent flow though for sure.............. just a couple more tweaks and you should be fine

id try a new test kit for sure

maybe switch salt mix to a higher quality {reef crystals, oceanic or something like that, there are many out there}

look into changeing your bulbs

whatch your feeding, once a day and very minimal or even every other day - -what are you feeding? processed pellets, , flakes, frozen, fresh??? all can contribute to high chem levals in some form or another


great looking tank !!!!!!


Boss

Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:24 am GMT   Reply      

I just switched to Coralife salt. It's in my opinion.......the best salt you can buy. Boss, a few of us in my town got some bad batches of Reef crystals.....they have left a seariously thick white residue on the glass......and its a pain to get off....So we attributed it to the large amounts of magnesium........it throws the chemistry off and makes the calcium precipate, which sucks majorly.....because then your water chemistry is out of wack. So I switched to Coralife.....paid 85 bucks for 300 gallons worth...Everything is grand now, my magnesium is sitting pretty and my calcium is at 470 and DKH is 12.......It doesnt get any better than that. :) I dont know if I ever posted this........but heres a comparison chart on all the major salts being sold as of now.

http://www.aquariumwatertesting.com/AWT_Salt_Analysis_0208.pdf.


Blue run........are you running the sponges? Or the filter pad? If so, ditch them. Just run the back without ANY media. Just run a heater and a pump and it will solve your problem. A few guys in my local reef club were having the same problem, just rid the media and you will be golden.
As far as your PH, What is it at? if its lower then 7.8 then there is reason to be concerned......if not....then no biggie. If it's lower then you would like.....The most common problem will also benefit you....air out your house. There could be CO2 build up in your house if its insulated well. :)

Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:21 pm GMT   Reply      

Thank You for the responses!

Snowboss,

I'm currently using instant ocean mix for my salt. I have been considering switching brands. Just not sure what brand to go with. I bought a new test kit yesterday and the readings were about the same, PH at 7.8 and Nitrates at 20ppm. The tanks is about 8 months old, how often should I change the bulbs? The filtration is built in, with a sponge filter than drains into the carbon and ceramic filter media. We only have the three fish, just right for this size tank and we only feed every other day with frozen brine shrimp. Once a week we feed a pelleted food for the crabs and shrimp. I do feed the filter feeders a liquid diet about once a week.

Fihsboy,

I'm using the sponge, then it drains into the carbon and ceramic filter media. I have thought about getting a small sump instead of the built in filter, since it's a big hassle to clean and tends to clog easily. The PH is staying right at 7.8, and I have tried using an air stone to bring in fresh oxygen and it didn't change the PH any. It's never been lower than 7.8 and never been higher, so its fairly steady.

Thank You,
Blue Run Bantams

Fri Oct 30, 2009 3:30 pm GMT   Reply      

If you have live rock, you can rid everything from that back compartment. My lfs runs 5 of these tanks just like that, no sponges or anything in the back compartment.....just water. That stuff gets dirty very quickly in saltwater, and it causes more problems then it helps for your system. In freshwater it is great, but not with salt. I wouuld seariosly consider removing everything from back there and running it empty. That should help with any nitrates or phosphates you would have. And it will help in overall system stability.

Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:52 am GMT   Reply      

Two part mixes of Ca calcium, and Kh Alkalinity, will bring you into a steady PH balance. MAke sure you use a test kit for them, but getting your Ca at about 450 and your Kh to 8-12 and keep it there will level out your PH around 8.1-8.3 and stabalise it there.

Sat Oct 31, 2009 10:11 am GMT   Reply      

Bluebantam - - i can only speak of instant ocean and oceanic salt - - -others like different types, for me IO is just junk, high phosphates, hard to mix, crazy salt creep etc.................its a good cheap salt mix that shouldn't be allowed to be sold because new people try to get into the hobby not realising how expensive some ares can be so they by a cheap salt mix and it leads to other issues, they get discouraged and the next thing you know another tank set up is on craigslist...............

i use Oceanic salt now, its not the most expensive but its not cheap. it looks like powdered sugar and disolves in seconds. i have vertually no salt creep on my tank anywhere, it's packed full of trace elements. i bought a reef test kit thinking i had a calcium issue and mag issue and they're dead on - - ive never dosed in the 2 yrs the tank has been running, so IMO this mix is perfect for me

i agree with removeing the sponges from the built in filter.........but i think i would put a bag of carbon or even a chemi-pure type matierial in there.

big reef tanks can be self supportive because everything in it is doing a part of the job of filtering and cleaning - - -if you are not running a complete bio-load you will have to have some sort of suplimental filtration and when i say big reefs i dont mean size i mean balance Xamount of fish + X amount of coral + X amount of cleaners + Xamount of rock + correct feeding + time = a balanced system.............if one of those areas is out of wack then the system is out of balance and thats where your filtration can make the difference. Now growth of things makes this a constantly changeing environment so there really is no equasion for it, you have to figure out what works for you.

as far as lights go, the general rule of thumb is to change the bulbs every 6 months - some bulbs like metal halides will go longer, PC lights are good for 6-8 months again depending on use.

curious though whats everyones opinion on these new highj end LED fixtures? do they detieriate? [sp]

Boss

Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:17 am GMT   Reply      

Also, how old are your test kits. I noticed the same issue with both of my tanks. The test kits were saying that my nitrates were 20-40ppm, even after 20-50% water changes. I figured out that the two test kits I had were old and my nitrates are around 5ppm or less.

I agree with the other guys on using better salt. I currenty use Reef Crystals, which seems decent. However, I'll probably switch back to Red Sea Coral Pro. I just like the salt better for some reason.

I have about 35-40lbs of LR in my 24 gallon Aquapod and 20lbs of LS. This also helps with my filtration. I'm not running a skimmer. Anyways, good luck and hopefully you could figure out how to drop your nitrates.