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Okay, I'm overhauling an old tank that I got from a friend (125 gallon). I've had nitrate problems constantly for the several months I've had it. None of the fish (clowns, tangs, chromises, gramma) have been affected, nor have anemones, starfish, or horseshoe crab, but there has been a heavy toll on soft corals and crustaceans. I have been extremely frustrated because not much has worked. Here is what I'm doing.....
1) Gradually removing all sand by suctioning it out over several water changes. Right now, the sand bed is only about 1 inch and I'm guessing this is the problem....
2) Rinsing off all liverock in a separate water tank thoroughly
3) Attaching an extra protein skimmer from a smaller tank.
4) Gradually installing a deep sand bed in patches, as I remove old sand.
I have been told that this is the way to go to get rid of the 80-100 ppm nitrates that I haven't been able to move, no matter how many water changes I do and no matter how much Purigen I put in the filter sock. It's royally pissing me off because it's hampering my ability to make this into a nice tank and I've got a big ugly science experiment sitting in my living room. It's embarrassing.
I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on new filtration systems or fancy contraptions. Am I doing the right thing or are there other things I could do? I've tried vodka dosing and it did squat....Did I do it wrong or do I just have too many nitrifying bacteria and not enough denitrifiers?
Also, the sump sucks bad. I'm constantly having to get air bubbles out of it. Should I look at getting another one if the flow rate isn't going fast enough?
1) Gradually removing all sand by suctioning it out over several water changes. Right now, the sand bed is only about 1 inch and I'm guessing this is the problem....
2) Rinsing off all liverock in a separate water tank thoroughly
3) Attaching an extra protein skimmer from a smaller tank.
4) Gradually installing a deep sand bed in patches, as I remove old sand.
I have been told that this is the way to go to get rid of the 80-100 ppm nitrates that I haven't been able to move, no matter how many water changes I do and no matter how much Purigen I put in the filter sock. It's royally pissing me off because it's hampering my ability to make this into a nice tank and I've got a big ugly science experiment sitting in my living room. It's embarrassing.
I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on new filtration systems or fancy contraptions. Am I doing the right thing or are there other things I could do? I've tried vodka dosing and it did squat....Did I do it wrong or do I just have too many nitrifying bacteria and not enough denitrifiers?
Also, the sump sucks bad. I'm constantly having to get air bubbles out of it. Should I look at getting another one if the flow rate isn't going fast enough?
