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ok heres how it all started.
i bought a 50gal tank, used from a LFS. got a good deal on it.
so i was taking my time with reading stuff on the web, you know, trying to do it right. wasnt gonna set it up until i had a general idea on how things go. whats what if you will.
i get a call from a friend one night, "hey you want a saltwtaer fowlr tank" he asked. chris i aint got any cash right now. "who said anything about cash" he said. ok i'll come get it in a few days i told him.
"nope i need it gone tonight, im headed to the army in the morning" he said. ok im off and running down town to go pick up a tank i had never seen. i got there and there it set, all packed up.
fish in one bucket, sand in another, live rock yet in another.
ok i got the camry all packed up and headed back to roswell.
no instructions no nothing.
man that tank stunk to high heavens.
took some serious cleaning to get it ready.
ok so in goes the sand, next the live rock. everything settles. next the fish. ok here i am looking at my new to me 30gal bow front, protein skimmer, and hang on the back biowheel plus filter. the lights are
glo t5 ho. ok, everybody looks scared to death but they will adjust.
a few hours later i do a test on all the parm's. everything looks "ok" but not exactly the way im told they should be.
the nitrates are blood red. way off the charts. so i call the LFS i got my bigger aquarium from. off i go to buy water. 50% WC and the nitrates were still off the charts. how can this be? so again the next day
a solid 50 change again. still nitrates are off the charts. 3 more times over a 6 day period 50% each time. nitrates are like 120 or something.
a call back to the LFS and im told i should have cleaned the sand
before i reused it. ok heres my pooertunity to get rid of all that blk/white sand and get the nice off white substrate. remove everything from the tank into buckets. clean new sand and drop it in. weight out the rock and find that im 30lbs under. go buy cured rock. in it goes. everything settles and back in go the fish. didnt realize the cycle that might need to be done. ok nitrates are down to 40. not the best but not what they were.
ok time goes on and the nitrates dont go down, but they dont rise either.
fish seem happy. the one mushroom coral opens up and looks killer.
test after test week after week nitrates are still 40.
everything else looks good though. fish seem healthy and coral looks fantastic. ok so i figure that the test kit (api) is old and i go buy a new one. still all the same readings. sample of water to the LFS shows my kit to be reading correctly. ok so its suggested that i beef up my cleanup crew, so i go buy some crabs and snails. a month later the nitrates are still at 40. ok im getting mad and dont know what to do.
bigger water changes and less feeding. so i do 20% 3x a week for 3 weeks. no change in nitrates. continue water changes but feed only twice a week. no changes.
so then i hear that the bio wheel could be the problem. i remove it.
nitrates go up to 60 and stay there for a month or so. back goes the bio wheel and nitrates drop to again 40. :shout:
ok so maybe i need to change the filter more often in the hang on back. so i change it twice a month for two months and add stability with changes of filter and water. nope still at 40. :doh:
ok i get the oppertunity to go out of town for a week. my first paid vacation since 1996, im going. my LFS said the fish would be ok for a week w/o feeding. heres a chance to see what will happen while im gone.
8days later i come home. i test, 80.
:shout:
nobody dead everybody alive and hungry. so i do a couple water changes over the next 4 days and im back at 40. how in sams cain............
so this is how it has gone since that one quiet evening in december of last year when i got that phone call " hey ya want a saltwater aquarium" rick?
my LFS is clueless. i am too. they say my bioload is ok but suggest to not add any more fish. my fish are as follows:
1 clown
2 humbug damsels
1 engineer goby
1 blue devil damsel
1 cortez damsel.
few crabs and snails.
so now my tank is bouncing between 40 and 60.
what gives here? anybody have any suggestions?
im thinking for doing a sump/refug with mac alge. thing is, theres no room under the stand so its gonna have to set on the floor beside the tank, which im ok with. ive heard some bad stories about those hang on the back overflows. so im a little scared about this. with the skimmer and the biowheel/filter already on the back, something will have to go.
im open to suggestions here folks, i really need the help.
ask questions, offer suggestions, please i need help with this. i still have a sweet 50gal that i need to set up but want to get my first problem squared away before i start another.
i bought a 50gal tank, used from a LFS. got a good deal on it.
so i was taking my time with reading stuff on the web, you know, trying to do it right. wasnt gonna set it up until i had a general idea on how things go. whats what if you will.
i get a call from a friend one night, "hey you want a saltwtaer fowlr tank" he asked. chris i aint got any cash right now. "who said anything about cash" he said. ok i'll come get it in a few days i told him.
"nope i need it gone tonight, im headed to the army in the morning" he said. ok im off and running down town to go pick up a tank i had never seen. i got there and there it set, all packed up.
fish in one bucket, sand in another, live rock yet in another.
ok i got the camry all packed up and headed back to roswell.
no instructions no nothing.
man that tank stunk to high heavens.
took some serious cleaning to get it ready.
ok so in goes the sand, next the live rock. everything settles. next the fish. ok here i am looking at my new to me 30gal bow front, protein skimmer, and hang on the back biowheel plus filter. the lights are
glo t5 ho. ok, everybody looks scared to death but they will adjust.
a few hours later i do a test on all the parm's. everything looks "ok" but not exactly the way im told they should be.
the nitrates are blood red. way off the charts. so i call the LFS i got my bigger aquarium from. off i go to buy water. 50% WC and the nitrates were still off the charts. how can this be? so again the next day
a solid 50 change again. still nitrates are off the charts. 3 more times over a 6 day period 50% each time. nitrates are like 120 or something.
a call back to the LFS and im told i should have cleaned the sand
before i reused it. ok heres my pooertunity to get rid of all that blk/white sand and get the nice off white substrate. remove everything from the tank into buckets. clean new sand and drop it in. weight out the rock and find that im 30lbs under. go buy cured rock. in it goes. everything settles and back in go the fish. didnt realize the cycle that might need to be done. ok nitrates are down to 40. not the best but not what they were.
ok time goes on and the nitrates dont go down, but they dont rise either.
fish seem happy. the one mushroom coral opens up and looks killer.
test after test week after week nitrates are still 40.
everything else looks good though. fish seem healthy and coral looks fantastic. ok so i figure that the test kit (api) is old and i go buy a new one. still all the same readings. sample of water to the LFS shows my kit to be reading correctly. ok so its suggested that i beef up my cleanup crew, so i go buy some crabs and snails. a month later the nitrates are still at 40. ok im getting mad and dont know what to do.
bigger water changes and less feeding. so i do 20% 3x a week for 3 weeks. no change in nitrates. continue water changes but feed only twice a week. no changes.
so then i hear that the bio wheel could be the problem. i remove it.
nitrates go up to 60 and stay there for a month or so. back goes the bio wheel and nitrates drop to again 40. :shout:
ok so maybe i need to change the filter more often in the hang on back. so i change it twice a month for two months and add stability with changes of filter and water. nope still at 40. :doh:
ok i get the oppertunity to go out of town for a week. my first paid vacation since 1996, im going. my LFS said the fish would be ok for a week w/o feeding. heres a chance to see what will happen while im gone.
8days later i come home. i test, 80.
:shout:nobody dead everybody alive and hungry. so i do a couple water changes over the next 4 days and im back at 40. how in sams cain............
so this is how it has gone since that one quiet evening in december of last year when i got that phone call " hey ya want a saltwater aquarium" rick?
my LFS is clueless. i am too. they say my bioload is ok but suggest to not add any more fish. my fish are as follows:
1 clown
2 humbug damsels
1 engineer goby
1 blue devil damsel
1 cortez damsel.
few crabs and snails.
so now my tank is bouncing between 40 and 60.
what gives here? anybody have any suggestions?
im thinking for doing a sump/refug with mac alge. thing is, theres no room under the stand so its gonna have to set on the floor beside the tank, which im ok with. ive heard some bad stories about those hang on the back overflows. so im a little scared about this. with the skimmer and the biowheel/filter already on the back, something will have to go.
im open to suggestions here folks, i really need the help.
ask questions, offer suggestions, please i need help with this. i still have a sweet 50gal that i need to set up but want to get my first problem squared away before i start another.
