How high is too high??

[iseeweed]

I have a 20g fish only/quarenteen tank with a fluval 304. 2 damsels, 1 trigger and a hermit. I spend most of my time on my reef tank, so I guess I may neglect this tank a little. I took a nitrate reading tonight and it was at around 25-30ppm. When will the trates start to be harmful to the fish?? I am trying to do as little maint. to this tank as possible. I have not touched the tank for at least a month until tonight. Dave

 

[dnorton1978]

As for your direct question about being to high, I dont know for sure, but I have 2 things that maybe helpful.

#1- as for being a QT tank it should be as close to your main tank as possible. By that I mean trite, trate, and amonia. You dont want to pull a sick fish out of good conditions and stick him in bad water. Make sense?

#2 the Fluval probably needs the filter pads to be changed out. If neglected for to long they can get extremely nasty.

Of course I am assuming you have the filter pads and bio stuff in there.


I hope this was a little helpful for you.

 

[iseeweed]

Yeh, def.agree about the conditions being the same as far as a qt tank. Never had to use it as a qt tank(yet!)
Just wondering about the trates though. The fish still look very healthy at 25ppm, so I am just curious how high I can go without harm. I have tested some LFS water and seen it as high as 40-50ppm!

 

[Len]

Nitrate is not a very toxic substance so levels in excess of 10X what you're reading won't harm the fish. It can cause other problems which could in turn cause problems for your fish (excessive algae, for example). A trigger for that size tank is your problem. These guys are high metabolism animals regardless of size. But as you probably know, they will get huge very quickly. I'd personally remove the trigger.

 

[iseeweed]

The trigger is just a baby right now, about 2-2.5 inches. I am using a fluval 304 right now in the 20g. I think it was rated at 60 gallons so it seems to clean it up ok for now. How fast will he grow?? I have a empty 37g I could move him in if needed. What size do you recommend for a trigger?

 

[Len]

Healthy and fed well, Triggers grow pretty fast, and most of them will get to a sizable 5-6" in a year. Depending on what species you have, they will usually get up to a foot in length, so you really need a big tank for these active fish. I think the lower threshold is 75gallons, with 100+ being more realistic.

The fluval filter rating is pertty arbritary and it won't help control nitrate levels whatsoever.

 

[iseeweed]

Thanks for the info Len. Funny how my LFS "forgets" to tell me these things! Interested in purchasing a baby huma-huma trigger??

 

[Anonymous]

8O Its a huma? Cripes, not only do they get huge, but fiesty as well.

 

[iseeweed]

I really like the little guy though. The 2 super aggressive damsels get along ever since I put the trigger in the tank. He is smart too, follows my finger around. I try to hand feed him but he bites the crap out of me(little sharp teeth!)