A bunch of questions from a guy still figuring this out.....

[gatorracer]

Ok be gentle I am still getting to know my tank and it has been slow going so far.

I have a 102 gallon tank 12 months old
6- 95 watt power compact 2 acitic and 4 normal white cant remember the name

A dual powerhead backpack skimmer, I use chem-clear charcoal filters on the outler for some ph consistency and it seems to help alot.

Three power heads for creating water flow, A rio 900 in the upper left to keep surface flow up, a rio 600 a little lower on the right side and a rio 250 in the bottom of the live rock aimed at an angle to keep low level flows up

A hang on refegium with 4 shaving brush plants, grape kelp and chatemorpha on the way

50 pounds of live rock
3" live sand bed
3 Clarki Clowns
2 black and white stripped damsels
1 fiji devil
1 Imperator Angel
8 Turbo snails
More Snails on the way

OK the first problem that is killing me is I cannot get my nitrates down. At the moment I do not have a RO filter (but I am buying one on e-bay)
I do about a 25 gallon change every week and I cannot get them to come down. Got any Ideas?

Second I'm sure it has a lot to do with the high nitrates but I cant get my algae problem solved. Like I said im sure its because my nitrates are high but Im hoping the snail I ordered will help. The worst of it is there is a hard brown alomst red algae growing on the sand bed. I read another post somewhere to increase flow on the sand bed which I know isn't a problem because I have a power head in the bottom of my live rock that keeps a good current at the bottom.

Lastly I know I need more live rock so I am curious wiht uncured being so much cheaper is it worth the time to cure it and is it difficult?

I know alot of these questions have been asked across the board but I started the thread with my tank specs hoping to get some more answers appropriat for my tank.

Thanks for all the help

Gatorracer

 

[ChrisRD]

It sounds like you're having a nutrient build-up problem. Assuming you have some type of lightweight, porous rock and real live sand you should be OK there IMO. More rock couldn't hurt (provided it's well cured before you add it) but probably not necessary IME. Also, before you do a water change, take a turkey baster or powerhead to your rockwork blasting all the crud loose. Syphon it out when you do the water change. This will help lower nutrient levels and it's a good idea to do it periodically. Some people stir their sand too, but you want to be careful about that if you've never done it - deeper beds can harbor some nasties if they've been sitting a while.

You could use more circulation - not necessarily more powerheads, but ones that move more water. I'm not familar with the 250 or the 900, but I've owned 600s and 800s and if we're talking about the same line of pumps you're probably only turning over about 4X to 5X the tank volume per hour. You should be shooting for several times more than that amount of flow IMO. Better circulation will help your skimmer and rock/sand do their jobs more effectively and help keep detritus from building-up (which will in-turn decompose in the water column and add to your nitrate/algae problems).

Your tap water could definitely be a source of the problem too. You'd have to test it to find out, but IMO you're doing the best thing getting that RO unit. That may solve a significant part of both your nitrate and algae problem. Keep in mind that results will not be immediate - it takes time to create the problem and it will take time to reverse it.

Also, with the fish load you have you're probably feeding plenty and should be getting a lot of skimmate. If you're not, the skimmer isn't performing well and that will result in a build-up of nutrients that can ultimately result in nitrate and nuisance algae problems. It's likely that your skimmer is marginal for that size tank/bioload which makes controlling nutrient inputs even more critical. Avoid overfeeding or adding unnecessary nutrients - think about everything you're putting in the tank.

Hopefully that gives you some ideas...

 

[gatorracer]

Are there other coral, plants, inverts(probably not) that consume Nitrates a food source? I just got my chaeto and it is about softball sized so I am sure that will help but there must be some more corals and such that can help.

Thanks for the quick reply and I look forward to more opinions and advice

Gatorracer

 

[ChrisRD]

Tridacna clams come to mind, but they generally require very strong lighting (halides).

IMO, nitrates are the symptom. If you treat the problem (ie. balance nutrient imports/exports) the symptom will disappear.

 

[kimcommando]

Over feeding! Gotta be, only you would know.... 1 yr old, ....102gals is forgiving. 95 Watt total out put ??? You seem to be pretty set up. Got all the equipment...your tank should already be cycled, increase your cleaning crew by about 50 or so, My crabs eat waste no problem....

You seem like you've got all the right stuff besides the cleaning crew..... Go to your local water and ice shop to do water changes until you get your RO up.

How long are you keeping your lights on????? Maybe you could bring it down a bit, since you don't have any coral it should'nt be a problem.

What'da I know, I'm a newbie too... listen to the advice of the experience, I do....

 

[Anonymous]

Xenia is a polyp/soft coral that can decrease nitrates..Certain marcos such as Halimeda (also sucks up Ca from my understanding), gracillia (a red macro algae commonly used as food for herbiviorous fish)...And of course Tridacna clams as Chris mentioned(if you have the adequate lighting, which looks like you dont have)

 

[ChrisRD]

Xenia is a polyp/soft coral that can decrease nitrates.

Yup, I agree, forgot to mention Xenia... :wink:

 

[gatorracer]

I thought my lighting was pretty good for a power compact and my tank :?

I did a lot of research and it seems to me I have (6X95=570/102=5.6)
5.6 watts per gallon I thought that was suffecient light for most corals and inverts except the ones that require extremely high lighting needs.
My LFS has Maxima clams under 4x65 in a 50 and he always has some bueatiful specimens just calling my name.

I just got 50 nassarius snails yesterday off an ebay purchase, they came a little smaller than I hoped but I am hoping they will do some janitorial work for me. This might sound stupid but do you need to remove snails if they die? I know it wont help leaving them in there but it is not quite as easy to find a 1/2 inch snail as it is to notice that hey my clowns haven't been out for days.

So are Xenias happy with nitrates and light or do they need a supplemental food source? These must be the same pulsing xenia's that every website trys to sell in there beginers packs.

Thanks again for the help. I got a baseline last night of all my levels right after the chaeto was added. Im not expecting miracles but I'm hoping in the next couple weeks I can seem some results. Hopefully before my RO comes in some time next week.

Gatorracer

 

[ChrisRD]

Your lighting is fine - you can keep just about anything under that. Some anemones, clams and SPS corals really need halides to thrive though. Some report long-term success with Gigas or Derasa under PCs but you'd want them as close to the lamps as possible IMO.

Keep in mind when you see stuff at the LFS, there's a difference between what will suffice for a short-term holding system and what will be required for long-term success. Don't necessarily use their systems as a gauge for what you can keep.

Don't worry about the snails. If any die they'll become food for the other critters. If you see one dead it wouldn't hurt to remove it, but I wouldn't worry about it.

The Xenia should be fine with just light and moderate current. They absorb nutrients from the water column.

HTH

 

[Oceans Ferevh]

I had a horrible algae bloom after I started adding tap water to my tank. Like Chris said, that may be a big contributer to your problems. It started to subside after my chatemorpha got a hold in my HOT (hang on tank) refugium and I bought a DI (de-ionizer) unit. How big is your refuge? Mine is 24" long on my 65 gallon. If your HOT refuge is made by CPR like mine then you might need a bigger one, but I could be wrong.

I found that Pruigin helped bring down the nirtates while I was waiting for my chatemorpha to get established. http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... uct=SC3233