I'm afraid of the ridicule i'll receive for things i haven't done correctly but I try to do research before I try things out and ultimately i want my fish alive and healthy. oh well, this thread might be mainly be for my historical usage. if i end up figuring things out, i hope others can learn from my adventure too.
5/21/15 pick up the fish tank from a craigslist seller. 72 gallon bow front, 20 gallon sump, aquatic life t5 (4 bulb) plus LED night light, mag 7 sump pump, 300w heater (died the next day), 750gph circulation pump, aragonite substrate, good amount of live rock, tank has been running for about 2.5 years
https://youtu.be/VBbLycdibGw
5/22/15 do a water test. Nitrates are 160+ppm!!! i freak out and try a 75% water change. Afterwards the nitrate reading is still 160+ppm!
5/24/15 - added some seachem prime liquid to help reduce nitrates
5/27/15 - changed the rocks around
5/31/15 - 20 gallon water change. nitrates still read 160+ppm. added instant ocean nitrate reducer and sea buffer
6/2/15 - added 3 tail spot blennies. a few days later i found one jumped out of the tank while i wasn't home
6/4/15 - 22 gallon water change. nitrates still read 160+ppm
6/6/15 - added a bag of live copepods
6/9/15 - added eheim Ultra G Series 160 Model canister filter
6/10/15 - added a few small dead rock
6/11/15 - nitrates still read 160+ppm. added instant ocean nitrate reducer liquid
6/13/15 - hooked up home reverse osmosis unit. 20 gallon water change. nitrates still read 160+PPM
6/14/15 - after some online research i decided to go with someone's suggestion that the aragonite substrate is holding a bunch of the nitrates. picked up 40 lbs of sand to replace the aragonite. I probably removed about 60-75% of the aragonite in total. I did it in two phases, took out about 25% the first time. Then waited about 2 weeks then removed 40%.
6/18/15 - added macro algae to the sump
6/19/15 - 20 gallon water change. nitrate reading looks a little less red. i'm marking it as 80-160 ppm. starry blenny added.
6/23/15 - overflow box is loud. i added the filter foam to allow the water to trickle in instead of rush through the intake pipes. that greatly reduced the water sound.
6/25/15 - 20 gallon water change. nitrate reading looks less red again. i'm marking it somewhere between 40-160ppm
6/26/15 - RO water test. 0ppm for ammonia and nitrates
6/25/15 - 20 gallon water change. nitrate 20-40 ppm. added clean up crew. with the lower nitrates the green algae doesn't seem to be growing.
5 Snail Trochus
1 Snail Ninja Star
5 Snail Cerith
5 Snail Nerite
15 Hermit Blue Leg
copepods https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUUZADCjJJw
two spot blenny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRSVF2LLPT0
5/21/15 pick up the fish tank from a craigslist seller. 72 gallon bow front, 20 gallon sump, aquatic life t5 (4 bulb) plus LED night light, mag 7 sump pump, 300w heater (died the next day), 750gph circulation pump, aragonite substrate, good amount of live rock, tank has been running for about 2.5 years
https://youtu.be/VBbLycdibGw
5/22/15 do a water test. Nitrates are 160+ppm!!! i freak out and try a 75% water change. Afterwards the nitrate reading is still 160+ppm!
5/24/15 - added some seachem prime liquid to help reduce nitrates
5/27/15 - changed the rocks around
5/31/15 - 20 gallon water change. nitrates still read 160+ppm. added instant ocean nitrate reducer and sea buffer
6/2/15 - added 3 tail spot blennies. a few days later i found one jumped out of the tank while i wasn't home
6/4/15 - 22 gallon water change. nitrates still read 160+ppm
6/6/15 - added a bag of live copepods
6/9/15 - added eheim Ultra G Series 160 Model canister filter
6/10/15 - added a few small dead rock
6/11/15 - nitrates still read 160+ppm. added instant ocean nitrate reducer liquid
6/13/15 - hooked up home reverse osmosis unit. 20 gallon water change. nitrates still read 160+PPM
6/14/15 - after some online research i decided to go with someone's suggestion that the aragonite substrate is holding a bunch of the nitrates. picked up 40 lbs of sand to replace the aragonite. I probably removed about 60-75% of the aragonite in total. I did it in two phases, took out about 25% the first time. Then waited about 2 weeks then removed 40%.
6/18/15 - added macro algae to the sump
6/19/15 - 20 gallon water change. nitrate reading looks a little less red. i'm marking it as 80-160 ppm. starry blenny added.
6/23/15 - overflow box is loud. i added the filter foam to allow the water to trickle in instead of rush through the intake pipes. that greatly reduced the water sound.
6/25/15 - 20 gallon water change. nitrate reading looks less red again. i'm marking it somewhere between 40-160ppm
6/26/15 - RO water test. 0ppm for ammonia and nitrates
6/25/15 - 20 gallon water change. nitrate 20-40 ppm. added clean up crew. with the lower nitrates the green algae doesn't seem to be growing.
5 Snail Trochus
1 Snail Ninja Star
5 Snail Cerith
5 Snail Nerite
15 Hermit Blue Leg
copepods https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUUZADCjJJw
two spot blenny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRSVF2LLPT0
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