blenny related to nitrate spike?

[RealReef7]

My blenny poops alot... I mean alot.. do you think this can be the reason why my nitrates will not come down? I have been doing a 20g water change every week and is currently dosing MB7... haven't fed my fish for 1 week.. out of ideas.

 

[Recty]

We would probably need more information to determine it, but I would highly doubt it.

What type of blenny, what type of tank... size of tank? Other tank inhabitants?

A 20g waterchange on a 40g tank should lower nitrates. A 20g change on a 200g tank wont make much of a dent.

 

[RealReef7]

I have a standard 120g tank. My current fish list:
-Purple tang
-Yellow tang
-flame angel
-coral beauty
-watchmen goby
-flame hawk
-3 percula clowns
-2 damsels
-yellow corris wrasse
-geo hawk
-starry blenny
All my fish are relatively small. The tank is a mixed reef with 50%-sps/50%-softies,lps etc. I am not overfeeding at all, my protein skimmer is rated up for a 300g.

 

[RealReef7]

Maybe its just my blenny but when I sit and watch he poops atleast 4 times..

 

[RealReef7]

bump...

 

[MatthewLaw]

i would say the tangs and angels are contributing to that mess!! Do you have an adequate cleanup crew to help stir things up?

 

[ocellaris123]

I doubt its your blenny

 

[silverstool]

how much live rock do you have? i would say its not the blenny as well

 

[RealReef7]

about 110lbs of LR. I got lots of flow, 4 very lrg pistol shrimp, 4 pep shrimp, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 coral banded and a couple of hermits. I doubt its the tangs and angels...

 

[Fishamatank]

That's not much for cleaners.
Not sure about the real problem, but my blenny poops a lot too.

 

[SFeST]

How good is your skimmer working?

 

[anbosu]

You just have a lot of fish in a 120 so maintaining water quality is going to be tougher. Do you use R0/DI water?

 

[RealReef7]

Yes I do have quite a bit for a 120 but they are all pretty small. Biggest fish in there is 5in.. Skimmer is working good. The nitrates spiked right when I added the blenny which was also the same day I rearrange the rock work. My nitrates were 0 before, its really frustrating.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Honestly, there is NO WAY a blenny is causing a nitrate spike, with the other bioload your tank has. As mentioned, the tangs and angels are FAR more like the culprit. If you are really concerned about it, consider upgrading your skimmer, stepping up your other nurient control avenues (water changes, carbon, etc), or decreasing your bioload. Removing a single blenny will not help.