fish vrs. non fish reef

[BigReefing]

I bout my tanke used with live rock last summer. Its not in bad shape right now, just a minor algea problem that I am working on. I was wondering if getting ride of my fish would make a big difference in keeping the water clean. i have 4 fish in there right now and to be honest I could care less about them. I take good care of them and they came with the tank, but my only interest is in coral and clams. If I took out the fish and traded them or something, would that be an advantage in keeping my tank low on nitrates. I am just getting read to get into some sps after a month or so, when ever I get my algea a little big better. I see alot of really nice tanks with fish, so I don't really know if this would give me any advantage.

 

[creep]

Taking out the fish, will definately help lower your bio load. Also the ammonia from their waste won't be present anymore so it won't be turned into nitrates. the food you feed them won't get traped anywhere and turn into nitrates. So i say yes trading in the fish or giving them away will definately help lower nitrates.

 

[artful-dodger]

The fish aren't the problem...what they eat is. You didn't mention what types of fish you have, but most fish can get by with minimal feeding (as long as it is nourishing). Try cutting back on the food for awhile and do a few more water changes. With plenty of live rock you should be able to maintain very nearly zero nitrates.

 

[MiddletonMark]

My tank I found easy to maintain and did great during the period I left it fishless due to an Ich outbreak [removed fish for treatment elsewhere].

Since then, I've gone with a much lower bioload than I had before ... and don't mind the fact things seem easy to care for now. Whether the lower fish load, the lower feeding ... or just better skills as an aquarist I dunno.