Lesleybird I had a regular regal that was the same way, it did eat a shell fish, but freeze the shell fish first. I ended up not knowing about that crucial step and fed it and it ate like a champ along with a big blue line trigger in a different tank (took the leftovers to it) and they both died in 2 days. So, take from this there was a picky regal, but it did eat raw shell fish (oyster in this case). Should have used a live clam.
High Nitates, Do I have too may Fish
- Thread starter gusto1
- Start date
I will begin the thinning out process today,
mattsilvester
Team RC
Gus - you certainly have some very nice fish..... and while they are small, it does not "look" overstocked...... but they will grow and eat more...... so you are doing the right thing, and its easier now than when you have invested great time and effort growing them, for someone else to benefit at the LFS.......
Yeah, fish look great. How about flow in the tank? Lights? Not that it will change the nitrate, but will keep that rock looking nice as it is now. I think with the removal of a few fish, making tall caves and holes and maybe adding something to remove particles from the water I think you'll be doing well. The cheato will help as well.
gusto1
New member
Thank you for the compliments.
as for flow I have the 1 hydor #4, plus what ever the returns put out, I'm getting some cyano should I increase my flow, I do have 2 extra seio 810 but they are not in the tank. as for lights I have a 4 x 96 watt PC, as for the rockwork I was always nervous that the snowflake eel would knock it down so I kept it on the safe side, also the tank is so high it was difficult to work with sometimes. I'm not following what you mean by adding something to remove particles from the water.
as for flow I have the 1 hydor #4, plus what ever the returns put out, I'm getting some cyano should I increase my flow, I do have 2 extra seio 810 but they are not in the tank. as for lights I have a 4 x 96 watt PC, as for the rockwork I was always nervous that the snowflake eel would knock it down so I kept it on the safe side, also the tank is so high it was difficult to work with sometimes. I'm not following what you mean by adding something to remove particles from the water.
sean48183
New member
Hold up bro. You are not overstocked! To me that is a good fish load for your size tank. I kept 8 fish in a 50g for 3 years with your exact feeding schedule and had 0ppm nitrates and no phosphates.
Looks to me like the problem is your fuge isn't working for you. I need some info on your fuge. Do you just have chaeto in there? What kind of light do you have on it? How long are you running for? I grow all kinds of algae in fuge including the dreaded hair algae and it consumes all the foulness in the water. In fact the more I feed the only thing that happens is the algae grows more so I have to clean it out more. A bigger skimmer will also help but the key is the fuge and especially hair algae. Go buy a rock with some hair algae on it from your lfs and try it. With nitrates being that high in your tank you might end up getting in there in a short amount of time anyway. I run the lights in my fuge 16 hours -18 hours a day and the bulb is around 6000k so it is more algae friendly.
On a side note the triggers fighting down the road could be a problem but I would worry about that when the time comes. They are slow growers especially humus so I wouldn't worry yet.
You have a beautiful tank and some great fish so i wouldn't change anything just try to filter your water a little better. Good luck.
Looks to me like the problem is your fuge isn't working for you. I need some info on your fuge. Do you just have chaeto in there? What kind of light do you have on it? How long are you running for? I grow all kinds of algae in fuge including the dreaded hair algae and it consumes all the foulness in the water. In fact the more I feed the only thing that happens is the algae grows more so I have to clean it out more. A bigger skimmer will also help but the key is the fuge and especially hair algae. Go buy a rock with some hair algae on it from your lfs and try it. With nitrates being that high in your tank you might end up getting in there in a short amount of time anyway. I run the lights in my fuge 16 hours -18 hours a day and the bulb is around 6000k so it is more algae friendly.
On a side note the triggers fighting down the road could be a problem but I would worry about that when the time comes. They are slow growers especially humus so I wouldn't worry yet.
You have a beautiful tank and some great fish so i wouldn't change anything just try to filter your water a little better. Good luck.
gusto1
New member
as for a fuge, I really only have a sump with some cheato in it, When I set it up I only set up for a sump, I dont think I can convert it to a refugium because the protein skimmer takes a lot of the tank ( it's a 30 gallon long). as for the light on the cheato, I just put the cheato in a week ago and only have a standard 10 gallon light on top of it. I run it for about 16 hrs a day. any suggestions on how to add a refugium, my sump is set up with the first 20" is for the protein skimmer and filter socks, next 6" is for the baffles, then the next 10" has my return pump and eggcreate section for cheato. also the sump is inside the stand which I had too take apart when I first got the tank to fit it in, so it would be very difficult to remove
thanks
thanks
sean48183
New member
On my first tank I had an above the tank fuge that I pumped water up to and it gravity returned to the main tank. However I wouldn't do that again( my current fuge was built right into my 90g sump that I have no. The above tank one I thought would be cool to look at and show people different things in there but after a year or so became so nasty inside that it was disgusting to look at. That same disgustingness(don't know if that is a word) is what makes the filtration so fantastic. But I don't recommend the above for you.
Your current tank looks to be 5' long. So under the stand you only have an extra 24" or so. If you could move your current sump over to the right part of your stand as far as it can go you could probably squeeze a rubber maid or drilled tank before your sump. Maybe find a 20" long by 14" wide container (height doesn't matter but the shorter the better for the light to really penetrate the water) and drill a hole on one end maybe an inch below the top. Set the rubber maid up on 2x4'(Could make a little stand) or something to make it so the drain hole on the rubber maid is above the lip of your sump. Let the drain line from your 150 fall into one side of the rubber maid and drain through gravity into your sump(attach with bulkhead and flex tubing). Also would make the hole to fit at least an 1 1/4" bulkhead. You don't want your flow to be restricted.
Another option would be to put your skimmer on the outside of the sump and use your skimmer compartment for your fuge.
No matter how you do it you have to maximize as much fuge for algae as possible. Throws all stocking limitations out the window. I kept alot of fish in my 50g and did water changes every 2 months. Never had any nitrates or hair algae in main tank. My current 150g is litttle understocked at 14 fish but will be getting more as the tank matures and some upgrades in lighting and skimming are made. Happy reefing my friend.
Your current tank looks to be 5' long. So under the stand you only have an extra 24" or so. If you could move your current sump over to the right part of your stand as far as it can go you could probably squeeze a rubber maid or drilled tank before your sump. Maybe find a 20" long by 14" wide container (height doesn't matter but the shorter the better for the light to really penetrate the water) and drill a hole on one end maybe an inch below the top. Set the rubber maid up on 2x4'(Could make a little stand) or something to make it so the drain hole on the rubber maid is above the lip of your sump. Let the drain line from your 150 fall into one side of the rubber maid and drain through gravity into your sump(attach with bulkhead and flex tubing). Also would make the hole to fit at least an 1 1/4" bulkhead. You don't want your flow to be restricted.
Another option would be to put your skimmer on the outside of the sump and use your skimmer compartment for your fuge.
No matter how you do it you have to maximize as much fuge for algae as possible. Throws all stocking limitations out the window. I kept alot of fish in my 50g and did water changes every 2 months. Never had any nitrates or hair algae in main tank. My current 150g is litttle understocked at 14 fish but will be getting more as the tank matures and some upgrades in lighting and skimming are made. Happy reefing my friend.
sean48183
New member
Do you mean the return line to the main tank or the drain line to the sump? The return to the main tank will just go back to the main tank and the drain line from the main tank you can either tee off and send one to the sump and one to the fuge or just send it to the fuge let it flow from there. I would probably tee it off so you can control the amount of flow in the fuge. I like it a little slower through the fuge but I have found it works either way.
reefergeorge
New member
Gusto, Does the humma nip at any of the corals? I was thinking of adding one, but I have a few shrooms, and zoes in my fowlr.
gusto1
New member
reefergeorge- the triggers dont bother any of my mushrooms or zoas, Now all the zoa's are gone due to the regal angelfish they started nipping them so I traded them at a LFS for Mushrooms. now should I use sand in the fuge, I know some people say not to, Whats your opinion.
Thanks Gus
Thanks Gus
sean48183
New member
I use crushed coral in my fuge. About a 1 - 2" layer. The pods use this as a breeding ground. I can literally watch the surface of the cc moving with critters. What I can see of it anyway. Critters don't tend to breed in sand as well. Used old castle playsand in my 50g and critters didn't tend to exist in it as much.
I have been real fortunate with my set up: 180 gallon with:
1 huma huma
1 niger
1 lunar wrasse
1 huge volitan
1 Powder blue
1 yellow tang
1 maroon clown
1 spotted grouper
1 porcupine puffer
1 blue damsel
MR3R skimmer (that doesn't produce nearly any skimmate
25 gallon sump
25 gallon refugium with 6" DSB, LR and macro algae
The skimmer stopped working after the refugium was installed. Nitrates stay at 0 ppm with minimal water changes. Flow through the refugium is only around 40-45 gph. Thought I wasn't getting the skimmer running right due to lack of skimmate, made posts, called MRC, bought a larger recirculating pump for it, decided that it wasn't working well due to fuge. The lion is going to Lisa so that I can get an angel, probably a Passer.
1 huma huma
1 niger
1 lunar wrasse
1 huge volitan
1 Powder blue
1 yellow tang
1 maroon clown
1 spotted grouper
1 porcupine puffer
1 blue damsel
MR3R skimmer (that doesn't produce nearly any skimmate
25 gallon sump
25 gallon refugium with 6" DSB, LR and macro algae
The skimmer stopped working after the refugium was installed. Nitrates stay at 0 ppm with minimal water changes. Flow through the refugium is only around 40-45 gph. Thought I wasn't getting the skimmer running right due to lack of skimmate, made posts, called MRC, bought a larger recirculating pump for it, decided that it wasn't working well due to fuge. The lion is going to Lisa so that I can get an angel, probably a Passer.
gusto1
New member
just did a 35 gallon water change , will do another on tuesday and I have a friend working on a 10-15 gallon fuge for me.
one more questions
, I was using a 20 gallon brute for mixing salt and I had a 44 gallon for ro/di water, now being I have to do some larger water changes, I switiched them around, now my ro/di reading was zero on friday in the 44 gallon, now I made ro/di today in the 20 gallon and I'm getting a reading of 3 is that because I use to mix salt in it. I did clean it very throughly before I switchted
one more questions
, I was using a 20 gallon brute for mixing salt and I had a 44 gallon for ro/di water, now being I have to do some larger water changes, I switiched them around, now my ro/di reading was zero on friday in the 44 gallon, now I made ro/di today in the 20 gallon and I'm getting a reading of 3 is that because I use to mix salt in it. I did clean it very throughly before I switchted
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