New To Fish Only..questions

R

RownSurf81

New member
A few months back the owner of a local restaurant asked me if I might be able to get the tanks (75 g and 140g) in his bar going again. I've had reef tanks running for about 7 years now and have had freshwater since I was a kid. I had the time and could use the cash, so agreed, assuming fish-only couldn't be too hard.

The water had remained cycling, but all the fish had died due to neglect. I did massive water changes, cleaned everything and after a month the tank seemed to be stable. The nitrates continue to creep up to ranges higher than I've ever seen in my tanks and the only fish I've managed to keep alive are a few damsels, despite careful acclimation. I'm checking nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, ph, SG..is there some other major measure for fish-only I should be looking at. Everything is fine except nitrates. I've also checked phosphates, iodine and silicates occasionally, though I don't believe they will affect anything here! Obviously the owner is going to get irritated if I can't get more soon and I'd like to get it going for him.

So, I'm just looking for any advice. The tanks are both running wet-dry filters, something I am not at all familiar with as I've always used live rock/sand, hang-ons, canisters and skimmers. Could the bio-balls need replacing? Or could I just clean the existing media? Would live rock rubble work better if I was to replace it (seems so to me). Also, could I put filter bags of carbon and other filter media in the try on top of the balls where the water trickles down. They wouldn't be submerged, but water would run through them, so it seems like it should work. Last, are there any inverts that may survive in a fish-only tank to serve as a clean-up crew?

Appreciate any help,

Justin
 
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What media is in the wet dry? If you have anything like sponges or filter floss they are a nitrate heaven. Live rock rubble would be great. I never used a wet dry but if possible i would toss it for a bigger sump and maybe a refuge(with some macro )
 
Thanks for the response! There is some filter floss in the tray. I'm definitely going to remove that and maybe put a bag with some carbon/denitrating media in there. There are just a bunch of standard blue bioballs below that in the chamber itself. I have no clue how long since they were changed and neither does the owner. I'd go the route of the refugia, but want to leave it more manageable for him down the road. I'm thinking the rubble in place of bioballs is the best bet since they should be pretty maintenance free and benefit things a lot. Still looking for more opinions though :)
 
Live Rock rubble would definitely be better. Wet/Dry only provide bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrate whereas Live Rock can take it all the way to nothing.


Phosphates affect all tanks as they can lead to nuisance algae growth.

Calcium and Alkalinity is worth checking if you want to buffer the tank to promote Coraline growth.


You can put filter media bags in the water flow, but this isn't as effective as running them through reactors since it wont push them across as much surface area. If you can, two little fishes reactors are cheap and can be u8sed to run phosban and carbon.
 
1)dont take this the wrong way .. but if only certain fish are staying alive (ie damsels) .. check your temperatures too!

2) cleanup crew depends more on what u want to keep in your fish only ... i've had high nitrates and various critters of my were not affected.
 
I disagree. While it's true that some fish and inverts are pretty bullet-proof, I have had several fish that are sensitive to nitrates, and have noticed them looking stressed if nitrates go up. IMO puffers are nitrate sensitive, even though they have a reputation as being very hardy. Seahorses too, and others. While fish may be able to survive with higher nitrates than corals, I try, not always with success, to keep nitrates not higher than 20-30 ppm. Fish that live on the reef live in the same quality water as corals, and IMO, that's what we should strive for, even in FO tanks. Using plenty of live rock, good skimming, refugia with macroalgae for nutrient export, regular water changes, not overfeeding and not overstocking all help maintain adequate water quality for fish.

I'd like to know what species are kept by the folks who say nitrates in the hundreds or higher are fine. And how long they lived. Lionfish, moray eels and damsels don't count. :)

BTW, a stable refugium, lit 24/7 with packed chaeto and some live rock rubble or sand can do wonders to reduce maintenance labor on a tank and keep water quality high. This can make life a lot easier - just remember to prune out excess macro. My LFS will take it for store credit.
 
Thanks for all the advice! I found some nice live rock rubble for cheap and bought enough to fill the submerged part of the wet/dry chamber. Unless I hear contrary advice, I'm planning to use a combination of a few old, cleaned-up bioballs and some new ones in the area above the rock. I'll either use some filter floss or a filter bag with carbon in the tray above to catch the larger particles.

I know the nitrates need to be below the 80-100 ppm they are at now, so I'm going to focus on that. I've checked temp and all the other normal culprits, so hopefully this change will help stabilize things. I may also chat with the owner about the refugia. I love them and have always used one, so maybe I can convince him it's worth the extra money and maintenance. He really just wants some big aggressive fish, so we'll see how that conversation goes!

thanks again,

Justin
 
Does it appear that anything is growing on the bioballs? In the meantime before you replace/remove them, you should rinse/clean them and see if that has any positive effects for you.
 
any chance they regularly spray pesticides after hours for roaches? any volatile cleaning agents?
 
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