New to forum!! need some help!!

[jguitarm15]

Hello

my name is jaime Im 18 yrs old, I have a 125 gallon tank, it has a refugium. been in the hubby for almost 6 months and would like to ask some of you guys questions concerning about my tank.

I have had a problem with High nitrates!!! they have gone all the way between 40-80 so I cant really to lower the nitrates, I have done many water changes and they just keep coming back up. I do not have a protein skimmer (looking for one) but I will buy one soon no later than 1 or 2 weeks. My recent test have been:

PH:8.3-8.4
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:40-80

Also when do you know when you can keep corals?? I would like to start keeping corals but I am not really sure when is it the right time or whe do I need for them besides the skimmer and supplements and lighting. Im afraid if I just buy some they will just die!

I really appriciate your help!! thanks guys!!
:strooper:

 

[MinnFish]

First, [welcome]

Any livestock? How often do you feed? Any micro-algae in fuge? Tap or RO/DI? Any adding LR, recently?

 

[kfisc]

Welcome- a great place to start is to read the threads at the top of the forum; you might be struggling with a number of problems leading to high nitrates, from over feeding to poor circulation, but it's hard to say from what you've described. Trust your instincts not to add corals until your chemistry is under control, which you can hopefully begin to manage after a good couple of hours of reading here. Good luck!

 

[alextheromanian]

DONT buy ANY corals until your water is clean and free of ammonia nitritates nitrates.


as far as lighting goes...youll have to figure out what light youre going for...to know what corals youll get.

if you want to keep almost anyting in a 125 youll need a light fixture thats 72" long...and that WILL be expensive...probably double what you paid for that tank if not more.


do you have a sump?

do you have fish added?

you should determine what causes this high levels of nitrates...and in a 125...thats ALOT...im guess would be that your tank is not fully cycled yet.

how much live rock do you have in it?

how much sand and if so how many inches?
do you stir the sand because thats also not good.


oh another thing is if you dont have a sump...it might be a problem...i dont have one either and i have to tell you its VERY restricting.... you have to hang VERYTHING in a tank...and it will look ugly.

if you dont have a sump youll need a HOB skimmer and i suggest getting one rated for atleast twice of the size of your tank...but then again i dont know if they make them that powerful...


id go with TWO skimmers...both rated 100G on each side...


there are too many unadressed details to your system to help people determine what the problem is with your water.


it could be anywhere from to many fish to over feeding to cycling to god knows what.

 

[jguitarm15]

Hello everyone and thanks for the welcome!!

As far as the live stock in the tank:
1 yellow tank
1 blue tang
1 lawnmower blenny
1 ocellaris
1 green chromis
1 blue damsel
many hermits like around 10-15
2 sand shifter seastar

I have atleast 90-100 lbs of liver rock. as for lighting I have metal halides, I do have a refugium not a sump. And I have tested the water, it comes out to be with no ammonia or nitrites both at 0 but nitrates do go high!! I try to not feed as much just what they can eat in a couple of mins not more than that, I only feed once a day. I feed flake and frozen brine shrimp. I use RO water that I buy from my lfs.

As for adding LR, I have added like around 10-20 lbs from another tank that have been set up for atleast 1 year and a half. but that has been like at least 2 weeks since that. As for sand is about 2 in deep. hope this helps!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MinnFish]

How far did the LR travel?

 

[jguitarm15]

like about 10-20 mins at the most

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

well IMO your not over feeding, your fish list is not on the high side. so those shouldn't be a problem.

your lacking some rock I suggest adding another 50lbs or so.

also you running a skimmer, and what kind? and how often and how much of a water change do you do?

also check the ro water that you get from the LFS for ammonia and nitrates.

 

[jguitarm15]

I am actually looking for a skimmer since I dont have one so I will be getting one in between 1-2 weeks soon as possble. and also will be looking to buy some more live rock, I do like about 10-20% water change each week, the water that I always get has no ammonia or nitrates I have always tested it before I added always be on the safe side

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

the extra rock and skimmer (as long as it is a quality one) will really help.

also running a fuge with macro algae would help.

 

[jguitarm15]

I was going to buy some micro algea tomorrow to add to the sump so that it can help with the export of nutrients do you guys think that is good?

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

yes that would be good. just remember you will need a light over the sump for the algae. also try to section it off so that it don't get cought in the return pump.

 

[jguitarm15]

Yeah I had some in the past but I didnt know you were supposed to put light on them so I would just open the doors form the stand to let light hit it up what kind of light do you recommend?

 

[wondermidget]

Do you have bio-ball in any kind of wet-dry filter? if so I was told to slowly remove them to help lower my nitrates. My wet-dry came with a bunch of bio-balls in it and I removed 94 of them and by the next day the nitrate levels dorpe.

 

[Sk8r]

FIlters are not a good thing if you intend to run corals. Live rock/live sand only. Filters holding detritus means high nitrate.

 

[jguitarm15]

Actually I used to have a wet/dry but since I upgraded from a 40 gall to a 120!!! big difference!!!! I stopped using the wet/dry since the 120 came with a refugium which I always wanted one instead of the wet/dry. but I just cant seem to lower the nitrates in the 120 I dont know what to do!! !

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

check out www.melevsreef.com he suggests a good light for a fuge there and it's cheap

 

[jguitarm15]

So what else can I do to lower the nitrates, I have tried water changes but it just keeps coming back up. So should I try getting the skimmer and live rock and then see what happens and then move from there???

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

everything else your doing seems to be fine. I would add the macro algae, more LR and the skimmer and in time it should start to go down.

water changes don't seem to lower nitrates the fastest unless you do big water changes but those are not reccomended.

 

[tbar]

IMO you have to do about 25% WC every other day for a week or so to get them really down. By just dong 10-20% once a week they get back to the original level before the next WC.