nitrate control
- Thread starter CMcNeil
- Start date
plyle02
Active member
Chris,
I actually put a penguin 1140(450gph), and maxijet 1200 buried in the live rock, hidden to the naked eye, but blasting water up underneath the live rock. This way, it blows hard underneath pushing detritus out away from the structure where it gets caugth up in the heavier flow around the reef, then caught in suspension, and eventually overflows. If you do this, it will make your tank messy for awhile, but helps to ensure any collection areas are away from underneath the reef where you can easily siphon out. Of course, if you do, you probably will eliminate collection areas all together. The sock and skimmer should do the rest. I was hovering around 10-15ppm, then I knew I had to add a rdsb of somekind, but also battling low ph. This is what ultimately forced me to add a 20 gallon long with a 5" sandbed and a prolifera grass bed. I tested this weekend w/o w/c in 2 weeks at >2ppm. Many have used 5 gallon buckets with rdsb with success, I just like the fuge lit 24/7 to help ph. I attribute the low nitrates to my colors really coming out.
I actually put a penguin 1140(450gph), and maxijet 1200 buried in the live rock, hidden to the naked eye, but blasting water up underneath the live rock. This way, it blows hard underneath pushing detritus out away from the structure where it gets caugth up in the heavier flow around the reef, then caught in suspension, and eventually overflows. If you do this, it will make your tank messy for awhile, but helps to ensure any collection areas are away from underneath the reef where you can easily siphon out. Of course, if you do, you probably will eliminate collection areas all together. The sock and skimmer should do the rest. I was hovering around 10-15ppm, then I knew I had to add a rdsb of somekind, but also battling low ph. This is what ultimately forced me to add a 20 gallon long with a 5" sandbed and a prolifera grass bed. I tested this weekend w/o w/c in 2 weeks at >2ppm. Many have used 5 gallon buckets with rdsb with success, I just like the fuge lit 24/7 to help ph. I attribute the low nitrates to my colors really coming out.
rogergolf66
im an addict lol
carfull with that stuff. it killed my clams in my old tank.
Roger
rogergolf66
im an addict lol
what is your feeding schedual?
rogergolf66
im an addict lol
wow I thought my 40X was alot 80X you BB?
Roger
plyle02
Active member
Chris, I run bb too, and have a hell of a skimmer. I feed 3-4 mysis cubes a day to 7 fish. Now that is alot of food..... Sometimes, on days off I add in addition cyclopeeze, rotifers, and oyster eggs, all in addition to the 3-4 cubes of mysis. I cut the main pump off, so no overflow, throw in the food for awhile till it is all consumed, then turn back on. If your skimmer is well over-rated for the tank, flow is strong, no detritus collection, then that really is what bb is designed for, overfeeding to a heavy fish population, with heavy export. My Euro-reef is rated for 2+ times my tank. I truly feel the rdsb fuge has also helped to bring nitrates down. Keep in mind, if you start minimizing the amount of nutrients going into the tank, your corals will probably lighten up or pale out. As far as water change goes, I doubt it will hurt the corals, just make sure you buffer to what you normally keep your current levels in you tank.
CMcNeil
New member
ok.........normally i feed two times a day,each feeding consists of 2-3 cubes of mysis(or a mixture of formula 2/mysis or bloodworm/mysis) and 1/2 sheet of nori,this is feeding 14 fish.perry my skimmer is a copy or the RC-250(actually mine is 2" taller)the rc250 is rated for 250g light load and 180 heavy load.i suppose im on the heavy side of load.
rogergolf66
im an addict lol
that seems like a lot of feeding to me. JMO I would cut back to one a day.
I feed every other day. I feed about 2 hours before I plan on changing my filter sock.
I feed every other day. I feed about 2 hours before I plan on changing my filter sock.
CMcNeil
New member
roger i really dont think it too much,but i could be wayyyyyyyyyyyyy off here.perry stated he feeds 3-4 cubes a day to 7 fish.i have 14 fish(feeding 4-6 cubes a day),3 of them larger tangs and a copperband who only eats mysis.i sometimes feel i need to add more food into the tank to keep the CBB well fed and happy,he has alot of aggressive fish to contend with to eat.
rogergolf66
im an addict lol
you may be right. then I would try to change my filter socks everyday. also what # sock are you using maybe go to a lower # if you are using a #100
Roger
Roger
plyle02
Active member
lets not forget that that is what is fueling the color and growth of your sps corals. It just seems we need to find a way to increase the nitrate export, ie: bigger skimmer, rdsb in a bucket, de-nitrator, or deep sandbed fuge. As stated before, I battle low ph, so it was simple for me, deep sand bed fuge lit 24-7 for less ph swings, btw, my prolifera bed almost fills a 20 gallon long, but it is obviously taking out nitrates, as I use a phosban reactor in return area of my sump. So I strongly doubt the growth of my prolifera grass bed has much growth due to phosphates. This would be a great longterm fix, imo.....
Emster
New member
This is what I feed, I got a 90gal with a 40 gal plumbed in the same system with 20 gal in sump. 1 cube brine, three pinches flake, one small pinch of formula one pellets and a 1/4 sheet of nori. I have stopped feeding cyclopeez and my corals are still growing at the same rate. If I feed more I believe my nitrates will creep up past 0.
