Nitrates and Clean-Up Crew Ironic?

[FutureBoyGenius]

It seems so ironic that a clean-up crew can help keep your nitrates and phosphates down, but they are sensitive to high nitrates.

I want to pick up about 20 additional snails for my 90 gallon this weekend. I already have 8 Astrea snails and my nitrates are steady at 20ppm. Is that too many snails to add at one time? Or is 28 snails too many totally? Will I be ok adding those snails with those conditions? What would I need to get my nitrates at in order to add some snails?

Also, what kind of snails do you recommend? I have a small problem with brown algae showing up on my sand; and of course the back glass and overflow. I hear that nassarius will cover the sand more than most?

 

[smalls383]

Nassarius snails are good sand sifters but they dont really eat the algae they just move it around.....you would want a sand sifting star or some other snail that eats algea....more hermits....etc

However, the best thing that you can do for getting your nitrates down is more water changes, feed less, and get some marco algae in a sump or in your tank...it works really well for trates

 

[FutureBoyGenius]

What nitrate level would you feel comfortable putting a sand sifting star in at?

I feed like 3/4 of a frozen block of mysis every day. You think I should still cut down?

Pac Blue Tang 2"
Psuedochromis 1&1/2"
3 Occilaris Clowns 1&1/2"
Singapore Tang 4"
Bicolor Blenny 4"
3 Shrimp

I change probably about 50gallons a week of water.

I am working on getting a 10gallon fuge with chaeto, I think I have asked you (smalls) a few questions on another thread about that.

So, am I overall heading in the right direction?

 

[FutureBoyGenius]

About the hermits. I think I have about 8 blue legs now, I have always heard that they will end up just killing off your snails, so I was just going to stick with my 8. Do you think they are as beneficial as the snails if not more?


I like snails because they get the glass and the overflow.

 

[smalls383]

Inverts are really sensitive to high nitrate levels.....20 is kinda borderline....Maybe hold off on the star till you get the trates down...

3/4 of a block of mysis sounds about ok for that tank and crew...however you can feed every other day and everything will still live and thrive....maybe try that till you get your trates and algae away...also you should wash your food in a net or something cause the frozen food contains lots of nutrients that dirty your water

Wait so you change about 50gallons of water in a 90 gallon tank....that might be too much....if you have poor water quality that you are adding to the tank then that could also be another reason for high nitrates....I would only change like 15 gallons of water....+/- 5 depending on what others say

The fuge is your best bet a lowering your trates....you can build one SO easily especially if you can elevate it above your tank.....a small powerhead pumping water up to the fuge (say ten gallon tank with light)....then a drilled bulkhead to flow back into the tank....can cost you at most like 50 bucks...($10 tank, $5 chaeto, $20 drill fuge tank for bulkhead, 5 bulkhead)....

As for the snails vs hermits....if the hermits have enough to eat and shells to move into then they will not kill the snails....A combination of both will be the best CUC

 

[FutureBoyGenius]

Thanks smalls, you have just given me a series of the most straight forward answers I have ever received from RC. I appreciate it and I am sure my tank inhabitants will apreciate it.

I am about 7days from getting the fuge in there. I am using a 10gallon tank and I am going to elevate it to gravity feed back into my return section. Do you have any suggestions on what to use to elevate it about a foot. I would like to be able to store some things under it and I want it to look neat of course

 

[smalls383]

So where is the fuge going to be located....above you DT or sump? Is it going to be inside a cabinet or outside.....

I have mine tucked inside my super tight 54gallon corner cabinet and it is only about 4inches above my sump....it only really has to be just a few inches so that it can flow downward into the sump. I just made a small structure out of wood, some 2x8's....it is really simple....

However, you can put it outside your cabinet on a strong shelf or something that looks nice cause it will be outside...If you looking for about a foot I would just go to like a wallmart or IKEA or craigslist for a cheap stand that can hold some weight.....probably gonna weight about 100lbs

 

[smalls383]

Here is my setup that was designed with space limitations in mind......the fuge is about 3.5 gallons and has a hanging light that is OFF right now because the DT lights are on....that light on is just for viewing the inside of the cabinet.....

Everything in here is super tight because I do not have that much room in the 54 corner tank stand.....There is a 10gallon sump....Euro Reef RS80, and 7in filter sock.....

See that wood stand....build from 2x8s....and works great. That bulkhead was fitted to the plastic bucket(from home depot).....with a bulkhead...then runs back to the return of the sump.....Nitrates have been 0 since about 2 weeks after I started growing chaeto.....which grows like a WEED!!!!

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[IslandCrow]

It seems so ironic that a clean-up crew can help keep your nitrates and phosphates down, but they are sensitive to high nitrates.

It's not really ironic, because that statement isn't entirely true. Your clean-up crew has no direct impact on your nitrates other than actually raising them, because they too are producing waste which will break down into ammonia and then nitrites/nitrates. What a clean-up crew does is eat leftover food and sometimes even fish waste before it breaks down into ammonia, or they eat the algae that feeds off nitrates and phosphates. Here's the real secret to bringing down nitrates. Most of it has already been stated:

- Regular water changes to directly take nitrates and dissolved organic compounds (DOC) out of the water
- Protein skimming - the best means to remove DOC
- Good water flow to keep detritus in suspension so it can be removed by mechanical filtration
- A sufficient supply of live rock. A deep sand bed is also a very effective tool at breaking down nitrates
- Growing macro algaes in a refugium connected to the main tank
- Prudent feeding of fish to reduce both fish waste and uneaten food

I'm probably missing a few, but those are the big ones. A clean up crew is important, but hermit crabs don't eat nitrates.