hello

some help please

I can't get my nitrate down I take my water to the fish store to be tested and they tell me thats there ok but I want coral and the nitrates stay at 20mg. I do water changes every 2 weeks 20 to 25 gal.water changes. I have 6 fish I put snails (5) in but they had babys now I have to many to count. 10 crabs, My feather dusters also had babys and they are all over my tank but I like that. The fish store tells me I am ready for coral but I think they want to sell them to me so they can die and I will have to re-buy. I test my water at lease 3 times a week. and 1 more thing I have 3 fish stores I go to and they all have diffrent ways to feed 2 times a day...once a day ...once every 3 days so whats the best. so far I feed once a day and my fish act as if they have not eaten in weeks.
 
Nitrates at 20 is okay for corals, they'll live through that, although as close to zero as possible is better. How much do you feed your fish? And what kind of food? Flake food and pellet food will lead to nitrate problems, if you're using those I'd switch to frozen, and feed them frozen only. Feeding once a day is fine, the fish will always act hungry. Other reasons for high nitrates is too many fish (and six in a 100 gallon tank is not too much), something died in your tank and is rotting (it could be a snail or something -- have you had any animals disappear?), overfeeding, and the water you're using. What kind of water do you use for top-off and water changes? Tap water can have nigh nitrates. You should use RO/DI water. Check your new water for nitrates before your next water change to make sure the new water you're putting in doesn't have nitrates. Also what kind of filtration system are you using? If you don't clean your filters enough, or if you're using a canister filter, you can have nitrate problems. And how much live rock do you have in your tank? 1 to 2 lbs per gallon is recommended, if you don't have enough live rock you can have nitrate problems too. Lots of possibilities, help me narrow it down.
 
Give us a little more info on your system.Its kinda hard to know what MIGHT be going on with your nitrates without know what kind of filtration your running. How much rock and sand do you have?How much are you feeding at a time? What kind of food are you feeding frozen,flakes?
Heres my feeding schedule:
Monday-DTs Phyto-plankton
Tuesday-DTs Oyster eggs
Wednesday-A mix of frozen krill,mysis shrimp,brine shrimp,formula one,blood worms,and ocean plankton.I mix a cube of each in a cup and rinse it under RO water.
Thursday-Nothing
Friday-Start all over
 
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Here goes... I have 100 gal. tank 125# of fiji cured live rock, 2 to 2 1/2 " of crush coral in the bottom. I have a oceanic system for my skimmer. I have 5 power haeds, lighting is a nora extreme high output T5 (read that off the box). I feed frozen brine shrimp once a day around 5:00.... and ance a week spirulina flake food.I set up my system on insent ocean salt but now I buy it from the fo store and they use Kent salt and it is RO water top off with the same store RO no salt. I have tested it befor I put it in the tank and the nitrate were 0. I did use purple up in the 1st mo. but I stoped. I use a ph buffer once have not needed it again. I don't really have a filters per say I have one on the back of my tank where the water goes down to the system under my tank( i wash that out when it looks bad), and then it goes through one filter there that I change when it look bad. I was told by the fish store my bacteria is alittle low I thought about the Right Now I have it order Have not got it yet. nothing has died that I know of all the little baby snails and crabs that have hatch in the last week... or so might have but the nitrate were a little high befor that. ph is good8.4 to 8.8 ammonia good0.25 nitrite 0 good calcium is 21 drops good I was told so I think I have it all sorry if misspelled did this fast. hope ya'll can help
 
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Welcome to the site. If you are using crushed coral for substrait, then that is most likely contributing to your nitrate problems. Do you have a skimmer?, Mechanical filters should be cleaned/changed about every 10 days or so to help reduce nitrates. keep up with the water changes, and if all else fails consider a nitrate reactor. keep us posted. where you get conflicting information, pick one source you trust and stick with that source for your information.
 
welcome to living reefs. your calcium sounds good. 21 drops is 420 ppm. as for the ammonia are you using aquarium pharmacutals brand? mine allways reads .25 ppm. and i have heard some kits will so i allways assumed this was one of them.
 
You also got to remember that a lot of ammonia test kits will read 0.25 if the ammonia is there or lower.
I agree with JHRB,Your substrate is most likely the cause of your nitrates.
 
Yes I am using that brand.The fish store said this as well. My nitrate went down we are hanging around 5.0 for 3 days now. I now am making my own water 1 gal. an hour.:bounce: brought an RO system. Did not like carring the 5gal. buckets. I love this site but we need a spell check. LOL Now I have another ? I was told at the fish store that if I get an Anemone for my clownfish that they move all over the tank and will sting coral that can't move... Have ya'll had this problem? Should I go with a frogs spawn ?
 
Anemones will move all over the tank and will sting anything they run into. Plus they are very hard to keep alive, you need very bright lights and excellent water conditions. Frogspawn are easier to keep, but there's no guarantee that a clown will host with anything. Some of them never do.
 
Biff and Fish are right.Clowns dont have to have an anemone or any thing else to host.Some will never host anything,while some will host anything in the tank,including powerheads.
 
Try testing your ro water when you make it, but like john and yote said I also bet its coming from the crushed coral. Crushed coral is big and alot of crap gets in it and decomposes there. Good advise on everything else, so I have nothing more to add.
 

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