Having some trouble

[Salton]

I started my 30 gallon saltwater aquarium about 5 months ago.

I have an oversized hang on the back filter with carbon media. I do recognize that this isnt the best means of filtration.

I have a solarmaxH.O 220 it is 10,000 kelvin. I also run a strip of blue LEDs.

I have a super basic pump as my power head but I think it is to powerful for my tanks size as it kinda beats stuff up.

My parameters are as follows:

Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia:0.0-0.25 (kinda in between)
Nitrate:80 ppm
Nitrite:0.25 ppm
High range pH: 8.0
Temp: 80 degrees

Livestock:
Percula clown
Rusty angel
Mandarin dragonet
Hawkish

Waving hand Xenia
Pulsing Xenia
Myshroom coral
Daisy polyps
Frogspawn
Hammer coral

Long tentacle anemone

I started the tanks 5 months ago, set it up slow and aloud it to cycle. I introduce the clown and he did great I even got him to host the LTA. I got a piece of Xenia on a live rock and it thrived in my tank. Which after a bit of research they are aggressive and take over but it was still enough for me to try another softy.

After I had introduced everything to my tank that I wanted it seemed stable and I backed water changes down to once every two weeks. But almost overnight my levels shot up and have not come down until tonight. I haven't been syphoning the sand bed and was advised to do so. I changed the media to carbon in my filter and syphoned the sand and did a 60% water change. The test results on this post were done 2 hours after I did all of this and has been the first sign of hope.

I am particularly concerned for my LTA. He shrivels up sometime in the day and looks kinda awful. 80% of the time he looks big and beautiful and bright. It's Had stopped know if it is dying or just unhappy.

Am I doing something wrong. I have an understanding of the nitrogen cycle and the basic needs and try to do my research it just seems like I can't get it just right.

Constructive criticism very welcome

 

[cracker]

Hello Salton, i can say You need to to some water changes to get the AM down to zero. That's for sure. I " would think" You have a lot of livestock for a tank that young. Here's a bump to see what those in the know have to say !

 

[Salton]

How often should I water change to make it go down, and once it's down how do I keep it down.

 

[Salton]

And also thank you very much for your response

 

[cracker]

I really don't know on the water changes. I personally would do a big one. 40/50 % . But that's me ! You could do several smaller ones back to back. To keep it down cut back on feeding for the short term and consider a better filtration system maybe? Nitrates are kinda high also. What kind of food are You feeding? The stuff that comes in jars like flake & pellets are "loaded" with nutrients. Honestly though I'm not the best person to give this type of advice. Iv'e been keeping salts for years and still consider myself a beginner !

 

[GoVols]

And also thank you very much for your response

What ever it takes. You've got to bring the ammonia and nitrites back to zero a hold them there.
Anemones add to your bio-load too.

It's almost like your reef has started the nitrogen cycle back over.

If your using API kits, I'd get the Salifert kits. The API is known to test false ammonia at 25, when it's really zeroed out.

Welcome to Reef 2 Reef and good luck.

 

[cracker]

Thanks Go Vols, I don't want to give Salton bad advice !

 

[Jd120988]

Not looking to bash anybody but imo you shouldn't have that many fish in that young of a tank. The anemone should not have been added until you had a tank atleast 6 months old and very stable. Once again not looking to bash you because I can tell you do care but maybe just moved a bit too quick. We all do it sometimes just don't like to admit it. Also I'm not familiar with the lighting but a quick Google search tells me it may not produce enough light for the anemone but I could be wrong and I apologize if I'm misinformed. Anyway I would invest in better lighting and maybe a sump instead of that hob and a nice protein skimmer to handle that bioload. A huge water change and a weekly schedule should do the trick. Anyway happy reefing. Pm me if you have any questions.

 

[GoVols]

Thanks Go Vols, I don't want to give Salton bad advice !

cracker,
I don't think you gave any bad advise but @Salton needs to be able to hold zero ammonia and nitrites over the long haul without doing water changes.

The big bio-load may have rebooted the nitrogen cycle.
If Salton was doing water changes during the cycle it may have never cycled properly.

I just don't skim or make water changes until the cycle is complete.

Salton could dose some bacter 7 to help out.

 

[GoVols]

The anemone should not have been added until you had a tank atleast 6 months old and very stable.

+1

 

[Flippers4pups]

Yep, NO3 is in the danger zone as well.

 

[Maggie321]

Siphon your sand bed. Do half now and half the next wc. That way you don't wipe out too much good stuff but you get a bunch of the detritus out of your sand. You'll be surprised how much is in there. I would do a series of 10% to 20% wc' s over the next week or so. Maybe one every other day or every 3rd day.

 

[Maggie321]

Also, that mandarin dragonet might be healthier in a further established tank... typically I have heard 6 months to a year old at least.

 

[Jd120988]

Also, that mandarin dragonet might be healthier in a further established tank... typically I have heard 6 months to a year old at least.

I avoided this topic bc I felt like I may have sounded a bit harsh in my post so thank you for pointing out the mandarin.

 

[cracker]

There Ya Go Salton, All good advice . You have a nice looking tank I hope You get it all worked out !

 

[Maggie321]

I avoided this topic bc I felt like I may have sounded a bit harsh in my post so thank you for pointing out the mandarin.

I wasn't meaning to sound harsh. If I did, I apologize. I want one of these fish so badly, I have read extensively about them and I am heart broke that I feel like I would be doing the fish a disservice in my 39 gallon tank. I'll wait till my big tank is going... If the mandarin in OP's tank takes mysis or is getting pods supplemented, I think it's totally do-able. I simply don't want to do that much work...or spend that much on supplementing pods.

 

[Jd120988]

I wasn't meaning to sound harsh. If I did, I apologize. I want one of these fish so badly, I have read extensively about them and I am heart broke that I feel like I would be doing the fish a disservice in my 39 gallon tank. I'll wait till my big tank is going... If the mandarin in OP's tank takes mysis or is getting pods supplemented, I think it's totally do-able. I simply don't want to do that much work...or spend that much on supplementing pods.

U did not sound harsh at all I was afraid I did bc I was pointing a bunch of things wrong and I didn't want to add the mandarin on top of it. Anyway I have a mandarin in a biocube 29 for a while now and I did this succesfully by starting a 8 gallon pod refugium completely predator free and I have sooo many pods it's crazy. The refugium is not plumbed into my biocube at all I just fish some out and add them to my tank at night with pumps off and they're everywhere the next morning

 

[cracker]

double post

 

[jeff williams]

You only mentioned carbon in your HOB you need to add biological media in the HOB also imo the HOB needs to be oversized to do any good. Add biological media cut back on feeding and do small wc's daily or every other day, it's less stressful on the tank. I would also dose prime at 2 drops per gallon to bind the ammonia and nitrate and add some biological bacteria to help convert it.