High nitrates would not come down!!

[sarces]

Hello last week I joined the forum and I have been keeping a 10 gallon for about 4 months with no problems till last week I took some pics and posted them here, my tank was lookin great (so I think) but the very next day I woke up to find red cyano on the sand bed, battle it for a few days but it kept getting biger and bigger and I decided siphoned it out. after that my BTA STARTED to show his mouth open so I quickly check the water to find very high NITRATES and proceeded to changed 50% of the water Sunday a week and half ago then it went down to about 20 and I thought it was gonna b fine so I let it sit. On wensday check water again to find NITRATES at 40 so I proceeded to change 20% of the water and let it Si till this pass Sunday check the water again and it was at 20 so I didn't change the water but I checked it yesterday and they were back at 40 so I change 10% again . I have a black and white stripe damsel 2 oscelaris 7 hermits 1 peppermint a Mexican turbo and 4 nassarius there is also a turbain but i think the nitrates r stressing it out and probably is not going to make it but all the rest o the inhabitants r doing ok considering(except BTA and snail).
I don't wanna change too much water to quick coz I don't want the tank to go into cycle again, that said how much more can I do water changes w/o risking the tank ???

 

[Pkunk35]

What's your feeding habits and what do you feed? Do you have a sandbed and do you siphon it?

Feeding less or spot feeding better along with siphoning additional food/detritus from the tank may help with your nitrate problems.

If you want to change water more consistently without changing too much volume, just increase the amount of times per week you change but lower the volume changed each time: i.e. if you normally change 2 gallons in 1 week then change 1 gallon 2x a week instead, this way you increase your water changing frequency with less impact.

I have a feeling that the tank is overfed but without more info is hard to tell.

hope it helps!

 

[sarces]

What's your feeding habits and what do you feed? Do you have a sandbed and do you siphon it?

Feeding less or spot feeding better along with siphoning additional food/detritus from the tank may help with your nitrate problems.

If you want to change water more consistently without changing too much volume, just increase the amount of times per week you change but lower the volume changed each time: i.e. if you normally change 2 gallons in 1 week then change 1 gallon 2x a week instead, this way you increase your water changing frequency with less impact.

I have a feeling that the tank is overfed but without more info is hard to tell.

hope it helps!

Feeding is Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday , I feed pallets with garlic, I feed a few pellets make sure the fish eat when they stop eating I throw a pinch for the hermits the shrimp and nassarius, for the nem I feed mysis shrimps with a syringe, on sat always before changing water..... All this once a day.
I have very thin San bed 1/2 of an inch or so I usually don't touch it unless I have to turn a snail and even then is minimal, my water changes are 1 gallon a week if I split that up I would have to use cups j/k I really don't think I can split that much more than that.... I think .... I'm open to suggestions ...... I just did these 3 big water changes because the Nitrates spiked too hi, too quick ..... I also wanna add the nem only gets feed on tue and sat .

 

[NanaReefer]

How much rock do you have in your tank and what else are you using for filtration?

 

[sarces]

How much rock do you have in your tank and what else are you using for filtration?

I have an aquaclear 70 with a sponge, carbon And biomax and about 10-12 lbs of rock

 

[sarces]

Has any one had experience with anemone when it's given silversides getting sick??

 

[grumpy-crab]

Thats a big bio load for a 10g with out better filtration and why i would say is your high nitrate problem. I would suggest lowering your bio load or increasing your filtration and water volume with a hang on refuge. And sense you have a 1/2 inch SB i would suggest siphoning it out as your weekly maintance because it could be traping waste also contributing to your high nitrate levels.

 

[Kano]

If you feed until your fish stop eating you're feeding too much, even if it's only 3 times a week. Do not feed your clean up crew. They are not a CUC if you are adding extra food for them. I would not try and keep an anemone in a 10g tank. Depending on your clownfish size a 10 gallon could be a small area already. I'd look at upgrading your tank size if possible. Petco or other places usually have a $1 per gallon sale and it's an easy way to get a cheap upgrade. CL or a forum and look for someone selling a tank is the other. With what you currently have you're going to have to do frequent water changes or add on extra filtration like grumpy mentioned.

 

[lakeviewink]

If you feed until your fish stop eating you're feeding too much, even if it's only 3 times a week. Do not feed your clean up crew. They are not a CUC if you are adding extra food for them. I would not try and keep an anemone in a 10g tank. Depending on your clownfish size a 10 gallon could be a small area already. I'd look at upgrading your tank size if possible. Petco or other places usually have a $1 per gallon sale and it's an easy way to get a cheap upgrade. CL or a forum and look for someone selling a tank is the other. With what you currently have you're going to have to do frequent water changes or add on extra filtration like grumpy mentioned.

+1 also you don't need to feed the anemone so often. That's why it expelled the silverside. They have to eliminate waste like every other creature. They are largely photosynthetic and get a lot of nutrients that way. I feed my nems once a month. Just a thought.........

 

[a49panhead]

I also had bad luck with silverside. I switched to a little squid and mysi shrimp with a turkey baster once a week or so and they r happy. I agree that u r over feeding your tank.

 

[Albie23]

I switched to a little squid and mysi shrimp with a turkey baster once a week or so and they r happy. I agree that u r over feeding your tank.

I had a high nitrate problem too. I used AZ-NO3 .. It worked great.I also changed the way I feed the fish. I melt the mysi shrimp in water, put it in a net and run it under cold water. Then put it back in the cup with water. And feed the fish with a turkey baster. The last few days I went from two things of shrimp down to one.

 

[sarces]

thanks every one for the suggestions most of those already done 75gal is been cycling for 3 weeks to move the nem and the clowns, nitrates level was corrected with a 75% water change,

lakeviewink,
​+1 also you don't need to feed the anemone so often. That's why it expelled the silverside. They have to eliminate waste like every other creature. They are largely photosynthetic and get a lot of nutrients that way. I feed my nems once a month. Just a thought.........

the nem is relatively small, the size of a quarter i was told by the LFS where i bought it from the max amount of times i could feed is twice a week if i wanted it to grow safely and quick, ive known the owner for a few years and i think he is very knowledgeable, but if u have something against it i would like to know, thats what im here for learn and i like to hear what experiences others have had as well as my LFS, also the nem only does this when i feed him silversides if i give him frozen mysis shrimp he will be very happy for the time being....

Kano

If you feed until your fish stop eating you're feeding too much, even if it's only 3 times a week, Do not feed your clean up crew. They are not a CUC if you are adding extra food for them.​

​

i will cut on feeding the CUC makes a lot of sense, my only question is i feed pellets to the fish and in less then 5 sec after i put them in the tank they start sinking to the botton and the fish will not eat but 1 to 3, i think that is too little dont you ????​

 

[Socoreefer]

+a couple on over feeding and also filtration on that 10 gal!
Nems belong in + 30 gal + at least a 6 mo old tank ( mature)( I know some will say 9 + mos to be mature) and mix up feeding pellets and flake ( this is my opinion I'm not a pro)

 

[beaslbob]

sounds to me like you need to decrease the nitrate producers (less feeding) and increase the nitrate consumers (macro algae).


my .02

 

[Kano]

I feed my fish mysis almost daily. Nori every few days for my tangs. My friend feeds his fish about the same number of times you do but only feeds a few pellets or mysis. His fish look like they have a healthy weight. Most of my fish could go on a diet. If your fish are only eating 1 to 3 pellets then that's all they need. They are opportunistic feeders. If you feed them daily, they'll eat daily. If you feed them every few days, that's what they'll eat. As long as they are maintaining weight I wouldn't worry about adding extra food because you think they should eat more. Think pellet size versus how big your fish are. And in the wild it's not exactly buffet style or easy to get food. They have to actually swim a lot to get food which uses a lot of energy. I should feed my fish less but I feel like they should get fed every day (which isn't true). I just let my anemone grab whatever mysis run into it. At most, once a week I'll squirt some mysis into it or chop up a silverside very small and feed it that. Until you move your anemone into your upgrade I would feed it mysis weekly. Just a few. If it starts shrinking or looking bad you could feed it more but that could because of water quality, the amount of light, etc.

 

[sarces]

All suggestions have been fully noted and will start yesterday.... How can I check the weight in my fish???? Not trying to be smart just wanna get a clear picture of what u mean thanks for all the help