Lost

[LeftFootedJedi]

I’ve a recovering overfeeder from my freshwater days, thought I had this nipped in the bud but now I wonder if that is the case. Let me give a timeline..

• March – set up tank (20G AIO)
• June – everything good, fish good, parameters stable/good. Feed my 4 fish + CUC ( 2 domino clowns, YWG & RG) ¼ a cube brine shrimp every other day w/the occasional add’l ¼ cube of mysis just for variety.
• July – wanted a more natural looking scape so I moved everything round & added 4 SPS coral frags w/left-over rock from the initial build I had in the garage.
• Aug – start seeing some brown/red/purple algae, thought it was diatoms, let it go
• Sept – scape is clean as a virgin’s… morals but my substrate looks horrible. The algae clumps up the sand, doesn’t blow off & just spreading like wildfire. I start dosing.. no change. After much reading, buying a cheap microscope & concluding I had both dinos & cyanos, removing about 4lbs of that substrate & replacing it I opted to increase my nutrient levels to ¼ of a cube (Hikari Bio-Cube Brine Shrimp) each day. I remove the rocks added in July, bought a tailspot blenny to help control algae and insert DIY frag rack
  • Mid Sept – algae is gone, scape looks good, parameters good. I removed the RG for being a bully and replaced w/purple firefish.
• Oct – the brown muck is coming back, my nitrates spiked to 80-160 PPM, my scape is turning green and I now realize the water I had been buying from my LFS water has 10-15 PPM nitrates! I’ve got the nitrates down to 40PPM +/- and will do another water change this weekend w/my own saltwater, I just need to find RO from another LFS.

What am I doing wrong?? I change 20% of my water every 2 wks, have a routine maint schedule I follow religiously for all of my equipment and now dosing 1x a week, alternating between Dr’s Tim’s Waste Away & Vibrant. I realize adding the 5th fish might not have been the best choice, but now I wonder if I am I just feeding too much?

I read that nano’s can be very difficult w/big swings.. is all of the above just par for the course w/smaller tanks? If so, I can see why people give up. As mentioned in a prior thread, another LFS & long time customer both tore their entire tanks down due to the brown/indestructible muck I described.

I was planning to upgrade tanks in about a month but have serious concerns I’ll carry over bad behavior.

 

[ScubaFish802]

Are you able to continue to mix your own saltwater? It's odd that the water from your LFS is coming "new" with such high nitrates..
Other than that more frequent water changes (every week instead of bi-weekly) is an option.. getting parameters at a reasonable level and then keeping them stable would be a big help long term, but figuring out why nitrates are so high etc.. is the first step

 

[LeftFootedJedi]

I can mix my own saltwater but this will be the 1st time.. I don’t have a RO/DI unit.

I agree on the nitrates & parameters in general, I just can’t figure out why unless it’s the water I’m buying.

With regard to overfeeding I want to fix that or eliminate it as a possibility. My fish seem happy/healthy but my clowns still seem smaller than normal.

 

[ScubaFish802]

I can mix my own saltwater but this will be the 1st time.. I don’t have a RO/DI unit.

I agree on the nitrates & parameters in general, I just can’t figure out why unless it’s the water I’m buying.

With regard to overfeeding I want to fix that or eliminate it as a possibility. My fish seem happy/healthy but my clowns still seem smaller than normal.

My clowns will continue to eat for as long as I put food in the tank, and always desperatly like they aren't getting enough food. I have started keeping an eye on their stomach area, they keep a slight belly to them (I could probably feed less honestly) but as long as their stomach isn't sunken in or losing weight I would say they are fine.
I wouldn't make any changes to quickly, if you think you are feeding too much for your tank try a bit less and work your way down or up as you see things react in the tank

 

[un5tab1e]

Buy yourself a RO/DI unit. It's a lil cost up front. But, you'll save in the long run versus buying water and you'll know your tds is good.

 

[ScubaFish802]

Buy yourself a RO/DI unit. It's a lil cost up front. But, you'll save in the long run versus buying water and you'll know your tds is good.

Definitely avoid tap water in the tank if possible. (unless you know you have some crazy great 0 TDS city water or something).

 

[LeftFootedJedi]

Never used tap water, only water from LFS but I’m hoping new clean/water will do the trick. My issues didn’t start with over feeding but I keep wondering if I am adding to the problem.

Does it sound like too much food?

 

[LeftFootedJedi]

I said 5 fish but just realized my YWG has been M.I.A for 3-4 days. I looked all over the tank no sign of him.

 

[ScubaFish802]

Never used tap water, only water from LFS but I’m hoping new clean/water will do the trick. My issues didn’t start with over feeding but I keep wondering if I am adding to the problem.

Does it sound like too much food?

It sounds like maybe the LFS water was a big part of it.. that is more than the amount of nutrients my tank accumulates on a week to week basis with weekly changes. Only you know your tank though so the feeding is hard for me to say personally

 

[un5tab1e]

Never used tap water, only water from LFS but I’m hoping new clean/water will do the trick. My issues didn’t start with over feeding but I keep wondering if I am adding to the problem.

Does it sound like too much food?

What's your filtration look like? When you feed do the fish eat it all or is it getting sucked into the overflow? Rule of thumb is to only feed what they will eat in a couple minutes.

 

[LeftFootedJedi]

It’s an AIO (3 chamber) with a media rack & skimmer.

I feed 1/4 a cube day give or take .. hardly any makes it way into my filters.

 

[smacbride]

I have 5 fish in my 43 AIO, a pair of clowns, a pair of cardinals, and a wrasse. I feed them twice a day. Dry food in the morning and 1/3 cube of mysis or formula one frozen. I also have a large crew of hermits running around as well. All the food is usually gone within a minute or so.

It doesn't sound to me like you are over feeding.

 

[LeftFootedJedi]

Maybe it’s just more nutrients than a 20g can handle? IDK

I’ll do weekly water changes for the next 3-4 wks & see how it goes. Just frustrating.