Right equipment?!?

[Ree]

New to the hobby. 50gal up one year skimmer and carbon filters present. It has done its initial cycle, fish/coral and annomne success fair. Trouble with nitrates of course was doing water changes weekly. Please excuse my inexperience. What other equip do I need to control nitrates and please teach me why

 

[cloak]

When your doing these water changes, what else are you doing? Nitrates are basically an indication of how hard your tank is working to process all the crap within it. This could be poop, leftover food, basically just detritus. You might want to start blasting your rocks with a power head right before each water change & start vacuuming your sand bed on occasion as well. You want to get as much of this muck out as you can. Don't overfeed, don't overstock, make sure your source water is decent, clean any sort of mechanical filtration on a regular basis etc. GL.

 

[glb]

Can you list your test numbers?

 

[jofost1216]

How much live rock? Should be 1 to 1.5 pounds per gallon, what do you use for food and how often? Livestock? What kind of filters?there is nitrate reducing media but water changes are the best way, you could be overfeeding, make sure there is good flow throughout the tank, no dead spots in corners.

 

[Ree]

Nitrates to high to read. I was utilizing api reef masters test kit with nitrates results 20-30. Not great but according to fish store it's what normal people usually run. Got Red Sea test kit and it read nitrates >60! Have been using Red Sea since. Was doing water changes weekly got them down to 40's. Then back up. I know nitrates are the constant struggle but there has to be a solution I'm 80%sure I don't over feed I have a 1-1 1/2" sand bed and I have live rock. I'm just testing nitrates at this point. Previously all other levels were within norms. I know of only 1 other person with a saltwater tank his nitrates are are zero. He has a refuge. Please tell me how this works how big it needs to be etc. I need information. DONT CRINGE but started vodka dosing and I'm on week 3 no improvement. I know vodka dosing in the fish world is either a love or hate opinion.

 

[glb]

Nitrates to high to read. I was utilizing api reef masters test kit with nitrates results 20-30. Not great but according to fish store it's what normal people usually run. Got Red Sea test kit and it read nitrates >60! Have been using Red Sea since. Was doing water changes weekly got them down to 40's. Then back up. I know nitrates are the constant struggle but there has to be a solution I'm 80%sure I don't over feed I have a 1-1 1/2" sand bed and I have live rock. I'm just testing nitrates at this point. Previously all other levels were within norms. I know of only 1 other person with a saltwater tank his nitrates are are zero. He has a refuge. Please tell me how this works how big it needs to be etc. I need information. DONT CRINGE but started vodka dosing and I'm on week 3 no improvement. I know vodka dosing in the fish world is either a love or hate opinion.

What livestock do you have in the tank? You could do a bigger water change to get it down. The store may have been talking about freshwater with these numbers. Saltwater tanks should never be that high. That being said, once you get it under control it will be much easier to keep in check. Good luck!

 

[Ree]

Food is usually mysis or brine
Stock 1 tang 1 six line 1 clown 1 blue chromis 1 yellow watchman 1 cleaner shrimp 2 anemones crabs and snails few corals doing ok
1 dual head carbon filter
1 protein skimmer
Water flow great
I stir sand every time I clean the glass weekly
Live rock never weighed but by volume is aprox 10 gal

 

[Reefing Madness]

You can either add a sump, with Macro algae, it would need to be a big sump
You can add a sump with an Algae Turf Scrubber
You can add a DeNitrator
Or you can Carbon Dose
What is a sump? | Melev's Reef
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/sa...-scrubbers%AE-santa-monica-filtration%AE.html
Korallin BioDenitrator w/ Eheim 1048 Pump
Reefkeeping Magazine - Vinegar Dosing Methodology for the Marine Aquarium
Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com
Home | Melev's Reef

 

[glb]

Food is usually mysis or brine
Stock 1 tang 1 six line 1 clown 1 blue chromis 1 yellow watchman 1 cleaner shrimp 2 anemones crabs and snails few corals doing ok
1 dual head carbon filter
1 protein skimmer
Water flow great
I stir sand every time I clean the glass weekly
Live rock never weighed but by volume is aprox 10 gal

IME, stirring the sand can release a lot of junk into the water. A sand-sifting starfish or goby could do the work for you. I know the starfish need a big tank to have enough food. Maybe someone else can chime in about your tank being big enough for one.

 

[cloak]

You can either add a sump, with Macro algae, it would need to be a big sump
You can add a sump with an Algae Turf Scrubber
You can add a DeNitrator
Or you can Carbon Dose
What is a sump? | Melev's Reef
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/sa...-scrubbers%AE-santa-monica-filtration%AE.html
Korallin BioDenitrator w/ Eheim 1048 Pump
Reefkeeping Magazine - Vinegar Dosing Methodology for the Marine Aquarium
Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com
Home | Melev's Reef

Great information, (no doubt) but the majority of those links kind of sounds like a "band-aid" IMO Get off he couch and do the work.... KISS.

As far as the substrate goes, you made it a problem, the sand didn't...

 

[LetItReef]

10gallon LR volume, give or take about 20lbs? Would suggest add more Dry rocks.

 

[Ree]

So should I not stir the sand. I thought by stirring it I was freeing it of waste that could build up so it could be filtered out. I'm going to get a convict Benny for sure

 

[glb]

So should I not stir the sand. I thought by stirring it I was freeing it of waste that could build up so it could be filtered out. I'm going to get a convict Benny for sure

There's differing opinions on this, but mine is that the waste you are freeing up ends up in the water, where it can wreak a lot more havoc.