Miss Wiggle And Big Ian's First Marine Tank!

[BigIan]

we now have 1 cleaner shrimp 2 turbo snails and 2 red leg hermits.....

we also got a HUGE lump of grotto rock for those who don`t know its a man made live rock with a high density so it creates anaerobic areas that convert nitrate to nitrogen gas) and so hopefully should help with keeping tank maintanence to a minimum)

I also blagged some free red macro alge stuff... and i think i have this skimmer figured out just need to tweek the air flow a bit more

 

[jen20147]

is it just me or do the things in the picture look a little big to be zoos? more like rock anemones to me..

 

[SkiFletch]

Yey crew members . How did the tang far on its way back to the shop?

 

[MoonTang]

Well i'm surprised no one told you that it's not a good idea right now to get any invertebrates because of your high nitrates. Fish may tolerate it but not invertebrates.

Your shrimps, hermit crabs and whatever else you put in will surely die.

 

[Lynden]

Well i'm surprised no one told you that it's not a good idea right now to get any invertebrates because of your high nitrates. Fish may tolerate it but not invertebrates.

Your shrimps, hermit crabs and whatever else you put in will surely die.

Non sense. Most crustaceans are much hardier than other inertebrates. My crab went into my tank with very little acclimatization period and he is doing very well. However he is quite huge (4'' plus) and incredibly tough. Not to mention not-reef safe! He will be moved, eventually, to a sump tank.

-Lynden

 

[BigIan]

the nitrates should be on the decline...

just done a 20% water change (had to do 20 instead of 10 due to slight skimmer mishap) so the nitrates should be on the declineabout to test the water now.

How did the tang far on its way back to the shop?

he managed to stick his little tail whip thing through the bag but other than that he was fine, went to visit him today he`s in the back rom of the shop in with al the LR he looks nice and happy in his nice big tank

 

[MoonTang]

Well i'm surprised no one told you that it's not a good idea right now to get any invertebrates because of your high nitrates. Fish may tolerate it but not invertebrates.

Your shrimps, hermit crabs and whatever else you put in will surely die.

Non sense. Most crustaceans are much hardier than other inertebrates. My crab went into my tank with very little acclimatization period and he is doing very well. However he is quite huge (4'' plus) and incredibly tough. Not to mention not-reef safe! He will be moved, eventually, to a sump tank.

-Lynden

Do you have something against me???
Your always posting all these remarks against my comments.....
BTW They were at 70ppm and not 40ppm thats what you asked in another thread about hermit crabs surviving high nitrate LOL.

Well in generally i was just trying to tell them nothing should've been put in the tank unless the high nitrate problems were solved. Since no one on here even tried to stop them from doing so.

Well i'm done with trying to help people on this board because of kids like you on here.

 

[Mr Miagi]

man made live rock with a high density

High density helping reduce nitrates? Can someone explain to me how a rock high in density can do this? I was under the impression a dense rock had less surface area. The Lighter the rock, the more surface area contained inside,(SA) hence better filtration capacity. Sounds like he is wanting to offload some bad live rock too you.

Edit: So much drama here at TFF compared to other boards....

Generally, no new stock should be added to an aquarium that isnt the best it can be. Whilst some invertebrates will not tolerate large amounts of nitrates, things like snails and hermits can (whislt not the best condition for their long term survival). But im sure they know that.

 

[BigIan]

I`ve been told this by a few guys, it works the same way as a deep sand bed, providing areas for anaerobic bacteria to live they then feed on the nitrate wich then turns it into nitrogen gas thusly ridding the tank of nitrogen....

Why arent the nitrates going down? we`ve changed almost all of the water in the tank over the past few days and the water is still reading full wack...

I`ve added some nitrate reducing resin to the hob all i can think is that i ripped out the internal filter yesterday and as that was fll of crap it has stired up more crap into the tank

 

[SeahorseWhisperer]

Where did you put the macro algae? Is it growing?

 

[BigIan]

Well today`s been fun we`ve just added 3 new power heads, 2 900 litres per hour hidden behind the LR blasting out at the front of the tank and one at 620 litres per hour blowing along the top of the tank moving the surface water.

also a friend recomended that we add this nitrate4 absorbing resin (green x) he uses it in his tanks and it works a treat and as the water changes don`t seem to be having any effect we need to try any thing we can get...

both forms of macro alge are down at the botom of the tank infront of all the LR it seems to be doing ok.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

is it just me or do the things in the picture look a little big to be zoos? more like rock anemones to me..

they look much bigger than any zoo's I've seen in shops too, just guessed they were a different sort though, any other comments.

This grotto rock stuff has been recommended by our lfs and another marine specialist shop, which is run by a bloke with a degree in marine biology who regularly writes for reefer magazines, so although I can't remember why it's decent I do trust his judgement!!

The clean up crew's all doing fine, we knew we were taking a chance putting them in but the tanks been neglected so long we thought we need as much help as we can get trying to get it cleaned up and back on track. Yes it is a slightly risk, but one we considered first and decided it was for the best for the overall health of the tank. Like I say we've seen them all, they all seem fine and fingers crossed the nitrates should be starting to come down now so the risk to them is reducing by the minute.

 

[SeahorseWhisperer]

both forms of macro alge are down at the botom of the tank infront of all the LR it seems to be doing ok.

Yahoo! Another planted SW tank!

I think macro algae is the best nitrate reducer on the planet and it also reduces phosphate. Some consider some forms invasive, though. Do you know the species?

If you can get us a pic, I am sure some one can help narrow it down?

Or , you can check Algaebase.com....

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the algae we have is the red stuff to the right of the fiji leather at the front of the pic, sorry that's the best pic I have of it, can maybe attempt a decent close up if you can't get it from that.

anyhoo, still having major nitrate issues, so far we have done-

20-30% changes virtually every day
added a massive chunk of grotto rock
removed the internal filter which I think was a nitrate factory
reduced the stocking so less bioload is on the tank
added clean up crew to help clean the tank from the inside
added green x which is a phosphate and nitrate remover
managed to figure out the skimmer and got it working
tested the RO water which is definately still fine
repeatedly sworn at the test results!!

got the RO unit running again so maybe after another change today it'll start to drop.

I just don't understand why it's not moving and what else we can do?!?! any more thoughts would be most welcome!

 

[Mr Miagi]

20-30% changes virtually every day
added a massive chunk of grotto rock
removed the internal filter which I think was a nitrate factory
reduced the stocking so less bioload is on the tank
added clean up crew to help clean the tank from the inside
added green x which is a phosphate and nitrate remover
managed to figure out the skimmer and got it working
tested the RO water which is definately still fine
repeatedly sworn at the test results!!

Sounds like your doing everything right. Now I think its just time to let it drop on its own. Youve really done all you an do for it IMO. Everything in that list indicates to me nitrates should be dropping in a few days. It needs time though.