Reef Janitors

[drag]

i have a 30 gallon tank w 50lbs of LR, two False perc clowns, 1 coral banded shrimp, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 scooter blenny, 3 small anemones, yellow polyps, and another coral i dont know he name of ill try to post a pic to see if someone can tell me what kind it is.


And well the heart of my question... i have like 30 blue leg hermits , 3 scarlett hermits, 13 nassisus snalis, and 13 cerith snails. is this too many ?? im not too sure what this does to my tank levels. it seems to be raising my ammonia levels slightly to .25 ppm. and my nitrate to 80 ppm. i thaought that more reef janotors the better but dosent seem to be the case. is there a genral rule for how many reef janotiors per gallons or somethin? how many would be good for this 30 gallon tank? there is a bit of alge growth in my tank but not alot.

some one might remember my post about my clown fish breathing fast well i think it was ammonia the levels, now ive added ammo lock because it said it was invert safe on there web site. my test strips werent acurate when i tested it before.


ammonia .25 ppm

Specific gravity 1.025

nitrate 80 ppm (Yeah i know its high)

ph 8.2

 

[Opcn]

How about you do a 50% water change, get those levels down.

As far as CUC goes yu don't really have grazing snails, You might think about getting a chiton or a keyhole limpet.

 

[Chac]

what is you turn over rate (Flow Wise)

You really need to fiqure out where the Ammonia is coming from, I'd be more concerned about the Ammonia level than the Nitrates

 

[Navarre]

Your cleanup crew wont be adding to the ammonia rise significantly. They produce minute amounts when compared to waste materials and fish. The general rule is 1 cleaner per gallon as a minimum so you have got more than enough for your system but this doesnt mean that you have too many. I agree, i would prefer to see better grazing snails but the crew you have currently is very good. The ammonia is of key importance here, are you sure your test kits are accurately rading the water? Perhaps a 2nd reading at your local shop might show a different result. Make sure you have a good flow all over the tank, dont allow areas to collect detrious and thus increase ammonia levels.

 

[drag]

Your cleanup crew wont be adding to the ammonia rise significantly. They produce minute amounts when compared to waste materials and fish. The general rule is 1 cleaner per gallon as a minimum so you have got more than enough for your system but this doesnt mean that you have too many. I agree, i would prefer to see better grazing snails but the crew you have currently is very good. The ammonia is of key importance here, are you sure your test kits are accurately rading the water? Perhaps a 2nd reading at your local shop might show a different result. Make sure you have a good flow all over the tank, dont allow areas to collect detrious and thus increase ammonia levels.

well im glad that i dont have too many but i do notice significant amount of hermit "Waste" . i clean it up about every week but its right back again. they really eat.
i have two marine land 550 powerheads to turn over water ,and a marine land bio wheel 280 power filter. Could you give me some reef safe examples of better grazing snails. still fairly new to saltwater aquariums. would more LR help?

 

[Matthew5664]

Could the bio wheel 280 producing the NO3???

What filter media have you got in there??

 

[drag]

Could the bio wheel 280 producing the NO3???

What filter media have you got in there??

well the power filter is just a bio wheel and some carbon, and a particle filter

 

[Matthew5664]

Biowheel
Definition: A rotating pleated structure over which a stream of water is directed as part of a biological filtration system. Nitrifying bacteria grow on the biowheel and provide biological filtration.

Not good, like bio balls or filter media the nitrifying bacteria grow and turn NH4-->NO2-->NO3

Hence high NO3 levels

Take the biowheel off and ues a small internal filter for you carbon or have it in you sump if you have one?

For the snailes, I myself have turbos and man thay do the job!

 

[drag]

Biowheel
Definition: A rotating pleated structure over which a stream of water is directed as part of a biological filtration system. Nitrifying bacteria grow on the biowheel and provide biological filtration.

Not good, like bio balls or filter media the nitrifying bacteria grow and turn NH4-->NO2-->NO3

Hence high NO3 levels

Take the biowheel off and ues a small internal filter for you carbon or have it in you sump if you have one?

For the snailes, I myself have turbos and man thay do the job!

dosent the live rock do the same thing, or is there a difference?
i have the powerfilter because it started at first as a fish only tank then added LR, and corals and stuff.
and well its my form of areation too. i guess i could take out thebio wheel part of the filter and see what hapens?
but first i should probably add some more LR.

What do you think?

Biowheel
Definition: A rotating pleated structure over which a stream of water is directed as part of a biological filtration system. Nitrifying bacteria grow on the biowheel and provide biological filtration.

Not good, like bio balls or filter media the nitrifying bacteria grow and turn NH4-->NO2-->NO3

Hence high NO3 levels

Take the biowheel off and ues a small internal filter for you carbon or have it in you sump if you have one?

For the snailes, I myself have turbos and man thay do the job!

dosent the live rock do the same thing, or is there a difference?
i have the powerfilter because it started at first as a fish only tank then added LR, and corals and stuff.
and well its my form of areation too. i guess i could take out thebio wheel part of the filter and see what hapens?
but first i should probably add some more LR.

What do you think?

 

[Matthew5664]

sounds good to me just make sure that the LR is fully cured first.

 

[Navarre]

Liverock can go 1 stage further than a biowheel . Biowheels cause a buiild up of nitrates as it cannot break these down. Liverock can actually break down Nitrates into harmless nitrogen gas which is released into the atmosphere.

As for aeration.. As long as you have sufficient turnover in your system (10x volume minimum) and the surface is well agitatied then you should have enough oxygen exchange for yout fish.

 

[drag]

thanks every one for the help.... afteri stabalize my ammonia the bio wheel is gone..

 

[Chac]

How's your reading looking now D.