rising nitrates

[Sguard21]

Hey all,

Right now i am running a UGF with live rock 55g hexagonal. No skimmer or anything. I am noticing a rise in nitrate i dont want to freak out so ill be patient but it makes me think..... Do i have enough filtration.

I was looking into a skilter filter to add a little protien skimmer and extra power filter. would u guys think this would be a waste of money (do they even work) or do you have a better idea or direction i should take??

any insight or help would be appreciated

 

[n00bie]

Just looked at skilter because i'd like a small skimmer on my 10g, but most i've read is bad news. My guess is that your UGF is causing some problems with your nitrates. You could try to set up a little water change schedule and see if that does anything.

 

[Sguard21]

Jim dog u there,

u seem to kow your stuuf from other posts. If you can help id really appreciate it

 

[jimdogg187]

UGF's were very common in 1980's. They work very well with fresh water from what I hear. However, I can say that the UGF is probably why your nitrate is rising. If you have the money, ditch the ugf. Add as 1 pound of live rock per gallon in your tank, including what you already have. This will serve as your main filtration. Then try to set up a sump underneath the tank where you can create a refugium. Your refugium should contain macro algae and argonite (among other things). This macro will help to greatly lower your nitrates. Definetly buy a good skimmer. They are worth the money!!!! I have a similar problem with my wet/dry filter on my fish only tank. I added some macro to the sump, now I manage to keep my nitrates around 40ppm. Eventually, when I decide to spend the money, I will upgrade to about 130 lbs of live rock and set up a refugium in a 55 gallon tank for macro. But I just spent a ton of cash setting up my new reef. All in good time! Good luck to ya! Jim

 

[jimdogg187]

If you have any q's, I can email you some photos of how I've got my tanks set up. Jim.

 

[Sguard21]

Jim,
Thanks i just wish the UGF would work like it could it is so simple. When and if i do make the switch id love some help along the way. Aint nothin done wrong when its done right. Thanks

 

[Navarre]

I agree that the UFG is the problem. Over a period of time a UGF will become clogged up and this will hamper its ability to filter.
Remove it (or replce it over a period of time) and add Liverock (a better option IMO).
A decent skimmer will really help also, try and get one that is higher than needed for your tank as this will be able to cope far better with nutrients.

If you do have a sump then macro algeas or Mangroves are excellant ways of nutrient extraction.

 

[Sguard21]

Navarre,

so u think it might be possible to just run the tank with the live rock as the priamry filter with a good skimmer (remove the UGF and powerheads) and that would be sufficient. For my situation i believe a sump might be to costly.

And if you think this might be possible which skimmer would u sugggest

 

[Navarre]

My 40 gallon system had nothing other than liverock and skimmer.


This was my 1st tank and only had live rock (about 40lbs) and the skimmer was a Red sea prizm. I prefer the prizm as it undrskims (which i prefer) but if you are a person that prefers a more efficient skimmer then im sure one can be recomended for you (im not much for advice on skimmers as i rarely use them ) )

I have closed down my 40 gallon tank now simply because i have other plans for it but when it was up and running it gave me no trouble at all.
I did have a cannister filter on the system but it never had any media in it, i merely used it for extra circulation, it also was connected to my UV steriliser but the UV was never turne don.. it was merely there as a standbye in case of ich outbreaks.
The beauty of fixing the cannister to hte UV was that all i needed to do was flick a switch and the UV was working immediately rather than having to set it all up. The cannister added circulation 24/7 as this was never turned off and because it had no medium inside it, this became an ideal place for pod breeding zones and seasquirt sanctuaries.
If you ever needed to add a medium to help with filtration.. Rowaphos or carbon for example then it was simple to add this to the cannister.

Here is a photo of the tank before it was stripped down recently.


(you can see that the tank also has a built in internal filter but again this never had anything in it other than the heater and was used only for added circulation.)