shafsharif

Hi All

I have been reading threads on this forum for a while and decided to finally join.
I currently have a 20 gallon tank with about 10 kilos of live rock, some mushroom corals, a star fish, a porcupine puffer, 2 dancing shrimps and a lobster.

For some reason my fish keep dying. Most tend to last about 2 weeks then they disappear. My puffer has managed to last a month though

I have a few questions, hopefully someone can help:-

1 - The nitrate levels in my tank are never below 30. The tank is a year old and i do weekly 25% water changes. How can i bring these down?
2 - The guy i buy my fish, rocks etc from told me to take out everything from the filter chambers as the filter creates nitrates and fill it with live rock. I done this gradually and now have nothing but live rock in there. Is this the right thing to do? I have done lots of searches but have never been able to find this was of doing things.
3 - Should i get a protein skimmer and if so can someone recommend me one for the size of my tank?


I'll get some pictures up here soon

bmxer193

I would suggest doing a 25%-50% water change every other day untill your nitrate drop below 10, I dont know much about saltwater so i cant help you there sorry

Welcome to the fourms!!

pistorta

The puffer is a big fish for a tank that size and will produce a lot of waste contributing to your nitrate levels. Have you heard of a plenum filtration system? This would certainly help you to complete the nitrogen cycle, thus reducing the need for large water changes. Ideally, you wouldn't even need an external filter.

Live rock is an excellent biological filter in itself. This is why you were instructed to place it in the filter. Unfortunately, a canister filter, if this is what you are referring to, is limited in the type of bacteria it can produce. A wet-dry filter would be more beneficial when utilizing live rock as the filter medium. A protein skimmer is a good thing to have, but not a necessity.

If I were you, I would switch over to a plenum system with a protein skimmer and place a powerhead in the tank. I would also let the puffer go for a smaller fish(s).

susitna-flower

WELCOME to FISHLORE, shafsharif. With those saltwater questions, if you post in saltwater you will get tons of help. You have found the best forum out there, and we love to hear about everyones tanks, and help where we can. (I haven't been bitten by the salt bug yet, so can't help) Just want to say .

sgould

Welcome!

You need to take a 2 pronged approach to get the nitrate under control. First, to bring the levels down in the short term, as was previously suggested, you will need to do a series of water changes. With a 20 gallon tank, I would do a 5 gallon change every day or at least every other day until your readings come down to where you want them. Longer term, you will need to work out a strategy to help you keep the levels from building again. Pistorta is right in saying that your tank is far too small for a porcupine puffer. They need much larger tanks...as much as 90 gallons. They are heavy waste producers, and messy eaters. Both of which will contribute to an ongoing water quality challenge for you in such a small tank. My first suggestion would be to either get a bigger tank or get rid of the puffer and replace it with some more appropriate fish for a 20 gallon tank. I am not sold on the idea of putting live rock in your canister filter. Live rock is a great bio filter, but it can do the job just fine laying on the bottom of the tank with decent water flow around it (power heads). This would free your canister trays up for other media which might also help with your nitrate situation. A combination of filter media that Gozer seems to have had great success with, and I am experimenting with myself right now, is 2 products by Seachem...Matrix, and De-Nitrate. You can find both and read about them on MarineDepot.com. I would definately recommend a protein skimmer. Sometimes you can get along without one in a fish only setup, but with the live rock, corals, and stocking situation you have I think you need one. The skimmer will pull disolved organic material out of the water, so this will also help to some extent with your nitrate problem. I presume you do not have a sump hooked to your main tank? If not, you would need a HOB style skimmer. AquaC Remoras seem to get universal high marks. I am running a Coralife Super Skimmer 65 on my 29 gallon tank, and I really like it. Some of the other salties here may have other models they can recommend as well.

Good luck!

Mike

Ok, echoing what pistorta and sqould recommend with some additional thoughts/opinions.

1. You definitely need a protein skimmer, unless you're willing to perform partial water changes very frequently (like every other day if you have fish in the tank). Skimmers will remove organics from the system before they have a chance to mineralize into ammonia and nitrates which should be a big help. Look into the aquac remora models. They are great skimmers, can hang on the back of the tank, easy to maintain and are reasonably priced.

2. Water changes are great at removing nitrates, that is, unless you have tap water that is high in nitrates. Have you tested your tap water for nitrates? If you live in a rural/agricultural area or have well water it's definitely worth doing a quick test for nitrates.

3. Take the rock out of the filter. Put it into the tank and direct the powerheads at it to force the tank water in, through and around the live rock.

4. Plenums can be fantastic, if applied correctly. They can also be useless if not installed correctly and just take up space in the bottom of the tank. Another option (and easier to set up) at reducing nitrates is to utilize a "remote deep sand bed". I think agsansoo made a post on this topic and provides details in the post on how to set one up.

I think the skimmer and more live rock in the tank will help greatly with your nitrate probs.

Mike

Moving this to the saltwater forum under "Saltwater Equipment - Saltwater Aquarium Filters".