I have a reef tank. I just added my first fish, a valentini puffer. After having him in the tank for more than a week, the nitrates suddenly spiked to 10. (They were around 0-2.) In the past three days I have done three five gallon water changes trying to clean out all of the filtration and dilute the nitrates. My tank is a 30 with a ten gallon sump/refugium. After the first change the nitrates fell to 5, but I can't get them any lower. (Even with two more water changes and scrubbing out the bio balls and power heads.) I think the nitrate level is why all of my montiporas are not extending their polyps.
A few things have changed also. Four days ago we had to switch our lighting hood (the other one caught on fire). Still using the same T5's though. The other thing is that the hair algae in my tank is taking over! It's everywhere! I am trying to pull it out by hand.
The bulbs are new. I apologize I should have been clear -- they are the same kind as I used to have: one Coral Sun and one Ultra Sun from ZooMed. I target feed the coral once or twice a week. The fish eats at least once a day, sometimes twice and he nibbles it right out of the end of the pipet to try to avoid waste floating around.
I am trying really hard to keep extra waste from the tank!
I don't have a skimmer. I have a section of bio balls all of the water has to go through. (The overflow mixes the water with air that bubbles through the balls producing foam that helps work like a skimmer.) I wash the bio balls every two weeks. (Skipping a week every once in a while.) Are you thinking a skimmer is necessary? If so... do you know of one for a 30 gallon that won't be too hard on my wallet but still work well?
Washing the bio-balls? I don't use them myself, but I think they are supposed to be left alone. They colonize helpful bacteria which will help remove nitrogen from your tank. Cleaning them seems like it would kill that bacteria - and then introduce MORE nitrogen into the tank. I believe bio-balls are just a man-made alternative to live rock, and you would NEVER "clean" your LR like you're doing...
A skimmer is one of the most important pieces of equipment in my opinion. There may be some that don't use them but it is very difficult to keep your algae and phosphates under control without one. Find one rated for twice the gallons of your tank. You can find really good deals in the selling forum. Sea clone I'm not a fan of. Reef octopus you can't go wrong with.
+1 on not washing the bio balls
Oh wow! Thanks -- I am looking for a skimmer and will no longer be washing the bio balls. My understanding of the research I did was really off there. Thank you for not being judgmental in your responses!. ^_^
Nitrates ARRRRG!
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