i have a 60gal reef setup the bottom is lined with crushed coral but no livesand my 20gal sump has live sand (about 30lbs) and both are full of liverock my nitrates keep climbing i need to do a water change about every week my tank has been setup for about 2 years the problem occured about 2 months ago when i moved my tank my lfs says the crushed coral is like a nitrate factory and i should take it out. what do you think is this true? ive also tried caulerpa but is hasnt been in my tank long enough to make a differnce.
crushed coral causing high nitrates?
- Thread starter meathelmet75
- Start date
Please use more punctuation, when i read your post, it sounds like endless rambling!
As dmm32 already stated, more info is needed:
1) how many, and what size fish (in inches) are in the tank?
2) do you have a protein skimmer?
3) what's your feeding schedule and what do you feed?
There's a whole pile of different situations that can lead to nitrate accumulation, but it all boils down to poor nutrient management. Deep live sand bed's are great denitrifiers, so it may be worth a look in to the archives or do a forum search for live sand beds or DLSB.
As dmm32 already stated, more info is needed:
1) how many, and what size fish (in inches) are in the tank?
2) do you have a protein skimmer?
3) what's your feeding schedule and what do you feed?
There's a whole pile of different situations that can lead to nitrate accumulation, but it all boils down to poor nutrient management. Deep live sand bed's are great denitrifiers, so it may be worth a look in to the archives or do a forum search for live sand beds or DLSB.
in addition to the requests already posted, -tentatively:
yes-a bed of cc will contribute to nitrate levels-if no denitrification is taking place-though the sb in your 20 may handle it, eventually.also-your rock structure(in the sump as well), should not be stacked too densely;-this will impede it's ability to denitrify,as well)
hth
yes-a bed of cc will contribute to nitrate levels-if no denitrification is taking place-though the sb in your 20 may handle it, eventually.also-your rock structure(in the sump as well), should not be stacked too densely;-this will impede it's ability to denitrify,as well)
hth
Yes - I had a similar problem in my 120g reef (notwithstanding frequent water changes and vigorous skimming) and upted to replace my entire cc sandbed with a thin (less than 2") layer of pink somoa sand. My nitrates are now less than 5.0. The alternative would be to use a DSB and rely on biology to reduce the nitrates.
sorry about the puncuation, im used to word whe're its inserted for you.
my tank was up for about 2 years, then i decided to move it. since ive moved it its been up for about 2 months (i used most of the same water,liverock,livesand and crushed coral when i moved it). i have 4 fish about 5 inches total. im using a sea clone skimmer i need to empty the cup about every week i hope this is enough info. thanks for the help.
my tank was up for about 2 years, then i decided to move it. since ive moved it its been up for about 2 months (i used most of the same water,liverock,livesand and crushed coral when i moved it). i have 4 fish about 5 inches total. im using a sea clone skimmer i need to empty the cup about every week i hope this is enough info. thanks for the help.
There is a good chance that the crushed coral is a contributing factor in your nitrate problem. There are a number of threads about converting CC to deep sand beds. If you do some searches on this board you should find a lot of info on that if it's something you might be interested in.
Tim
Tim
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