Salt water aquarium nitrate problem?

Question

Hi there I am having a problem with my nitrate level and I am getting different answers on how often to feed....from small amounts x2 a day right through to x1 a week, I am changing 20% of the water weekly at the moment...2x clown fish with sea enemonie, 1x wrasse in tank 1 65 ltr, 4x small fish, 1x larger fish looks like dori in tank 2 70ltr 2x filter systems in each tank...hope someone can help...thanks Tracy

Answer 1

It sounds as though both tanks are overstocked (for those who don't use metric, these tanks are 17 and 18 gallons). Unfortunately, in saltwater you can't keep as many fish as you can in a freshwater tank of equal volume.

Do you use a protein skimmer on either tank? It could help, but these are expensive. Have these tanks been running long? They may not have cycled completely.

The number of times you feed isn't as important as the amount you feed, or what you feed. I give my fish 2 small feedings every day or 1 medium feeding every other day (equivalent to 1 frozen cube every other day for 10 smaller fish). If you are using flake or pelleted food, you could try switching to frozen. Flakes and pellets are a more "concentrated" form of food because all the water is removed, so they have higher concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorous. Frozen foods still have a good bit of water in the shrimp/algae/etc. and the nitrogen and phosphorous are more diluted. Unfortunately, the frozen foods cost more. Also, you might want to consider a nitrate-absorbing filter media.

http://www.fishlore.com/SaltwaterBeginners.htm

Answer 2

Get a good protein skimmer. I know of a friend who even import one good one from germany. It works very well for his tank. Next -- if your tank area allow for a filtration tank, then have one below your tank and allow filtered water to pass thru this filtration tank, This tank must fill with at least 6 inches of sands and Have plenty of life plants in this filtration tank just on top of the sand and sufficient lighting. I saw this method being used in a fish shop. The filtered water will flow thru the sand and the plant remove the oxygen content from the water. Their tanks' water are crystal clear always.

Answer 3

Well, I feed depending on the color of the fishes poop, if its white I feed more, if its really dark I feed less, so go for that for feeding. I would try bumping up the water changes a bit, either more water or more often, your choice. You also sound like you may be overstocked, try a bit of a bigger tnak or less fish.

Oh, and I just keep freshwater, so I would check with others before doing what I recomended

Answer 4

must be a nice tanK!