pthoma79 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I have a 30 gal tank with 40 lbs LR/LS, about 6 blue leg hermits, 4-5 turbos, 3 cerith and 7 nass snails. I also have 2 false percs and a diamond goby. I have been having problems keeping my nitrates where I want them, and I have heard the skimmer might be the problem. I have a CPR BAKPAK 2 that I got from my brother in law. My nitrates have been steady at 10-20 since I set up the tank at the start of 2008. Would a new (better) skimmer help this? Also, since I've gotten the goby and he's been stirring the sand, my water has been cloudy. I've been doing 10% water changes weekly, but that doesn't seem to be helping, and I'm starting to get buildup on my rocks and powerheads. Any suggestions?!? Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Well, you'll probably always have "sand storms" with the goby. I transferred my watchman goby/pistol shrimp pair from my old 20H into my 120G tank, and am having second thoughts. It's sometimes hard to see the fish in the "fog". Apart from regularly cleaning off the rocks with a turkey baster or powerhead (and watching the gunk settle right back down ), I'm not sure there is much you can do apart from removing the fish. How long have you had the goby? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pthoma79 Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 Had the goby about a week now. He's an awesome little fish...guess I'll just have to keep doing water changes and hope the cloudiness goes away eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 It might get better, once all the really fine sand particles have been stirred up and filtered out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pthoma79 Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 Actually, that makes me think of another question. Do you think putting a HOB filter on the tank for a few days might help get some of the particles out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Yes, or a diatom filter, if you have one. And good flow to keep the particles suspended in the water, so they can get to the filter and skimmer! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pthoma79 Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 Great, I'll give it a shot! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defigart Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I second everything that siskou said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 What size sand do you have? If it is the smaller stuff the goby will always have a cloud in there. My sons tank had the bigger sand and the goby would never make a cloud. Once he hit my 90 with the suger sand the cloud was there until I evicted him. Now he is making a cloud in someone elses tank(laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCR Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I didn't see any remedy for the nitrates. What have you done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I would go with water changes to get it down, if they climb back up you are either over feeding or nutrients are being released into your system by your rock, sand bed or other way. A new skimmer will help stop NEW nutrients from building up but it will not fix the current problem unless its free floating. Try a larger water change and go from there as above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pthoma79 Posted March 26, 2008 Author Share Posted March 26, 2008 Yeah, I'll do a 50% or so water change today, and see how much that helps. I was hoping for a suggestion from you guys about a new skimmer too. What's a good one? I have heard the BAKPAK is garbage. I don't have any experience with any other skimmers. The most the BAKPAK has skimmed out in a day is about 1/4" in the cup. Is that normal? Or should it be collecting more than that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 For that tank a Tunze would be nice, this is assuming you don't have a sump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pthoma79 Posted March 26, 2008 Author Share Posted March 26, 2008 Right, no sump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAVES Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 I didn't see any remedy for the nitrates. What have you done? No bioballs, no DSB, good skimming, not overfeeding, lots of water flow and quality rock = zero nitrates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Dude this thread is like 3 months old. IME no, you do not need a skimmer to have a tank with 0 nitrates. It is just far easier to use one. I'm not the biggest skimmer fan in the world. I prefer to use refugiums and for my needs and what I want to do it has worked for the last 8 years or so. Skimmers are great, but so far IME you need one rated for at least twice your tank size to make any difference. JME which with skimmers is pretty little. I use a skimmer on my 65g tank, which does remove a good amount of skimate but did not solve my nitrate problem on it's own. On my 30g tank I have no skimmer, no mechanical filtration, no media, just a refugium. Nitrates are always 0. In fact lately I have been doing 5g changes between the 65g and 30g to help keep the nitrates down in the 65g. The 30g eats nitrates so fast it has not changed it's reading and nitrates are back to zero a day after the change. By dosing sugar once a week and doing the daily 5g switches along with a 20g water change once a week I have finally gotten the nitrates in my 65 to stay at 0. Without the skimmer and the daily 5g switches the nitrates were at 10. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAVES Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 i agree a fuge can do the job too, 3 months old? man yoru right... I never go in this part of the forum, I guess there is no action here I never really read the thread either, just the first post and CCR's about nitrates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm82792 Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 How about that filter floss you can get from wallmart ? I've made sand storms when moving LR the floss polishes the water,you throw it out every 3 days or so it's cheap enough to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidalsculpin Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Question is... will you actually change the floss every three days? Probly not. Nitrates will go up with such a biofilter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm82792 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I'm homeschooled I do that along with maintain and watering 60 species of plants I grow Yea if you don't have the time floss isn't a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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