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So the tanks has been up for 1 1/2 yrs maybe longer but its been though a lot of moves and changes! For the past 9mo its been in the same place untouch no changes period! Also 9mo ago switched to ro/di water as that is what you all told me to do last time, well that did help get the nitrates from 120-80 all the way down to about 30-50ppm but i am having to change over 40 gallons of water each mo just to keep them under 50ppm and i cant afford this anymore so i need to find a way around this!

The tank is a 75 gallon with 4 power heads 1050gph=14xhr so that is fine, i had about 25lb of lr and 100lb of base so after all this time i could prolly say its all alive, sand there is about 4-6 inches of nasty looking sand lol 80lb of it is ls , also a heater kept at 78 or lower, Fish i have 1 puffer about 5inches, 1 percula clown, and 1 yellow clown goby, there are a few crabs about 10 but puffer eats them so i dont stock many and snails dont last 5 min in the tank due to puffer!

So as you can tell the setup is fine, fish might be a little big but he is still small and hasent grown much over the yr, i am lacking a clean up crew but im not sure what to get so it dont become a snack also most things will die at these nitrate level anyways!

i did keep the tank under 10 nitrates for a mo i had to change 24 gallons every week to do that just a fyi, so i really think somthing is wrong and i am just over looking it!

I will post pics in a link below please look at them and give me ideas of what is wrong, First thing i do feed everyother day, there is no ammonia or nitiries in the tank and like i said nothing has changed in the past 9mo besides water changes and cleaning the power heads inlets so let me know what you all think, Thanks< AL

Link to pics page 4 if it dont take you there also page 2 is the time line of the tank i guess its been up for 1 yr 11mo now to be dead on and moved 2x and lost and changed tons of things!!!! Check it out


http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2571255/4



http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2571255/2

could be a few things. first I would check your water for nitrates before adding it to the tank. You never know what is in your water.

Second, I know you say you are only feeding them every other day but is it too much as this will usually be your problem.

One thing though, check your test kit and make sure it is still good. If it is out of date it could be giving a false reading.


chris

It seems to me from what you are saying is that what we recommended you do helped you out tremendously. From your numbers your nitrate has been drastically reduced in this time period. Good job, and keep it up .

From your pics I'd tell you to spread the rock out more to allow water to flow around it. It's kind of like a brick wall the way you have it right now. Open rockwork allows much more efficient waste removal by simply allowing the waste to get carried to all parts of the rock and keeping the low flow areas to a minimum. Those low flow areas will allow the detritus to settle and turn into nitrates.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Another thing is that puffer`s are sloppy eaters. I would imagine that some food is getting down between the rocks causing excessive nutrients. I also agree that you need to check out your PWC water and top off water before you add them to the tank. Alot of people dont know that they are adding the nitrates and phosphates to the water. I hope you are able to find out the source. Good luck.

Yes i did take the advice and get the ro/di unit zero tds and ammonia,nitites,nitrate is all zero now!!! So the source water is ruled out!!!

I did some major water changes and tested daily for the past 2 wks and i am finding no ammonia or nitites, but lots of nitrates!!!

In 1 wk i am getting about 25+ppm of nitrates!!! Insane right well that what it is so there has to be somthing else wrong as the last week i only feed 2x very small amount witch i feel totally bad about!

So my thoughts are either the rock work needs to be moved around however i did add 2 power heads plus 2 hob filter just for water movement and that didnt seem to help!

2nd thought is the sand bed is crashed

3rd is maybe the puffer is just producing that much waste or is too big for tank?

4th My live rock aint good enough as half is fake but has been seeding for over a yr?

So with all that said anyother thought would be great!!! Or ideas of how to test rocks,sand would be great to! Thanks

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2571255/2

wow this site is like dead now???

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2571255/2

How big is the puffer now?

Did you try rearranging the lr?

I'd still think about adding some more water movement. Maybe a couple koralia 3's. Clean your filters more often. Gravel vacuum well during your water changes. Maybe think about getting a second test kit, a good one like salifert.

What is your base rock like? Is it dense or porous?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients