I have a 75 gallon tank with a penguin 350 biowheel, an undergravel filter, and an fx4. IT has a salinity of 1.010. I have a 10 inch freshwater moray eel, 3 freshwater lion fish, and a columbian shark catfish. I have pretty high nitrates was wondering if this is because I am overstocked?
Is my tank overstocked???
- Thread starter david1517
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Hello; I guess you can get high nitrates in lightly stocked tanks but it likely takes longer.
Pretty much any solution to high nitrates has water changes (WC) as the main thing to do. Whatever the reason for the nitrates with enough volume and frequency of WC you can keep the levels reduced.
I will not go into the long winded version about plants but will condense it down to this. Yes plants use nitrates if you have lots of new growth and are willing to harvest (remove) mature plant parts.
You can also consider reduced feeding amounts and even include fasting days each week.
Did I mention lots of WC?
Google Diana Walstad (author of 'ecology of the planted aquarium'). She runs top-off only tanks for years, and many others copy her successfully. Most systems need WC or drip systems, but enough plants/algae can handle any amount of nitrate. WC is the only solution that can bring down nitrate instantly, though.
Hello; Back in the late 1950's I ran some tanks that way. It can be done with very light stocking in my experience.
A comment on topping off tanks and not doing WC. Seems to me the salts, minerals and such compounds stay behind during evaporation. That makes me think over time these salts and such not taken up by plants with accumulate in ever higher concentrations. Once the notion of regular WC got my attention I have not gone back to topping off.
I do now keep light stocking and live plants in most of my tanks. I am more careful to remove dead plant leaves and such so thru decay the nitrogen compounds do not go back into a tank. I also will prune and remove healthy plants when they get thick.
High nitrates are imo an indicator of being overstocked. It's evidence that the current tank size, maintenance systems, and maintenance procedures are inadequate for the current stock. Inadequate for the current stock means overstocked.
In your particular tank, the current tank size, maintenance systems, and maintenance procedures are only adequate for a much smaller stock. That means it's overstocked. You can of course make changes, some of which might drastically improve the situation.
To use an example, it's like an airplane that can't get off the ground when it has 10,000 lbs of freight. It's over loaded. One option is to add more engines or more powerful engines. Another is to reduce the amount of freight. But until changes are made it's still overloaded.
J J. H. and S skjl47 gave some great suggestions as changes you can make beside removing some fish.
In your particular tank, the current tank size, maintenance systems, and maintenance procedures are only adequate for a much smaller stock. That means it's overstocked. You can of course make changes, some of which might drastically improve the situation.
To use an example, it's like an airplane that can't get off the ground when it has 10,000 lbs of freight. It's over loaded. One option is to add more engines or more powerful engines. Another is to reduce the amount of freight. But until changes are made it's still overloaded.
J J. H. and S skjl47 gave some great suggestions as changes you can make beside removing some fish.
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Are there even plants for brackish aquariums? Also would it be easier for me to just slowly increase the salinity to full marine because I've heard the fish I have like it better anyways then I could add live rock? I really don't want to get rid of my fish I love them a lot. I think I may be overfeeding to be honest.
The Hudson River, which is brackish, has plenty of vals and milfoil. Mangroves will grow in brackish. I think I have seen brackish tanks with anubias as well. If you make a new thread about brackish water plants, you will get information from people who really have kept brackish tanks, not me whose total brackish experience consists of a few mollies and platies in a 10g.
Cut down on the feeding and monitor your parameters and if no reduction in Nitrate ppm then do what others suggest.