180gal with no substrate..

[ICoMe2ConQuER]

alright ladies and gents... i need some help tryin to figure this out...
i have a 180galllon tank with no substrate... with 5 PBass's in there,2rtc's..2pleco's...

my problem is i cannot keep my nitrites/nitrates down...
i have a 55g sump with plenty of bioballs and lava rock...
during everywater change i add the amquel declorinator also adding live biological to spped up the process with my media in the sump...
tank has been running for about 6months now... fish are really healthy always eating and breathing softly.. i see no problems... but im in the process of recieving FW ray... and i've been readin up on them and i hear or read that they are very sensitive to amonia.. well my nh3 & nh4 is high...
so i hope you guys can give me some advise and help... so i can plann for my ray... thanx. everyone!!!

 

[Hot Slime]

Well first off how big are the Pbasses,Plecos and RTC's? You might want to remove some fishes because your tank seens overstocked. You can try put some biomax in the sump for some extra bio filtration. You could also cut down on feeding. And yes, stingrays are sensitive fishes.

 

[Ric Foster]

If you show nitrites your tank is cycling. However, you say its been going for 6 months? I would think the test is bad. Get a new one and re check. If you have recently added any fish your tank will go through a mini cycle to cath up to the new bio load.

 

[ICoMe2ConQuER]

thanx ric..... how them O's doin...

 

[FSM]

there shouldn't be any nitrites. Nitrates are the end product of the biofiltration, so you need to do enough water changes to keep them where you want them.