Can inverts that live under the sand, and die cause problems?

[Morledzep]

Hey, I am intrigued by this. I have never heard of anyone using this for saltwater, and am curious about how it works. The TDS of natural seawater is like 30,000ppm to 40,000ppm, so how do you judge the range for salt water?

lol, ya got me on that one.. i've never seen a reading that high on my TDS meter. i would have to ask my sister (right after hell freezes over again).

 

[Pufferpunk]

You test the TDS of your RODI water, before you mix in the salt.

 

[Pazzoman]

Pazzo...you need to start getting witnesses and documenting the nitrate levels on aquariums you know of!

Im sure that there is a place in the Guinness book of world records for you my friend.

Just messing.

Lmfao I should contact them right? LOL!!! I have about 60-70 pounds of live rock and my aunt has about 50 to 60 pounds.

Her tank is a 50 gallon corner.

All my fish and inverts are eating fine, I actually added more hermits to clean up what ever maybe lying around my rocks.

I've had my tank for a year in a half...guessing still a noob !!!....what can I say u live and learn.

 

[Pazzoman]

Canister filters on SW tanks are considered nitrate factories. How much live rock is in there? Does she haver a good protein skimmer?

She has the same skimmer I have, The Sea-clone rated for 100 gallon tanks

 

[thisissimple]

the three things you have to worry about are ammonia, nitrite and nitrates..

if you have ammonia in a cycled tank you probably have a dead fish or rotten meat somewhere in the tank.

nitrites are by far the most dangerous, even small levels of nitrite can kill fish, it's part of the cycling process, but if your tank is properly cycled you should have no nitrite. if you do, your BB has crashed and you need to do massive water changes, clean your filter and add some BB from another source or you could lose your fish quite quickly.

nitrates is the natural by-product of the BB life cycle. high amounts can hurt your fish over the long run, but it won't kill them outright like ammonia and nitrites will. nitrates are easy to control with regular water changes and in most well maintained tanks it should run between 20 ppm and 60 ppm. in seriously overstocked tanks it would run a bit higher.

if you're serious about your water quality you should look for a TDS meter (that is Total Disolved Solids), i worry more about TDS than anything else, it is a sign of a seriously dirty tank. i do 30% water changes every time the TDS goes over 400 according to my meter.

the trouble with the low limit i've set for my tanks is that the water coming out of my tap has higher TDS than what i consider dirty water in my tanks, i have an RO/DI filter that removes all but 3 -5 ppm TDS (and all the chloramines and crap that the city water is required to have that will kill my fish) that i do my water changes with.

You test the TDS of your RODI water, before you mix in the salt.

Yes, I know, but that isn't what he was refering to. See above.

She has the same skimmer I have, The Sea-clone rated for 100 gallon tanks

Ouch.

 

[Pazzoman]

ouch in a good way?

 

[FLESHY]

ouch in a good way?

No...ouch as in...that is commonly referred to as the worst skimmer in the hobby. They are a pain to get set up just right, and even then arent the best.

I dont get down on them as hard as most people because I had one for a couple years and it DID work better than nothing, and because it was my first skimmer (I got it with my used system) I had nothing to compare it against. Look into AquaC...not too expensive, and a world of difference. Also very user/beginner friendly.

You test the TDS of your RODI water, before you mix in the salt.

Have you ever used this system? This isnt even a method I would use for freshwater. There are so many other things other than nitrate dissolved in your water that this seems to be a poor method. I would love to hear someone that is experienced with it explain the science behind it.

Lmfao I should contact them right? LOL!!! I have about 60-70 pounds of live rock and my aunt has about 50 to 60 pounds.

Her tank is a 50 gallon corner.

All my fish and inverts are eating fine, I actually added more hermits to clean up what ever maybe lying around my rocks.

I've had my tank for a year in a half...guessing still a noob !!!....what can I say u live and learn.

Back to the point of this thread, what are your nitrate levels now?

 

[Pazzoman]

Ok the nitrates are once again between 80 to 160ppm....ammonia and nitrites are 0 at least. The PH is at 8.2...

Any recommendations?

Ok new skimmer is one. I'll tell my aunt the same.

 

[fishy12]

IMO yes if they start to decay under water and form a gas pocket of bad gases then yes if you expose it to the tank it may be a problem it will increase ammonia levels to deadly levels probably

 

[Pazzoman]

I'm probably going to do another large water change today....would it be too soon if I did a 40% yesterday? I think my fish are pretty hardy for another water change.