Filtration Concern....Advise appreciated.

[mudslinger]

I've got a 75gallon tank. It's been running for about 1 1/2 years. It has 120lbs of live rock that's showing coraline algae growth, a 3 inch sand/crushed coral bed. Currently housing 2 clowns, 1 foxface Rabbitfish, 1 sailfin tang with head and lateral line erosion, 1 bi color pseudochromis, 1 Fiji damsel, large colony of button polyps, mid size colony of yellow polyps, 1 small colony of Orange/green zoo's. It's filtration consists of 2 Emperor 400's with the regular filter pad and the media baskets filled with ceramic rings, 2 Rena xp2 canisters with regular sponges, bio balls and ceramic rings and some polishing pads. My salinity stays between 1.023 and 1.026. I'm having problems getting the nitrates to go down. Should I ditch all the extra bio media and let the live rock and live sand do its thing. Just keep the canisters running for mechanical filtration and water circulation? I have slacked on maintenance and that's my fault I admit it. Just wondering if I have a nitrate factory on my hands.

 

[FLESHY]

What are your nitrates at?

How often do you clean out your canisters? You should at least once a month.

How often, and what % h2o changes do you do?

Do you clean your sand bed? It may be compacted with waste which could be contributing to the problem.

Stocking and feeding could also be sources of the issue.

Tangs with HITH and LLE are usually victims of h2o quality and lack of dietary needs.

 

[bioneck47]

The sailfin with hlle could also be from the tank size. How big is he? Ever consider adding a protein skimmer? I'd ditch the bio-media, you have plenty with all of the lr

 

[FLESHY]

The sailfin with hlle could also be from the tank size. How big is he? Ever consider adding a protein skimmer? I'd ditch the bio-media, you have plenty with all of the lr

HLLE is not from tank size.

+1 that this fish needs a MUCH larger aquarium, one of at least 6' in length...but that isnt what is causing the HLLE.

 

[bioneck47]

HLLE is not from tank size.

+1 that this fish needs a MUCH larger aquarium, one of at least 6' in length...but that isnt what is causing the HLLE.

I've kept plenty of tangs and angelfish over the past 10 years and the stress from being in a small tank over a long period of time can and will lead to hlle, I've seen it. Especially if there's other fish picking on it, which is common in smaller tanks. There are still several other reasons why fish get HLLE and many of them are still up for debate. Like the use of carbon for instance. I also know that even a slight amount of copper in the tank will cause it as well. Your best bet is to improve water quality and keep your parameters in check. I've also had success using a product called fish solutions which helped very much.


HLLE is a condition that results from extreme amount of stress. Kind of like when humans lose their hair.

 

[mudslinger]

Tangs about 4 inches. From watching the tank I've not seen him being picked on. The foxface and he are together constantly. I have noticed the LLE is progressively getting better as I am doing weekly 12 gallon water changes. I've backed off of feeding also. I'm going to slowly start removing the bio media.

 

[bioneck47]

good to hear, usually elevated nitrates don't affect most fish too much unless they're really high (like 80+).Also supplementing fresh garlic into the diet can help substantially. There's lots of thing you can do to help speed things along to recovery. I've reversed hlle on several tangs and a couple of angels in a short period of time. Some take longer to heal and some actually may never heal. The key is early detection, which it looks like you're on top of. Good Luck!

 

[FLESHY]

I've kept plenty of tangs and angelfish over the past 10 years and the stress from being in a small tank over a long period of time can and will lead to hlle, I've seen it. Especially if there's other fish picking on it, which is common in smaller tanks. There are still several other reasons why fish get HLLE and many of them are still up for debate. Like the use of carbon for instance. I also know that even a slight amount of copper in the tank will cause it as well. Your best bet is to improve water quality and keep your parameters in check. I've also had success using a product called fish solutions which helped very much.


HLLE is a condition that results from extreme amount of stress. Kind of like when humans lose their hair.

I as well have a lot of experience keeping tangs...

They get this because of water quality...and nutrition.

Smaller tanks are more prone to h2o quality issues, and have less area for them to graze...hence the small tank correlation.

These same conditions cause stress, but it is not the stress in itself that causes the HLLE.

Think of it this way. In aquaria, a fish has no predators, and gets pampered and fed several times a day...thats a pretty carefree life.

In the ocean it has to constantly be on alert for predators, compete for food, mates, territory...etc...

That is stress. So by those standards, all wild fish should have it. I can promise you that a properly fed tang, in a properly maintained tank will not develop HLLE.

Tangs about 4 inches. From watching the tank I've not seen him being picked on. The foxface and he are together constantly. I have noticed the LLE is progressively getting better as I am doing weekly 12 gallon water changes. I've backed off of feeding also. I'm going to slowly start removing the bio media.

Water quality improves, and so does the condition.

good to hear, usually elevated nitrates don't affect most fish too much unless they're really high (like 80+).Also supplementing fresh garlic into the diet can help substantially. There's lots of thing you can do to help speed things along to recovery. I've reversed hlle on several tangs and a couple of angels in a short period of time. Some take longer to heal and some actually may never heal. The key is early detection, which it looks like you're on top of. Good Luck!

If you are running tanks at over 20ppm...in ANY capacity as far as I am concerned, you need to seriously change something in your program. If any of my tanks got to 20 I would be doing a big h2o change. No reason to do that to your animals.

 

[bioneck47]

Your wasting your time trying to keep your nitrates under 20 in a fowlr. MOST fish show absolutely no ill affect on nitrates that low. Just because you've read that somewhere doesn't mean it's true. After a while you get a good feel for what your fish need and I don't even test for nitrates in both my fowlr's anymore and they are just as healthy as my reef fishes. In a reef, yes, I wouldn't go anywhere close to even 5ppm, but in a fowlr nitrates at that level are not a big deal. As far as the tank size issue, there have been experiments performed by fish keepers on SWF.com that actually showed the tank size/hlle dilemma that we are discussing here. I'll try to find it, but I can guarantee you that the tank size does in fact play an issue, but I really don't want to argue over it because we can go on forever with it

 

[FLESHY]

Im paid to take care of fish.

So with that in mind, and also knowing that I have a 125g FOWLR of my own...I can tell you that keeping your nitrates under 20 is not an issue. And shouldnt be either.

I explained to you why "tank size" plays an issue into HLLE...but I agree.