Cent36 nitrate issues

[cent36]

The only critters ot will make it too are the ones in the crushed coral.

Sorry, not sure I got that....

 

[cent36]

So if I take the coral out, I effectively don't have a fuge....right?

 

[zombie]

Sorry, not sure I got that....

Any food that makes it to the sump will get trapped in the crushed coral that it has to flow up to and wont make it to the fuge to feed those critters. A few amphipods will crawl through there, but there wont be much life in the up flow crushed coral to break down detritus.

 

[zombie]

So if I take the coral out, I effectively don't have a fuge....right?

You do want a substrate, but it should be a bed of substrate. The ideal system for a single sump design IMO is like this image with the bioballs and sponges removed.

 

[cent36]

[attachment=67103:name]

Here is a pic Bear in mind there is a skimmer in the right Chamber and a black sponge filter over the Floss

 

[zombie]

That makes a lot more sense. I thought you meant crushed coral in a bubble trap. That should work fine the way you have it.

 

[cent36]

but you see that it flows from right to left overflowing from the skimmer chamber down through a bubble trap and then under the coral and back UP through it to overflow through another bubble trap DOWN through a black sponge filter, then filter floss and finally into the pump chamber.

 

[zombie]

Didnt see that flow was blocked by the third baffle from the right. Definately not ideal, but you could work with the way you have it designed. Get yourself a several large pieces of foam and insert them into the first bubble trap. Every few days remove the piece of foam with a clean one so detritus can be removed instead of accumulating underneath the refugium where you cant get to it. Rinse the heck out of the dirty one and soak it in vinegar so it van later be reused.

 

[cent36]

Well, not blocked. Just some egg crate to keep the floss and filter sponge in place. Water flows DOWN through that to the pump chamber.

When you say foam, do you mean the black filter sponge?

 

[zombie]

I was referring to the area right underneath the fuge section. Since water cant flow directly through that area to the pump section, a ton of detritus will build up underneath the fuge where you cant access it to remove it. A filter sponge in the down section right after the skimmer section will give you an easy place to catch and remove detritus before it accumulates. Once your tank cycles a bit more, you will need some detrivores right underneath the fuge to eat anything the sponge doesnt catch. A bottle of amphipods or a peppermint shrimp could work there.

 

[cent36]

, yeah, but how will I get the shrimp out?

also, will the amphipods work their way up through the gravel? what about them multiplying?

 

[zombie]

, yeah, but how will I get the shrimp out?

also, will the amphipods work their way up through the gravel? what about them multiplying?

Getting the shrimp out could be difficult, . Some of the amphipods will work through the gravel, but the tend to stay where the food is. I have some in every nook and cranny of my sump and they do good work. They will multiply to match the amount of available food and then their population will level off. They are one of the best critters you can have in your system.

 

[cent36]

Ok cool. Not knowing about them I was concerned about them overpopulating and causing more problems. I take it that as they die off the living easy the dead? And fish eat them too, right so if they do slip through its just a tasty snack

 

[zombie]

Ok cool. Not knowing about them I was concerned about them overpopulating and causing more problems. I take it that as they die off the living easy the dead? And fish eat them too, right so if they do slip through its just a tasty snack

Yep. They are herbivores and detrivores so they will eat uneaten food, algae, phytoplankton, their own dead, etc. They make very tasty snacks, my mandarin loves them.

 

[cent36]

where is the best place to pick them up?

On another note, now that I have the brown algae for sure, my friend recommended that I just let it go and after a week or so, it will clear up on it's own. How true is that and what should I be looking for / doing?

 

[Vdubjetta01]

where is the best place to pick them up?

On another note, now that I have the brown algae for sure, my friend recommended that I just let it go and after a week or so, it will clear up on it's own. How true is that and what should I be looking for / doing?

You can pick them up in a bottle from a lfs, you can add them to your sump that doesn't have any predators and they will multiply. You can also culture them youraelf with that bottle but that will involve setting up another tank. Depedning on where you got and transported your chaeto yoy probably got some that were living in there.

If it's diatoms which is more than likely is yes it will clear it's self up in a couple of weeks, it comsumes all the silicates in your system and then goes away.

 

[jda123]

They will likely die if you nitrates are high. At best, they just won't thrive and eventually die. They will come on their own as you add coral and live rock.

Just stop everything and wait. You will make stuff worse if you keep on trying to intervene. It takes months and months for a tank to cycle, not a few weeks. Just feed your fish and chill out until your nitrates come down on their own. There is no way to cheat this.

 

[cent36]

Should I be cleaning these brown diatoms, or should I let them run rife until they die off?

 

[zombie]

Only while doing a waterchange where you can siphon out what you are cleaning.

 

[cent36]

yeah, I know that is WHEN to clean them, during or just before a water change. What I'm asking is....since my tank is cycling and I'm near the end, do I clean them each week, OR do I just leave them alone until they finally die out?

And don't you ever sleep? you must live on here.