Help! Coral ID & Nitrate problem?

[wedgee]

Hello gang, this is my first month into reef keeping, and luckily not much casualties as yet (except one bullied damsel and 4 snails)... Seems to be doing ok for now, but the usual NO3 problem exists, even though i have a skimmer, change water every week (10%) and have a mini DSB in my overflow compartment...

Q: Anyone knows why the NO3 is so high yet the corals are fine? Here's my tank:

[wedgee]

Q: Wat is this? Issit a Polyp colony? A sea mat? Wat care does it require? Bought this cheap at Havelock Road LFS

[wedgee]

Q: This is an Orange Finger issit? I think they need supply of food and are non-photosynthetic rite? (got clues from a previous thread here...) They tend to collapse and rise frequently...wats up?

[wedgee]

Sorry if this page too picture intensive, but got another one, hope u guys can teach me abt...looks like a bubble coral, but slightly different leh?

[Tanzy]

The stuff in the first pic are colonial anemones, usually Zoanthids. They are pretty tough stuff and will grow quickly in sheet like colonies if given sufficient light.

The second pic is of a Dendronephthya spp., not photosynthetic but can be kept if well fed. Collapsing cycle seems normal of this species and it is thought that the changes is to adapt to water movement.

The third is of a Physogyra spp. quite similar to Plerogyra sinuosa(Bubble coral). It is a LPS that requires medium light and will regulate the amount of light it receives by the size of the bubbles. It dislikes strong currents that will tear the delicate tissue over the sharp septa of the coral skeleton. It can be fed with meaty food. Beware of strong and long sweeper tentacles it can put out especially at night.

[wedgee]

....OK think i better not put any more pics here, wait get thrown out by AT, heheh....

1. Anyways, can anyone enlighten me wat's causing my high Nitrates? (I see red on the Sera Test kit result, and i dont even bother to narrow it down to exact numbers, sigh...) Btw, the NO3 seems to have risen after i removed bio balls from one compartment of my overflow and replaced it with sand (as advised by a guy from Redsea Balestier)!!! I still have bio balls in another compartment, so wat gives? I even removed the balls slowly over a week...

2. Wat effects do high nitrates over a long period of time have on corals?

3. Are those NO3 reducing solutions sold in LFS effective against controlling NO3?

4. How come my green 'bubble' occasionally spits brown and white slime out from its 'mouth'? Esp when i change water...

THANX IN ADVANCE

[Achilles Tang]

Q: Anyone knows why the NO3 is so high yet the corals are fine?

To answer your nitrates question,

Nitrates are near the end of the nitrogen cycle... resulting from ammonia > nitrites > nitrates.

The source could be cycling your tank or introduction of food that decays... now all you need is a media that will process your NO3 effectively... I recommend a DSB for that purpose (at least 4 inches if you use #1 sand) or ample amounts of liverock.

A good protein skimmer will also help in getting rid of dissolved organics.

Your regular water changes help in some way to export the nitrates... but it could turn out to be costly if you can't solve your nitrate problems... if you want to get rid of nitrates in a hurry... you can use AZNO3 (www.fishnfriends.com and look for Reno). It works wonderously in removing nitrates to zero in a couple of days but you have to use it with a skimmer.

[wedgee]

if you want to get rid of nitrates in a hurry... you can use AZNO3 (www.fishnfriends.com and look for Reno). It works wonderously in removing nitrates to zero in a couple of days but you have to use it with a skimmer.

Yes! Dats the product i was thinking of!!! Wat i dont know is; does it mean i have to use it frequently and regularly? (if i don't remove the source, it'd keep coming back right?); how do u use it with the skimmer?

Btw, i have this approx. 5 in' cube of sand in my overflow compartment, below the filter sponge and carbon and stuff....does it work in reducing my NO3? Or does the DSB need to be INSIDE the tank, as the substrate???

[Tanzy]

Is your sand sitting on the bottom of the sump? What's the flow like over the surface? Is the sand being used as a surface for aerobic nitrifying bacteria similar to bioball?

A DSB will work whether it is in the sump or in the main tank.

[wedgee]

Ya it's on the bottom, where it's covered by the phosphate sponge and various filter media, but there is a gap at the bottom of this compartment, which allows for water to sorta flow in too...will try to put up a pic by tomolo so can see if it actually can serve as a DSB? I also dont know wat kinda purpose the sand serves now, actually...thot i could use it as a NO3 killer...

Btw thanx guys, for yr quick replies, appreciate it...

[Achilles Tang]

I would not agree on most LFS's method of putting sand or coral chips in a sump compartment that allows water to go through... it's a pseudo-plenum (different in the sense that water goes through it very fast!)... IMO, it becomes a detritus trap, nothing more.

A DSB or plenum is supposed to be deep enough to make the bottom layer very low in oxygen where the anerobic bacteria will thrive, and these bacteria are the only ones that process nitrates.

If your sump compartment is like a tank... then you can have a DSB ie. water only flows past the top, not through the sandbed.

I used to have this setup, followed the examples set by LFS.... and to me, it only works to a certain degree... I think.

As for the AZno3... its a stop-gap measure, good for emergencies but you have to think about a cheap, simple and long-term solution...IMO, a deep sandbed.

[hongqixian]

Hey can someone fill me in on how the AZNO3 stuff works?

[Tanzy]

It's a trade secret and anything they say to explain how it works probably won't make any sense!

I've used it before and it works, wonders too! It can decrease nitrate from 100ppm to 50ppm over a week, serious! Once you stop using it, the nitrates shoot right back up again. One thing I noticed is that a bright red slime (not cyano or dino) forms when I use it. This red slime has an affinity for calcium carbonate surfaces and I found it in the pumps, in the pipes, the calcium deposits in the sump and even the sand was stained pink. I have no idea what it is. Coral and fish were totally unaffected by it. Az-NO3 works but a 99% waterchange is cheaper.

[Phang]

Hi Wedgee,

What's the dimensions of your tank...

cos from the way you mentioned your setup, it seems like you have a inbuilt sump...

And I have corals before who do fare well under high nitrates levels but they definitely fare better under lower levels of nitrates...

Do take note that some invertebrates perish under high levels....

[loonz]

Wedgee,

to answer your question 4, sounds like it was expelling zooxanthellae. If I'm not wrong, that's the stuff that photosynthesize and provide food for photosynthetic corals. Perhaps your light source is inadequate, hence the expulsion, but i believe some of the guys here would have a better explanation.

[reef]

where can I get livesand in singapore?

[loonz]

i think you can't

[Tanzy]

From other people's reef, if you ask or steal, you can get livesand. You risk getting bad things along with good things if you get it this way. Best to leave the sand and it will become live by itself over time. Stuff in the LR will migrate into the sand.

[reef]

so where to get fine coarse sand? LFS doesn't seem to carry except fine coral chips which are 2-3mm grain size.

[Tanzy]

Fine Coarse sand? Paradox? Oxymoron? Huh?

You can try glass beads or use silicon dioxide beach sand.

[wedgee]

I think it probably is the light, Loonz...the algae growth under dat so-called aqualux Actinic PL seems to be especially luscious too...will be changing it when i get my next paycheck heheh

[newdamsel]

I wonder if i see wrongly, but i do see big fat coral chips in your main tank? Or issit the pic? IMO, the coral chips could trap alot of deritus and thus overtime, you'll get higher and higher nitrate building up. Get a gravel washer, adn u'll realise how much shit there is in the coral chips~! I dugged up my old set up and recycled my whole tank again.. maybe it was a futile attempt but what the heck, #1 sand looks so much better... just cant get argonite.. sigh

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Newdamsel, if you are interested in aragonite, I believe you can get it from Sealife and I think its quite expensive. Seen it before in a big packet quite some time back. Think its the CaribSea brand or something like that. Sam also sells it loose (by weight) if you so request.

[newdamsel]

Thanx Stenopus, is aragonite even finer than #1 ?? Anyway, i gave up on aragonite due to its cost and my inability to get it... sitting in my tank is #1.... hope things is just as good...

[Tanzy]

Aragonite is a type of calcium carbonate crystal, just like calcite. It comes in a variety of sizes. Oolithic(egg shaped) aragonite is probably what you are looking for and they finer than size 1 sand, they are about as fine as sugar.