semi high nitrates and nirtrites

[kuzamu]

Hi, Can someone tell me what to do to lower these? i feed my fish 4-5times a day.
i have 6 clown fish, 8 green/blue chromi's, 2 blood shrimp, 2 cleaner shrimp, 1 pipe fish, 1 bicolored blennie, 1 yellow watchman goby, and 1 diamond orange spotted gobie in a 40 gal tank. please help...i will be taking out the chromi's (good luck to me there wicked fast).

[kuzamu]

during feeding time i feed them 2 frozen cubes of mysis shrimp in the morning then 2 at night(i unfreeze them in a cup of water), and in between i feed flake a couple of times.

[JamesD]

Feed less and reduce your stocking by more than 50%...

You have well over 40" of fish once they reach maturity, and thats a conservative calculation - way, way, way to much. Even with the chromis gone your probably still overstocked. Eventually your clowns will start in-fighting as well.

You probably have nitrite because you biological filter is unable to cope with such a rediculously high bio load, and your nitrates are just a by product of what is being broken down.

Whilst i dont know what bio filtration you have, it'd have to be pretty damn good to keep up with anything anywhere near that amount of waste.

[kuzamu]

i have a carbon filter and sponges in my canister.i was thinking about giving 3 clowns to my dad... would 3 be fine in there?

[reefvilla]

Hi, Can someone tell me what to do to lower these? i feed my fish 4-5times a day.
i have 6 clown fish, 8 green/blue chromi's, 2 blood shrimp, 2 cleaner shrimp, 1 pipe fish, 1 bicolored blennie, 1 yellow watchman goby, and 1 diamond orange spotted gobie in a 40 gal tank. please help...i will be taking out the chromi's (good luck to me there wicked fast).

Thats craziness!!! :hammer:

WAY too many fish in there and WAY, WAY too much feeding going on. How can you Not have Nitrites/Nitrates!
You gotta get rid of some fish, maybe feed 1 cube a day and do some water changes to get the water back in check.

2 clowns would be better so they might pair up. 3 is just asking for one to be bullied.

[bertoni]

Moved to New to the Hobby for more views.

I agree that there are far too many fish to support, and far too much food being added.

[dwd5813]

you definitely need to reduce that fish list. that group of clowns probably has a pair you could cull out and keep, and the rest need new homes. a group of clowns will tend to end up with a dominant fish turning female, a subdominant fish turning male, and the rest being harassed, and possibly killed off. after that and taking out the chromis as you state is your plan, you will be down to a much more manageable fishload. i might rehome the diamond goby too.

once you get the list down, you need to turn your focus to your feeding methods. 4-5 times a day is a LOT to feed your tank and a lot to ask of your biofilter. cut that down to 1-2 feedings a day and keep up with your water changes. keep testing to know how you're doing and get more aggressive with the frequency/volume of water changes as necessary to bring those numbers in line.

[kuzamu]

Thx everybody for your input, the people at big als say that it is fine...wat a bunch of [profanity].

[reefvilla]

Thx everybody for your input, the people at big als say that it is fine...[profanity].

Well if it is, they gonna let you know about it! ;) (pretty sure they frown on that)

Your best bet is not to listen to Big Al and do some research and learning on your own. Saltwater is a time consuming hobby to do it right.

[dwd5813]

good luck.

[bertoni]

Those are not good words to use, and quoting them in a response isn't much better.

[reefvilla]

Those are not good words to use, and quoting them in a response isn't much better.

Didn't even think about that... sorry.:wavehand:

[kuzamu]

sorry for the profanity, all my fish are still babys does that make a difference?

[bertoni]

:lol: