The Puffer Forum

I have been away for 2 days & have come back to an ammonia reading of 1 . I thought that maybe one of the recently aquired hermit crabs must have died, so I stripped the tank down to locate them both - alive & well. The tank has been set up as BW for a couple of years & finally made it up to marine about 6-8 weeks ago. There are 2 GSP (about 2") in a 55 UK gallon tank with a sump (12-15 gal)/skimmer etc underneath. I also still have one small filter running until I am happy with the liverock doing its stuff. There is about 22kg liverock. The puffs have not been fed whilst I was away. Few pieces of soft corals, but apart from the 2 fish & 2 crabs, no other stock. Both fish seem fine (& are starving!). I have put in a dose of Prime whilst I prepare some water. Any suggestions as to where I am going wrong? Do I need more rock perhaps?

I see your problem, you said your filter was small.

Sounds like your rock doesn't have enough beneficial bacteria to support the waste produced. How did you get the rock?, dry and cured by you, from an established tank, what?

I agree--question the rock & how well it was cured.

The rock is from a guy I know - he breaks up & sells marine set-ups that are no longer wanted. He keeps the rock for 6-8 weeks to make sure all ok, then puts it into his display tanks to sell it on. The journey from him to me is only 20 minutes, so I don't think there would be any die-off & it didnt smell. It is beautiful to look at - pink & purple coralline algae, lots of life inside it too - stars & other creepy crawlies that are visible under moonlights. Would it really have taken this long for ammonia to show if there was a problem with the rock? Have I got enough of it for the size of the tank?

With regard to the filter being small - how do you think that is the problem - my plan is not to have a filter at all. I stopped using the big filter when it reached marine SG.

I don't agree with GSP on the filter (he's a child & new to this). How much LR is in there & what skimmer are you running? How big are the fish? What test kit are you using? Any nitrite/nitrate?

Pufferpunk wrote:I don't agree with GSP on the filter (he's a child & new to this). How much LR is in there & what skimmer are you running? How big are the fish? What test kit are you using? Any nitrite/nitrate?

Aww, bless him for trying to help.
About 22kg of rock. Skimmer is a TMC V2 Skim 400 (& appears to be working fine). The fish are just shy of 2" I reckon. Test kit is API liquid. Nitrite is zero & nitrate is <5. Phos is <0.25. I also test for KH/Mg/Ca+ using a Red Sea Kit.

The more I look at things, the more I can't understand the problem. Going to run the test again I think.

Let us know how your next test goes. The first thing that comes to my mind is your flow rate. Do you have a good amount of water flow blowing all over your live rock?

Test the same I'm afraid - still 1. I have 2 of the new hydor koralia evolution (the 4000l/h) one at each end. Also the flow from the internal filter (that I will eventually remove) & the flow from the returning water to the tank from the sump. (the sump pumps 2000 lits/hr, although I have it tuned down a little, so about 1500l/hr). The movement in the tank seems ok - the puffs get a little buffeted around from time to time if they get in the area of main flow - they seem to enjoy the extra current though & come back for more! Sometimes I detach the powerheads & blow them behind the rocks to make sure no debris is caught up anywhere.

Keep throwing ideas at me - there has to be something somewhere!

Just had a thought - the only thing that has changed - about a week ago I got a giant feather duster (thought it would be easy to look after, but I have since learned that this may not be the case). Anyway, I have it, so I will do my best. I bought some phytoplankton liquid that is kept in the fridge & a spot feeder pipette & started using this about 4 days ago. Just wondered what happens to any of the phytoplankton that is not eaten - could that cause any problems or is that just a silly question!

bigfatfish wrote: The tank has been set up as BW for a couple of years & finally made it up to marine about 6-8 weeks ago.

how old is the test kit?

have you tested the tap water just to make a comparison and ensure that the kit is still reading accurate?

Its not the kit I started out with. Its maybe 3-4 months old. Water reads zero.

Any thoughts on the phytoplankton?

bigfatfish wrote:

Pufferpunk wrote:I don't agree with GSP on the filter (he's a child & new to this). How much LR is in there & what skimmer are you running? How big are the fish? What test kit are you using? Any nitrite/nitrate?

Aww, bless him for trying to help.
About 22kg of rock. Skimmer is a TMC V2 Skim 400 (& appears to be working fine). The fish are just shy of 2" I reckon. Test kit is API liquid. Nitrite is zero & nitrate is <5. Phos is <0.25. I also test for KH/Mg/Ca+ using a Red Sea Kit.

The more I look at things, the more I can't understand the problem. Going to run the test again I think.

Not a child
And when asking the same people who are saying I'm wrong what equipment to get for a tank with live rock and a protein skimmer. They said not to skimp on the filter"Go Big" remember

I think they were referring to a sump,...not a filter. There's a difference. I figured you prolly meant sump.

Blaine wrote:I think they were referring to a sump,...not a filter. There's a difference. I figured you prolly meant sump.

No I asked "what size HOB AquaClear" and someone said "Go big".