need help with my levels

[prettyeeyoregir]

i have a 55 gallon tank with live sand and 65lbs of dead rock no smell just not cured in my tank with 2 live rocks to help seed the dead i have 2 emperor 400 filters 1 octopus protine skimmer and a 70 power head i have 1 fire fish 1 clown fish 1 diamond goby 1 blenny 1 large snail 1 large hermit crab and about 10 small crabs and a star fish i just got the api master test kit and checked my water and this is what it said PH 7.8 ammonia 0ppm nitrite 0.25 and nitrate was 80ppm and salt level was1.028 i dont have any corals what am i doing wrong and what do i need to do to fix all of this?

[Uncle Salty 05]

Lose the large hermit crab, he will kill your snails and small hermits.
What kind of starfish do you have?
The fact that you still have readable nitrite means that your cycle is not completed.
Your salinity is just a touch high, you can lower it by removing some water from the tank and replacing it with RO/DI water. Do you have an RO/DI unit?
80ppm nitrate is pretty high but you need to wait until your nitrite level is zero then do a large water change, say 50%.

[prettyeeyoregir]

ok thank you no i do not have a ro/di unit my hermit crab hasnt killed anything my diamond goby has killed all my small snails cause he wanted to have the shells for his holes. lol oh well. i have not done a water change yet and i am going on 2 montes with the tank up and running but i was told not to when cycling. and i started a new cycle when i added all the rock am i right

[prettyeeyoregir]

oh its a brittle starfish

[Uncle Salty 05]

Are you using tap water or buying your water from a LFS?
If you don't have an RO/DI unit you might want to consider getting one. It will save you a lot of headaches down the road.
Brittle stars are pretty sensitive animals, if yours is still healthy then your water quality is not that bad.
Just keep your feeding to a minimum (small amount every other day) until your nitrites are gone, then do a big water change.
What kind of hermit is your big one? If it is a scarlet reef hermit you might be OK. If it is jus a common red hermit crab (hairy legs) it is only a matter of time before he starts killing things. I have seen those things get as big as a softball.

[RocketSurgeon]

following along.

[stingythingy45]

2 emperor 400 filters

Get rid of these and just run the skimmer.
You don't need filters,just the skimmer.

[Uncle Salty 05]

Originally Posted by stingythingy45

2 emperor 400 filters

Get rid of these and just run the skimmer.
You don't need filters,just the skimmer.

I disagree. Just keep them clean. Do not let them go more than two weeks without the media being rinsed in RO water or they will start producing nitrate.
After you rinse them you'll see why I think you should keep them.
I am NOT a believer in zero mechanical filtration.
My 180 is over 16 years old and over the years my mechanical filtration has removed an unbelieveable amount of detritus.

[prettyeeyoregir]

ok how much of a small water change should i do? for now

[stingythingy45]

A skimmer is mechanical filtration.

I'd do at least 20 gallons with ro/di water used with the salt.

[Uncle Salty 05]

Originally Posted by prettyeeyoregir

ok how much of a small water change should i do? for now

I wouldn't do any water change until your nitrites are gone.
But keep the media in your PFs clean. Rinse it every week to 10 days in RO/DI water.

[Uncle Salty 05]

Originally Posted by stingythingy45

A skimmer is mechanical filtration.

I'd do at least 20 gallons with ro/di water used with the salt.

Filter pads, filter socks and foam blocks are mechanical filtration.
A protein skimmer is a protein skimmer.
Until your cycle is finished I would not recommend a water change.

[TonyHNYC]

Tank may be completing the cycling process...definitely some water changes to get the nitrate down. No sensitive corals yet... Everyone goes through the same phase when we start...Probably looking at around 6 weeks before your nitrite and ammonia zeros out and higher values in nitrate. By that point, you should have some algae bloom and that may zero out too
Keep the feeding low for now..your fish and inverts wont starve...I am sure your crabs have plenty of algae to eat....
Filters? hey...if it works for you, great! Stick with it...Just keep them clean...That's another animal to discuss but in the mean time, doing some water changes wont hurt....

[RcToners]

Originally Posted by Uncle Salty 05

I wouldn't do any water change until your nitrites are gone.
But keep the media in your PFs clean. Rinse it every week to 10 days in RO/DI water.

I would do a water change and not wait for the nitrates. The water change will reduce the nitrates so they dont get to kill levels.

[Uncle Salty 05]

Originally Posted by RcToners

I would do a water change and not wait for the nitrates. The water change will reduce the nitrates so they dont get to kill levels.

I said nitrItes not nitrAtes.
Nitrates are not lethal to fish.
PEG be careful who you take advice from.

[TonyHNYC]

and dont forget the inverts in there? I am not sure if they have a high tolerance of Nitrites or Nitrates...

Originally Posted by Uncle Salty 05

I said nitrItes not nitrAtes.
Nitrates are not lethal to fish.
PEG be careful who you take advice from.

[Uncle Salty 05]

How long has this tank been set up?

[julie180]

Why would you not do a water changes to help reduce the nitrites?

[RcToners]

Originally Posted by Uncle Salty 05

I said nitrItes not nitrAtes.
Nitrates are not lethal to fish.
PEG be careful who you take advice from.

I simply stated my opinion, this forum is to share opinions and experiences, in my opinion I would do a water change to reduce the higher levels in the tank. Yes nitrates are lethal to fish depending on the levels, while some fish can tolerate higher levels its simply not advised as it does cause stress, anything over 20 ppm can start to cause stress depending on the fish.

I just re read your post and it looks like you are saying simply dont do water changes during the cycle? I could be reading it wrong but is that what you are trying to say ?

[prettyeeyoregir]

my tank has been up and running for 7 weeks now but i just added rock so i was told it would do another cycle. how often should i test the water? all my fish seam to be doing good for now i have only lost 2 cromis my hole cycle and 1 died cause it got sucked into an intake for the skimmer it got to close so we got a thing to go over it so they dont get sucked up. and one just vanished dont know where it went

[prettyeeyoregir]

also diatoms that is a brown algae right? does it grow strands on the tank wall? should i clean it off of my walls?

[Uncle Salty 05]

Originally Posted by julie180

Why would you not do a water changes to help reduce the nitrites?

When a tank is cycling you want the nitrites in the water for the bacteria that converts them to nitrates to feed on.
If you do a water change and reduce the nitrite level it will reduce the bio-load your beneficial bacteria can process.

[Uncle Salty 05]

Originally Posted by RcToners

I simply stated my opinion, this forum is to share opinions and experiences, in my opinion I would do a water change to reduce the higher levels in the tank. Yes nitrates are lethal to fish depending on the levels, while some fish can tolerate higher levels its simply not advised as it does cause stress, anything over 20 ppm can start to cause stress depending on the fish.

I just re read your post and it looks like you are saying simply dont do water changes during the cycle? I could be reading it wrong but is that what you are trying to say ?

Yes that is what I am saying. If you do a water change during your cycle you reduce the bio-load your tank can process.
Nitrites are lethal to fish, nitrates are not. If your nitrates are high enough to kill fish you would have to be purposely adding them. Corals are another story.
Sorry but you did more than express an opinion, you were giving bad advice.

[julie180]

Your chromis probably was dead or very sick before it got to the skimmer. A healthy fish would not have gotten stuck. As far as the other one, how many of them did you start with? I have heard that if you have a bunch, they will kill each other down to a pair.

[RcToners]

Originally Posted by Uncle Salty 05

Yes that is what I am saying. If you do a water change during your cycle you reduce the bio-load your tank can process.
Nitrites are lethal to fish, nitrates are not. If your nitrates are high enough to kill fish you would have to be purposely adding them. Corals are another story.
Sorry but you did more than express an opinion, you were giving bad advice.

Oh I see you were passing on the worst myth in the history of saltwater tanks. Water changes during a cycle do not prolong the cycle, during your cycle is pretty much the best time to do frequent and large water changes.
Here is a good read for you that may help you understand a bit more http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-04/newbie/index.php

Nitrates 101,

Nitrates are lethal to fish plain and simple, while not as lethal as amonia or nitrites they are none the less lethal at high numbers. You continue to state that they are not but you are simply wrong. As previously stated anything over 20ppm begins to stress fish resulting in an overall unhealthy appearance, the higher the nitrates go the more stressed the fish, the more stressed the fish the more prone to infection and disease resulting with 100% certainty death.