protien skimmer nessisary? plz help nitrate at 20

[bigcoop]

hey,
30 gal tank
1 month old
auqaclear power filter 300gal and hour
2 clown fish
20 cleaners (snails, hermits,starfish...)
20 pounds live rock
bunch of coral small peices

i do not over feed. i use the plankton that comes in a contaner that has to stay in the fridge. use 2 times a week a capful. and to feed clown fish i use a pinch of flake food every other day. they always eat it all none is really wasted.

water is crystal clear everything is happy. but my nitrate level stays around 20. i would like it to be less then 1.

is a protien skimmer my best bet. or could i add another auqaclear filter?
heres the filter http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...10&pcatid=3610

3 step filtration... i just dont want to spend money i dont have to.. i dont plan on adding anymore fish... please help.. thanks

any other ways to lower it besides a skimmer or another filter?

[BCreefmaker]

how much LR do you have? and whats your water changes schedule like?

[bigcoop]

i justed edited post.. 20 pounds live rock, water change once a week i was told because of the ligh nitrate

[BCreefmaker]

imo you should always change at least 10% per week just to avoid problems and keep nitrate down wether you need to or not. and some more LR wouldent hurt. are you running your aquaclear with everything it comes with? most people will remove everything and use it as a fuge.

[airinhere]

Small tanks often are kept without a skimmer and the owner just indulges in large, frequent water changes instead. (Think at least 20% weekly). Fresh carbon helps also.

A skimmer for a tank that size is likely to be problematic. Maybe if you have a sump....

I think your filter is likely part of your problem. Sponge, bio-media and old carbon tend to clog with detriutus and slowly that decomposes and releases nitrate back into the tank.
Remove the media and regularly clean and change the carbon.

[airinhere]

Ha! what he said! darn my slow typing

[bigcoop]

no i use every thing that came with it. if i didnt then i would have ANY filtration means. what should i do?

[bigcoop]

if i did that i would have to mechinal filtration and the good bacteria would have no where to grow.. that doesnt kake sence to me.. ur telling to use less filtration .. please explain.. so if i use just the carbon and thats it ill have better water quality

[BCreefmaker]

in saltwater and aquaclear is really only good to create the water flow needed for the live rock to filter the water. remove everything from the aquaclear and run it empty. its only 300GPH empty. you can modify it tho into a fuge.

[airinhere]

Filtration for saltwater is very different than it is for freshwater.

In a nutshell....
You want to limit the available space for the ammonia and nitrite eating bacteria to populate and balance it with the available space for nitrate eating bacteria to exist.

All of this is deternined by the bioload of your individual tank.

Live rock is a a great tool for filtration and is really just about all you need for saltwater tanks. It provides an excellent surface for ammonia and nitrite eating bacteria to colonize on the outside of it. Inside the live rock, there are anaerobic areas that house the bacteria that consume nitrates.

Its almost too convenient, but it works and is easily available.

Freshwater style filtration like sponges, filter pads and such are considered mechanical filtration and they do have a use in saltwater. A short term, single shot use. You use them to reduce particles floating in the water. Left for very long, the particles build up and start decomposing and that decomposition pollutes your tank.

You can achieve much of the mechanical filtration desired in a saltwater tank by using a protien skimmer.

Filtration articles you might want to look at.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/subject/filtration.php

[papagimp]

I'd suggest slowing down a bit,. a 1 month old tank shouldn't be fully stocked. water parameters will be very unstable during this time anyways. but to answer the ultimate question, no a skimmer is not neccessary, but your seeing some of what happens when you don't use one. Skimmer isbn't their to remove bad stuff so you'll have to do the work instead. larger water changes, more live rock, probably need ALOT more flow in the tank as well, a 300gph HOB isn't enough at all.

airinhere, well put response there.

[vetdog]

definitely recommend using a protein skimmer

[BCreefmaker]

Originally posted by vetdog
definitely recommend using a protein skimmer

be careful in your selection tho since it seems your running a single tank set up. there some HOB protein skimmers that could put alot of water on your floor, coral life needle wheel is a good one for that so just watch out.