water changes

[titanredmg]

i have been having problems w/nitrates being high did a water change about a week ago and my nitrates are at about 80ppm . i didnt do a lot of gravel siphoning because i dont like to disturb my rock and corals, idont epoxsy the rock or corals so its hard to get everything back where i had it. maybe i should,is that the best thing to do so that i can remove a couple pieces of rock to get the uneaten food underneath..

[marinelife]

I move the rocks around in my 29 but never my 375, you could move them, this would help for sure. If you see any dirt on the sand try to get it all out.

[titanredmg]

i get a little affraid of stirring it up to much because i have had 2 fish die within a couple of days of water changes 2 diff times. one of the fish i had for about 6 months and looked perfectly heathy and eating great then i came home from work and it was dead. i wasnt aerating the new water before i put it , do you think that may have had anything to do with it? i also dont have a protein skimmer,but i have one on order.

[marinelife]

Do you have any flow disturbing the top of the water? I only mix my water before adding it to the tank no aerating it.
Stirring could cause an issue, if you stir it and suck out everthing that gets stirred up you would be ok, I have no skimmer on either of my tanks, I change the water once or twice a month.

[titanredmg]

i currently have 2 in tank filters inside the tank,but it is down far enough that i dont have any rippling at the top of the water. i plan on setting up a sump pretty soon and i will put all the filters in there.

[marinelife]

Oxygen levels could be low, it is always good to have some turbulence at the top of the tank.

[titanredmg]

i did have an airstone under my liverock but i took it out a few weeks ago.up till then i didnt have any problems ,i didnt like the bubbles , ithought it took away from the apperance of the tank. do you think i should just raise up the filters a little just to cause some turbulance at the top. also i just added about 6 frags to the tank and i put in some reef builder additive the night before i tested the water,do you think that has anything to do with it.?

[marinelife]

I would move the filter up, the frags should not have caused any issue, Not sure about the reef builder, it should not have hurt the fish.

[titanredmg]

i,ll move them up tonight when i get off work and check the water in a couple days.. thanks for the info

[marinelife]

No problem, let us know how it works out.

[satch12]

when you did the water changes it sounds like you disturbed some detritus and other bad stuff that when it gets stirred up it will release toxins and this could of killed your fish too. ideally you dont want any detritus buildup but it does happen and if it sits and builds up for a while anerobic bacteria that can be toxic is made and if disturbed they will be released in to the water.
like eric said though i would raise the filter so you get some turbulence on the surface of the water to dissolve oxygen into the water.

you could also be having trouble with nitrates because of the filters you're using the sponges used in those filters need to be rinsed on a regular bases in tank water. so when ever you do a water change i would take the sponges out and rinse them in that water to clean them...