jkrutherford
New Member
Okay...First of all I apologize that I could not figure out how to link this thread to the previous thread that I had posted about my nitrate issues. Having said that, here is where I stand. I have a 55 Gallon setup using a whisper 30-60 advanced filter with mechanical, biological, and activated carbon filtration. I have a coralife protien skimmer running which looks like it is doing it's job. I am using Oddysea 440W metal halide lights with flourescent actinics. I have two powerheads, one that is pushing 550gph and the other 750 gph. I have approximatlely 25 lbs of live rock that is teaming with coraline and has some halmedia (i think that is the way it is spelled) macro on it. I have approx 10 lbs of base rock that has nothing on it but green algae, which leads me to my first question. Why the heck is the tank being taken over by green algae? But i digresss...I have not told you the paramaters on this tank and the actions I have been taking to lead up to the current situation. First of all I have been doing water changes, starting with a 50% then 10 % every 2 to 3 days since the middle of January. Just siphoned off another 20% change tonight and will have the water in there tomorrow morning. My paramaters are as follows....ph 8.4, nitrate 160ppm, ammonia o ppm, salinity 1.025, Nitrite 0 ppm, Calcium 360 ppm, hardness 7, phosphate 0 ppm. Every time I change out the water I stir up the sand bed to get out any detrious material I may have and then siphon off the old water. I am at my wit's end on this thing and about to just start over. I know you guys have told me that water change is the key, but the lowest my nitrates have dropped is 80 ppm. I had everything tested with my brother's test kit which is a different brand than the API test kit that I use and it all looked pretty much the same. Any suggestions other than just starting off fresh?