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BoomerD · 01-01-2004, 02:16 PM

I see a couple of problems with this.
First, the internal filter & fluval will continue to make nitrate. They are good biological filters, but are also very efficient nitrate factories. 2nd, get rid of the humbug. Very agressive, nasty little buggers! 3rd, the tank is still cycling. You are subjecting your fish to a lot of chemical stress. If you can, take them back to the LFS where you got them, ask them to hold them for you for a couple of weeks. Get a piece of shrimp at the grocers, pop it in the tank and let it do the nasty work of getting the tank to cycle for you. Much easier & cheaper thatn adding/killing fish.
4th. Get rid of the internal filter/Fluval, buy a good protein skimmer. The best you can possibly afford. You don't say how big your tank is, but it sounds like you don't have any type of sump, so I'd strongly recommend one of the Remora skimmers. If less than 50 gallons, get a Sstandard Remora, if larger than 50, get the Remora Pro. Not cheap, but just about the best hang-on sikmmers on the market. You should have a sand bed, not crushed coral, (another nitrate producer) and lots of live rock. If it's too expensive in the store, (more than $4.00-5.00/lb, look for some for sale on the various boards. People are always selling off live rock for $2.00 to $4.00/lb. You should have 1 to 2 lbs. per gallon, depending on the rock & what you want to do in your tank.
Get back to us, and we'll all be glad to help you get this going in a good manner. Usually, the folks in the LFS only try to sell you stuff to make them money, whereas we will guide you to buy the things that will make your tank a healthy living place for fish & other critters.

OOPS! I see other folks have posted while I was writing. Good advice here!

01-01-2004, 02:16 PM	#6 (permalink)
BoomerD Reef Shark Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Northern California Posts: 5,637 View Gallery Karma Komment	I see a couple of problems with this. First, the internal filter & fluval will continue to make nitrate. They are good biological filters, but are also very efficient nitrate factories. 2nd, get rid of the humbug. Very agressive, nasty little buggers! 3rd, the tank is still cycling. You are subjecting your fish to a lot of chemical stress. If you can, take them back to the LFS where you got them, ask them to hold them for you for a couple of weeks. Get a piece of shrimp at the grocers, pop it in the tank and let it do the nasty work of getting the tank to cycle for you. Much easier & cheaper thatn adding/killing fish. 4th. Get rid of the internal filter/Fluval, buy a good protein skimmer. The best you can possibly afford. You don't say how big your tank is, but it sounds like you don't have any type of sump, so I'd strongly recommend one of the Remora skimmers. If less than 50 gallons, get a Sstandard Remora, if larger than 50, get the Remora Pro. Not cheap, but just about the best hang-on sikmmers on the market. You should have a sand bed, not crushed coral, (another nitrate producer) and lots of live rock. If it's too expensive in the store, (more than $4.00-5.00/lb, look for some for sale on the various boards. People are always selling off live rock for $2.00 to $4.00/lb. You should have 1 to 2 lbs. per gallon, depending on the rock & what you want to do in your tank. Get back to us, and we'll all be glad to help you get this going in a good manner. Usually, the folks in the LFS only try to sell you stuff to make them money, whereas we will guide you to buy the things that will make your tank a healthy living place for fish & other critters. OOPS! I see other folks have posted while I was writing. Good advice here!