Quote:
| I'm COMPLETELY allergic to sand fleas. The last time I went to the Cayman Islands, I almost went into anaphylactic shock (from what I hear). My body swelled up like crazy... so I read that amphipods are sand fleas... Are those the same little guys that I'm allergic to? If so, that terrifies me! |
NO, the Amphipods and Copepod in your aquarium are not the sand fleas that caused you great harm in the Caymen Islands. I can't give you any background on them but what did you harm live on dry land and not aquatic. They bite, Amphipods and Copepod do not.
Nitrates - 80
ppm is quite high and borderline trouble for your fish and invertebrates. The probable causes are
detritus in the sand bed, water source, foods, and the biggest culprit is the canister filter. Canister filters have been coined,
Nitrate sinks, meaning the source of your problem. In order to reduce your
Nitrates under the current situation is massive water changes often. Not an easy thing to do in an 80 gallon.
You need to seriously think through getting that 60" tank and setting it up the right way. The right way would require you to thoroughly research the subject here on TR. Here's a link to my tank thread -
Amphibious' 135 gal Reef - This will give you an idea of other methods we employ to filter our reef tanks.
Also, here's a link on Deep Sand Beds (DSB) -
Sand Bed Secrets - Click on the thumbnail picture of the book.
Aptasia - A pest!!! You can try the
hot water thing but something many have found that works better is Joe's Juice. I've used it to completely eliminate the pest from my 135. Here's the link -
Joe's Juice
I'll post more suggestions at a later time. Got to run right now.
Dick
