chemistry all over the place.....

[Skeptic9962]

lately im not sure why but my amonia and nitrite lvls have been spiking up quite a bit..ive had the tank set up for roughly 6 months since i moved it and before that it was set up for atleast a year. got a bit of a mini cycle right after i moved it but then everything went back to normal...untill about a week ago. the amonia tested out to .2 and the nitrite was .2 and nitrate 10 did a 10 gal. water change with RODI and reef IO salt and that brought everything down to 0 again besides nitrate which was at like 5 stoped feeding for 2 days and after that just fed very lightly and tested today and its back at the same it was a week ago....anyone have any idea on what might be going on...havnt found anything missing livestock wise...whats really wierd is everything seems to be happy and thriving with these test results....test kit im using is ocean master from IO not the best but they still work decent any ideas is apriciated..

thanks.

specs

29 gal. aga
CPR medium refuge
CPR bak pak 2 skimmer
cascade canister 700
koralia 1 and 3 for flow.


sixline wrasse
small sailfin tang
small clarki clown
cleaner shrimp
coral banded shrimp
3 green emerald crabs
10+ hermit crabs
10+ snails asorted.
tons of softies and lps....


test results:

amonia- .2
nitrite - .2
nitrate - 10
PH - 8.0
specific gravity- 1.025
calc- 420
alk - 9dkh
temp - steady 79

 

[DonW]

Is this your rodi water or are you buying it?

Don

 

[Reeferdude]

Might just be equalizing/stabilizing. If everything is thriving like you say, I'd keep doing the water changes and not worry too much about it.. Peace out...

 

[mmkeeper]

Have you added anything?. Have you tried another brand of test kit to compare? Do any of your livestock look stressed? Test your new water before doing your water change.

 

[phomaniac]

im sure your LFS can test your water for you i might be you have a bad or turning bad test kit....

 

[Boomer]

test kit im using is ocean master from IO not the best

They are the best test kits for Nitrate, Nitrite, and pH...period. The Alk is Ok but not the best at times. They are HACH test kits relabeled and redesigned.

Now for your lesson on EPA testing stds

Std Methods for Water and Waste Water are Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia are to express those values in as "N". Many kits in this hobby are hobby kits and do not express it this way but as Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia, which is not the same as Nitrate Nitrogen, Nitrite Nitrogen or Ammonia Nitrogen.

1 ppm Nitrate Nitrogen = 4.4 ppm Nitrate

1 ppm Nitrite Nitrogen = 3.2 ppm Nitrite

1 ppm Ammonia Nitrogen = 1.1 ppm Ammonia

So, you really had .24 ppm Ammonia, .64 ppm Nitrite and 44 ppm Nitrate. Good that you did that water change as .22 ppm Ammonia is dangerous in a established tank.

New seawater mix will always show about .2 ppm Ammonia, just so you know. Since all tests are zero now, something happened in that tank to kit in a mini-cycle.

tested today and its back at the same it was a week ago....anyone have any idea on what might be going on.

Yes, that is proof that something happened or died. This always happens it you have elevated NO2 or ammonia. Closely watch for more ammonia.

However, there is one other thing it could be. How old is that DI and what is your TDS. DI's remove these ions and if the DI is near capacity it can dump these ions back into the water.

 

[Scooterman]

Boomer, I know you did this for Carbon but If you had time to do the same for test kits, I'd like to see that myself, to me If I'm paying too much for something that really isn't that great & really don't need it then why not get what works best for the buck?

 

[Boomer]

Can't really bee done really There seems to be to many bad batches/lots in many kits for time to time. There are other issue we are not sure about. For example, not all Alk test kits are titrating to seawater end-points but FW end-points so you loose about 10 % of your Alk on the reading. There are lots of issue with Alk, Ca++, Mg++ kits. Also, one kit company would not hold "the best" on all kits. Then there are some kits that are a pain the ash to use but are more accurate. I was working with Jessie from Elos and they sent all their kits to ENC labs / my suggestion, to have them checked out for accuracy an they are at the top of the line in hobby kits. There are just to may kits out there, to include some other prof./lab kits most have never heard of before that are up there with HACH and LaMotte, ie. Taylor, Chemetrics, Orbeco-Hellige, Lovibond, HF Scientific. There are also some unheard of EURO hobby kits.

 

[Scooterman]

Well Boomer you bing up a good point, when you are so critical on our params. in the first place, how in the heck can we know we're producing good enough results? I know trying to convince everyone to buy Hach or LaMotte etc. isn't going to work one reason in particular they are expensive. So eliminating them will reduce it a good bit so this leaves us with what we do get the majority hobby types, cheaper & not as accurate. So if there are problems with some of these, is there an acceptable range? Which ones can fall close enough to get over some that may be pushing it? I hate to recommend a certain name brand then later find out well that may not be the case.

 

[Boomer]

Actually I'm not that critical I just like to see most follow some kind of guide so we are all on the same page. All kits have some "noise". We have all read of the comments that Salifert is the greatest thing since Apple Pie, then a bad batch/lot got out on a couple of kits and now they are they are the evil devil according to some. Comparing test kits is like comparing salt mixes. What ever works for you. I used only HACH and LaMotte as they are all EPA, AWWA certified to stds. However, those stds are for FW and not SW and there is a difference in some kits i.e., the HACH Alk kit is set to a FW end-point and the Salifert is set to SW end-point, so in theory the Salifert will be more accurate but is it really.

On another note many have been sending their water samples to AWT labs for testing and for $35 you get 14 test done ie., Mg++, Ca++, Mo, I, K, Si, PO4, Sr++, Cu ++, Alk, pH etc.. I now just got done sending them a long e-mail as their lab tests seem to be off on some things. Everyone has very high silica and I don't buy it. Same for some Ca++ and Mg++ readings off. They are even willing to test 10-12 salt mixes at their cost and give us the results and this will included a parameter I asked for Bromide.

 

[Reeferdude]

There are acceptable ranges and variances and or combinations with every aspect this hobby has to offer. I think it's only human nature to create 'precision' which is totally arbitrary and many times un-necessary.

 

[Scooterman]

Well that sorta answers my getting at point, we try to get as best as we can, hope it work otherwise we're all in trouble LOL!

 

[Boomer]

There are acceptable ranges

Yes and this is about it.

Reef Aquarium Water Parameters
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

 

[Planet Reef]

Comparing test kits is like comparing salt mixes. What ever works for you.

Troublemaker. LOL!!!

 

[kevin1000]

My 02

When in doubt take a water sample down to your LFS and have them test. Also .. you have a very small tank and your tang deserves a better home - take him back and trade for a dwarf angel.