Depressing water test news!

[joker577]

I went and got my water tested today and WOW!
pH-8.2
ammonia-0
nitrate 60(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
nitrite-0
CA-220(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
SG 1.018(!!!!)
KH-12

Simply amazing, because I use kents marine nano buffer part a and b and i dose more calcium than KH and my CA has gone down!!! and also, I use denitrate by seachem in my filter chamber and suprisingly my nitrates have gone up...perhaps from a dead shrimp or something...but what a shock because instant ocean reef crystals is supposed to have calcium buffer...currently raising the SG. But I may switch to kents marine salt because it has correct doses of everything and it's only 21.99$ a bag

 

[JoshF]

Just my $.02, I've heard a lot of horror stories about switching salt mixes. They are all a bit different, and the change in chemical make-up can be really hard on your critters.

Josh

 

[joker577]

That's what i told the guy at the place, but he said he's researched it and has done it atleast ten times to test different salts and has had no problems whatsoever. But this is amazing because i added 55 drops of part a of kents nano buffer today

 

[DonW]

Doesnt look anything like a salt issue. RC is very close to balanced and one of the best salts out there. Looks like maintenance and dosing issues. More tank info would useful if you want help fixing this and keeping it fixed.

Don

 

[joker577]

What else would you like to know?
29 gallon biocube
20-30 lbs LR
30 lbs LS
2 zoa colonies
2 zoa frags
1 xenia stalk
4 bullseye mushrooms
1 anemone crab
1 decorator crab
9 hermit crabs
3 turbo snails
1 peppermint shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp

 

[DonW]

What else would you like to know?
29 gallon biocube
20-30 lbs LR
30 lbs LS
2 zoa colonies
2 zoa frags
1 xenia stalk
4 bullseye mushrooms
1 anemone crab
1 decorator crab
9 hermit crabs
3 turbo snails
1 peppermint shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp

Deal with the nitrate first since there are no sps or clams. How old is the tank and is there a decent skimmer? How often and how much water do you change? Are you using rodi water. No fish? If no fish are you attempting to feed what you do have?

Don

 

[joker577]

Since my nitrate problem I have not fed anything...but normally I give a small piece of shrimp to the anemone and a small piece for everything else to feed on. The tank is about 2 months old and I have no skimmer because the tank is smaller and I don't plan on keeping that much as far as fish go. I just did a 3 gallon RO water change 2 days ago and I have a damsel and clownfish in QT. I change about 2 gallons a week

 

[plack]

I agree with don, and I use reef crystals and have not had bad issues with.

Being only 2 months old it may be cycling or the live rock may have had some die off.

I would make up 1 gallon or less with rodi water(check the tds level) and test it before it is used.

Once you get your tank where it should be. Test the alk wait 48 hours dosing nothing during that time then check again to see how much or little it dropped.( I dont think it will drop at all.)


To me you were overdosing buffer a bit .Is your salinity tester not working right?



Paul

 

[joker577]

I don't get how overdosing calcium could cause it to lower 150 points...it was at 380 a week ago now its like around 220...what do you mean skimming too wet? I don't have a skimmer and a refractometer was used on it by the store and i checked with a hydrometer at home and the reading was exactly the same...but i got it back up to 1.022-1.023 a couple hours ago.

 

[drummereef]

Your calcium will come up with raising salinity. Target 1.026. It would be in your best interest to get a refractometer and some good Salifert test kits. There's probably a level of error in the testing so far.

 

[Scooterman]

How big is your tank Joker?
doing a 3 gallon WC in most tanks isn't nearly enough to help anything, also you mentioned your tank is only two months old, that there tells my your probably still cycling some. It may be a matter of just waiting a little longer to get better results. Post us some details about your tank so we can suggest better ideas to help!

 

[Krish]

Check post #9 Scooty...He has a 29 gal biocube

As for the tank issues, I agree with the others on allowing the tank to cycle out properly. 2 months is kinda young. I know for me personally, it took about 8-9 months for my tank to drop off all traces of nitrates. Also, I would still possibly invest in a skimmer. I used the aquac c nano and it worked wonders. Any help with keeping waste to a minimum is always a good thing IMO

 

[Scooterman]

Ahh Post #5 LOL sorry!
Well tank must be cycling some regardless, I would still try & do a bigger WC like 7 or 8 gallons instead of 3, it will always help.

 

[OmarD]

I went and got my water tested today and WOW!
pH-8.2
ammonia-0
nitrate 60(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
nitrite-0
CA-220(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
SG 1.018(!!!!)
KH-12

Simply amazing, because I use kents marine nano buffer part a and b and i dose more calcium than KH and my CA has gone down!!! and also, I use denitrate by seachem in my filter chamber and suprisingly my nitrates have gone up...perhaps from a dead shrimp or something...but what a shock because instant ocean reef crystals is supposed to have calcium buffer...currently raising the SG. But I may switch to kents marine salt because it has correct doses of everything and it's only 21.99$ a bag

Do some significant water changes...quit using those additives. Let your salt do its job.

 

[theJ]

I don't get how overdosing calcium could cause it to lower 150 points...

It was prolly overdosing KH that brought CA down, as well as real low sal/sg.

i checked with a hydrometer at home and the reading was exactly the same...

A lot of peeps will give you a hard time about the hydrometer, and its for good reason, a lot of people have ran into issues with these things not being calibrated right, or loosing calibration because they get dirty, dropped, etc. As long as you keep up on cleaning it (monthly should be good) and check it for accuracy every so often (fill it with fresh RO water) you can hold off on the refractometer (bring a water sample in every time you go to the LFS!) for a bit I reckon

but i got it back up to 1.022-1.023 a couple hours ago.

Good work, now keep going a couple notches up to 1.026 (do it real slow+) and your CA should even out, along with your other params as long as you watch how you are dosing and keep up on your water changes. I would hold off on dosing anything (even that nitrate stuff) until you get SG back up. Its like the food pyramid, you don't really know what else you need till you get a good foundation going. who knows you might not even need to does anything. You still have a real light load in your tank, nothing you mentioned livestock wise should suck up CA, so its prolly just a low sal/sg issue. Hang in there man, at least this didn't happen with a full tank

 

[joker577]

Indeed...but it was tested with a refractometer and a hydrometer and they both read the same...and I really only have about 15 gallons of water with the LR and LS in there so a 3 gallon change is 15-20%...scooter all my details are up at the top few posts of my params and everything in my tank too. I don't think its possible I could've overdosed KH because everytime I add more of the calcium buffer than kh...who knows.

 

[Scooterman]

I don't see any reason why your trying to even dose because you don't have any calcium demanding corals? I bet if you test, ca, alk & mg your out of balance, if you don't test them all your playing a roulette game with your parameters. Also you need quality test kits, you can't add one thing with out keeping your water in balance. Make sure your testing alk, ca & MG which all work together. If you do a bigger wc it will help stabilize your levels & eventually bring your water back in balance. If you do regular wc;s with the stock you have you should easily keep it balanced.

 

[joker577]

zoas, GPS's, mushrooms and xenias dont need calc?

 

[LakeEd]

Do some significant water changes...quit using those additives. Let your salt do its job.

I would hold off on dosing anything (even that nitrate stuff) until you get SG back up. Its like the food pyramid, you don't really know what else you need till you get a good foundation going. who knows you might not even need to does anything.

Both are great quotes! Your tank is too young to need any suppliments yet. Check your SG, get it under control again with water changes... and let your system finish cycling.

 

[joker577]

I was thinking about switching to this salt http://www.kentmarine.com/saltwater/sea-salts/kent-sea-salt.htm
...it's only 4$ more than reef crystals and the guy from the coral shop i go to recommended it..since it contains all elements including coral-vite (just read the info on the link) plus i ran out yesterday