how do you get nitrates/ammonia down?

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Alright, so I feel stupid asking this after a year of reefing, but my water has never had problems and now my QT has some serious water quality issues (o.5 ammonia, over 50ppt nitrates).

thing is i suspect the lfs i get water from isnt selling actual rodi saltwater...since I do a water change and the nitrates just go higher.

need to know what i can do to fix water quality...already lost a goby to it and the blue tang isnt looking so good...

 

[NC2WA]

i suspect the lfs i get water from isnt selling actual rodi saltwater

Do you have a TDS meter? This would answer this question fairly quickly.

If it were me and you haven't done it already, I would purchase a RO/DI unit and make your own water..Removes all doubt and you are able to control your own water quality.

If you feel the water you are getting is not acceptable, then go to another LFS. Not that I advocate this, but I do know some people that puchase distilled water jugs and use this instead of RO water.

You have options, it is a matter of which route you want to take.

HTH
Kirk

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

an ro/di unit is like top on my list for when I get money...

and no tds meter....probably up there on my need to buy list...is there a specific one you would recommend?

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

oh end it was 50ppm, not ppt....huuuuge difference :lol:

 

[ac7av]

Most hardware stores will have TDS meters and they are only about $25.
You dont have to spend a lot on a rodi unit from the filter guys although they are nice and well made from what I here. I got a cheep 5 stage, 50 gallon per day one off eBay for $49 and its worked great. Almost a 10 months now in operations and have not had to replace the filters yet and still reads 0 flickering 1 in the tds meter. My tap water is bad, it can bee as high as 350 some days.

 

[ac7av]

You can get the ammonia and nitrate and phosphate absorbing pads at most fish stores for a quick reduction in the levels but really water changes are probable better in the long run.

 

[NC2WA]

I have this unit:

http://www.tdsmeter.com/products/tds3.html

I purchased it from BRA. I think I paid $35..

50ppm would explain the issue you are having esp. hair algae.

Water changes are you best bet to reduce nitrates and ammonia, provided the water you are putting back in the tank is good.

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Well my nitrates in my DT aren't nearly that high, and the problem of hair algae went away once i actually got a working skimmer

 

[lvsuckerfish]

fresh water shouldn't have any ammonia in it I would think. over feeding frozen foods dead live stock fish corals inverts maybe. but water changes will help bring it down do you have live rock or add any in lately rock or sand?

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

its a qt tank so no live rock or anything...

I am going to have to move to tang and surviving goby back to the DT tank. They are ich covered but honestly they would be dead by morning if i didnt move them...

plus this gives me a few days to figure out what happened to the QT tank. honestly i have no idea where these soaring nitrates and ammonia came from! my DT is so close to zero ammonia, with like 10ppm nitrates!

I am going to start mixing my own water, that way i can trust it.

 

[lvsuckerfish]

ok couple questions

1. did you use water from the display or fresh SW

2 when you measure the ammonia and nitrates are you doing this right after a water change?

I am a firm believer that bacteria survives in the water column, so using new salt water could of casued the ammonia as a sort of cycle. I belived I sugested useing water from the diaplay on the other thread

My reasons for this is you do not have to re acclimate your fish and cause more stress on them. and bacteria is already in the water. a filter could be the issue also if not filter the waste the fish are releasing is not going anywhere. this is a reason I have a skimmer for my qt tanks. less water changes and keep the ph and o2 levels more stable.

unless recent death in the Dt you should not have any ammonia readings. as this will harm most all live stock in the tank.

 

[ac7av]

I would recommend agents moving them again and just get the water in check in the QT tank. moving them is only going to be stressful for them and in an already compromised conditions that is probably not good. If you feel you really have to move them and you think it will do some good then before you put them into the display again give them a fresh water dip. You can read a sticky in the fish forum about it. This will give the fish some immediate relieve and may help in rejuvenate them enough to weight for you to get the QT ready for them.

 

[Freya]

It might be a good idea to put some rock into the QT to add some more beneficial bacteria sounds like there isn't enough to keep up with the waste that is being produced. That and water changes, or that is what I would do if it was a freshwater tank.

 

[DonW]

its a qt tank so no live rock or anything...

I am going to have to move to tang and surviving goby back to the DT tank. They are ich covered but honestly they would be dead by morning if i didnt move them...

plus this gives me a few days to figure out what happened to the QT tank. honestly i have no idea where these soaring nitrates and ammonia came from! my DT is so close to zero ammonia, with like 10ppm nitrates!

I am going to start mixing my own water, that way i can trust it.

If you have ammonia in the tank its not set up properly, that it. You cant just run a empty tank without sufficient biological filtration. The nitrates are not an issue in a QT tank. They wiil be high because the tank is usually fairly empty. Set up some sort of biofiltration even if its a canister filter.
I'd also suggest doing some reading on basic aquarium chemistry.

Don