broomer5- h2o parameter questions please

[beginnermatt]

Hey Broomer5,
I started having some problems when I added some LR. The water got cloudy and I had been away on a trip. I did a quick water change and plan to do a bigger one soon. Here are my water results if you could interpret them for me.
ph 8.0
nitrite .05
nitrate 0
Tot. Alk 5meg/l
Freem Ammonia 0
Tot. Ammonia 1.0
Calcium 450mg/l
I would like to make this a reef tank with only lr, certain algaes and inverts. Please make as many suggestions possible in correcting the conditions. Names of suppliments would be appreciated. I also posted a thread in the reef section that goes into more detail wich maybe of some help. Thanks for your time.

 

[j21kickster]

No- im not broomer but i might be able to help-
The live rock you added, was it cured or had it recently been shipped- If so your tank is probably dealing with decaying materials on the rock- hence the ammonia and cloudy water.
Your Ph is also a little low- what do you have as substrate and was this test before you changed the water? If so your ph has most likely risen to better levels. Fresh mixed saltwater has a ph of around 8.4 for all of the water that i mix.
Your levels will settel back out in a while ( it depends on how much die off you rock still has)
Ther is no need for supplements at this time just let the tank run its course and continue to do waterchanges- Do you have anything living in there at this time?
HTH

 

[j21kickster]

after reading you post again i read your tag- so you do have animals in there- ok- continue to check your levels and keep up on waterchanges- hopefully your ammonia and nitrites wont continue to rise but doing water changes will help relieve the stress on your animals. keep us posted on stats- also the longer you wait on waterchanges- the ph tends to lower in your tank due to decay and fouling water

 

[broomer5]

Matt,
I don't have much to add to what j21kickster has mentioned.
You added live rock to an established tank.
There was die off.
This die off produced ammonia - enough to measure on your kits.
The ammonia led to nitrite - enough to measure on your kits.
Protect your fish and inverts, by either removing them to another holding tank - or do water changes.
You exceeded your biofiltration by adding the new rock/die off.
Numbers should go to zero soon, and water should clear up as well.
Watch your fish and inverts and keep monitoring your water for amm/trite.

 

[beginnermatt]

Thanks j21kickster and broomer5,
I did not check the ph of the tank or the distilled before the change. I was in a rush when I noticed the problem. I did a water change a few days ago and I want to do another tomorrow. I have 3" 0f southdown as a sand bed.
Another concern is the amount of hair algae. It is now on some of the LR. The LR had been cured and had signs of macro and tiny feather dusters. I am going to cut down on the light for awhile. I think the water quality is fading them out also. Do you think they will come back when the water is better.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[beginnermatt]

i just read that if you stir the dsb some levels in water chemistry may change. This could have happened when I was moving the new and old LR around. Although, the tank seemed to get clearer the two or three days following the new LR.

 

[flamingkingofhe]

you should always make shure that any new live rock being added to the tank is curred because if not it cane mess your water a little bit

 

[arkman]

I'm being nosy here, but from what I've read that tank will not produce enough food for your mandarin...