First time doing tests

bchbum189

bchbum189

Member
Ok i just got the hagen master test kit in, and this is the first time ive tested my water, tell me if you guys see any probs with my #'s, my tank is now a month old and has several fish and corals in it.
PH 8.1
Temperature 76
Salinity 1.0225(i know this is a little low)
Nitrite .05
Nitrate 5
Iron 0
Phosphate .5
Calcium 420
KH 140 (how is this so high and PH low at the same time? i know they are related somehow)
Ammonia .1
im also doing a 20% change probably sunday, water has been in there for about 2 weeks now
 
dskidmore

dskidmore

Active Member
Originally Posted by bchbum189
Ammonia .1
Nitrite .05
Nitrate 5
Phosphate .5
It sounds like you might be on the tail end of your cycle, or overstocked. Ammonia and nitrite should be undetectable in an established tank.
Originally Posted by bchbum189
PH 8.1
Calcium 420
KH 140 (how is this so high and PH low at the same time? i know they are related somehow)
I don't have all the details, but magnesium, calcium, and a bunch of other ions play in that dance. Are you using RO water and a high quality synthetic salt?
Originally Posted by bchbum189
im also doing a 20% change probably sunday
Good!
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
What units are you measuring alkalinity in? There are SEVERAL different units used. Be sure that you are not confusing them all. There are excellent articles in the archives on calcium, alkalinity, pH, etc. I would STRONGLY encourage you NOT to add more fish and corals for quite awhile. If the tank is only a month old, you are rushing things, IMO.
 
bchbum189

bchbum189

Member
this is my first set up, but i bought precured LR from the lfs and also their pre made RO salt water that is all balanced out and such. they explained if i started out with that then it wouldnt cycle. I am guilty of using tap water over the past week for top offs though, i should probably test that also?
as for overstocked, all i have are 2 small clowns, small bicolor blenny and a smal flame angel, i tried to buy them all very small so they could all grow with the tank. my original clean up crew is a cleaner shrimp, 12 hermits and about 22 snails. I have one clove polop and 1 small rock covered in zoos. is that to many animals. i also have a pretty big clean up crew that is fairly new, less than a week old of 3 brittle stars, 1 fighting conch, 1 emerald crab, 2 mini horsehoe crabs, 1 decorator crab, and then a condi anemonie and bubble tip anemone
also i had the lfs that provided me with all the cured lr test my water sample about a week after the LR sat in the tank and all parameters checked out supposedly. that was when i started to add livestock thinking it never cycled
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
Corals in a month old tank tend to do poorly or even die. I don't know if it is possible for you, but I would trade them in for credit at the lfs or store them in a friend's tank until your tank is about 4-6 months old.
I'm glad you have all your tests kits though, you get a high five from me on that.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Personally, I just think slower is much better. There are lots of things that are still changing in a new tank that we can't measure. So even if what you do measure is spot on (and there appear to be a few minor issues here), there are still lots of things changing that we don't measure. Corals, IMO, shouldn't go into tanks much less than a few months, but that is IMO as well. I just think it is better for the critters to go into a more mature tank.
 
bchbum189

bchbum189

Member
my clove polop has been spreading already, theres a good amount of new small ones popping up around the outskirts. as for the zoos, theres also some spreading of new little buds threwout but been having issues with animals bothering them and making them stay closed. if they both die, im not to worried i bought them for the learning curve and a cheap price, however i hope for the best.
i will hold off on anything else for quite some time though to see how it all goes
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
They may very well do fine, but it is important to understand that they are pretty tough relative to other corals. And patience is critical in this hobby to succeed long term. :yes:
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
BTW, a good way to get many interesting corals for little or no money is to frag yours as they get bigger and trade the frags in for small frags of other corals that you do not have. A couple of fast spreading corals will help you achieve this such as xenia and star polyps.
ps- I've found galaxea to be another very fast-growing coral that is easy to frag, but it is highly agressive to any other fleshy things in the tank (corals, anemones, clams, etc..)
 
hun25

hun25

Member
Hey bchbum, I live in Va Beach too! Are you getting your water from Animal Jungle ? If so , make sure you test it before you put it in your tank. I have had some problems with it, (salitity and PH) Fish safari is a much better choice if you are going to animal jungle.
 
bchbum189

bchbum189

Member
i went to animal jungle one time and 90% of the stuff there looked like it was raised in the trunk of someones car, then the person in the aquarium department didnt know what a zoo was and i left screaming in fear
 
bchbum189

bchbum189

Member
ok its been about a week since my last posted tests, and my tank has made progress, i havent changed anything except several days ago i did about a 20% water change. heres my new parameters
PH 8.3
Salinity 1.025
nitrite 0
nitrate 5
phosphate .25
ammonia 0
temp 78
so my nitrite, phosphate, and ammonia have all dropped slowly but steadily
 
bchbum189

bchbum189

Member
so with nitrite going down, would it be logical to assume that nitrate should follow suit? nitrite turns into nitrate right? or vice versa
 
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