High Nitrates&calcium - HELP!

[inigomontoya]

I just went through all the test kits I have and my results are:
Ph - 8.0
Alkalinity - 0
Ammo - 0 ppm
Nitrites - 0 ppm (which I thought were the same as 'NITRATES')
Nitrates - 80 ppm
Clacium - 595 mg/l
salinity - 39 ppt
specific gravity - 1.029
This was the first time I tested for Nitrates since I incurred this 40 gal tank a couple weeks back. I have two clowns, a blue damsel, a dragon goby, three snails and a hermit. I also have CC and some dead LR, only about 20 lbs or so. From what I read on my calcium tests, it is very high and my Alk way too low. How do I change these levels? As far as the Nitrate level being what it is, should I not feed my fish for about a week? I usually feed them a cube of frozen brine shrimp once a day as I was told to. Also, I used to have a Domino Damsel in there and bought it two weeks ago. Now, for four days it has not been in sight, and I went through all the rocks.. Did my goby eat him?

 

[lesa]

You need to do a water change right away. The cc is probably the result of that. IMO you need to replace the cc and get a sand bed. CC is a nitrate feeder.

 

[reefnut]

What is your water souce?
What kind of salt are you using?
A 20% water change of RO/DI water (mixed with salt) will be a good start to reduce the nitrates and to bring the calcium and alk back in line.

 

[beaslbob]

I would not worry about calcium. It could go down on it's own.
Fish can tolerate relatively high levels of nitrAtes. Plant life is the key to keeping nitrates in check. algae, macro algaes and marine plants consume nitrates and therefore complete the nitrogen cycle. Additionally they filter out heavy ions generally clean up the tank, control the ugly algaes, and provide food for various livestock. I would add all the plant life you can. If you livestock eats the plants then culture them in another container or start a refigium.
I recently had what I thought were high nitrates. like 160ppm+. Seems my test equipment was wrong. It tested out more like 20-40ppm. that is another possibility. but in you case, if your are getting an increasing algae growth, then you probably do have some nitrates.

 

[inigomontoya]

Thank you for the speedy replies! This will be my first water change EVER. I do not have any salt but will head to my LFS in a couple hours, and there is a water store nearby that has R/O water and I will stock up on that. In the meantime, I have just been putting bottled drinking water into my tank, about 2 cups, every day. I also will be happy to toss my CC and go to LS and would like to do that in a couple weeks.
Another question: My filter and pump and power heads have green algae on them. My filter is full of green slimy sludge and also has some red algae in it. How do I clean this??? It came like this when the tank was transferred to my house from the previous owners house.

 

[reefnut]

With the exception of any bio-material... Take it out, put it under the sink and scrub . Any bio-material, I wouldn't clean but if you do, use tank water only to rinse it, don't scrub anything off.

 

[inigomontoya]

I really wanted to poost a pic of what is behind my tank as I have no idea what brand it is, or how to detach it to clean it... My file is a little too big. How can I get my file to attach??

 

[tlk]

I would lower your sg to under 1.025

 

[reefnut]

Originally posted by InigoMontoya
I really wanted to poost a pic of what is behind my tank as I have no idea what brand it is, or how to detach it to clean it... My file is a little too big. How can I get my file to attach??
If you have some sort of photo program, you reduce the size on the pic or crop it to get it smaller.

 

[cb]

You said that you got this tank a few weeks ago was it already set up when you got it. also said you had 20lbs of dead lr was it dead when you got the tank and how do you know it is dead?

 

[inigomontoya]

This was an already established tank at a co-workers of my husbands, and he set it up here at my home. Sorry, I could have been more specific... He was very short of words, and really didnt want to answer any of my questions concerning his tank, just that he really didnt have the time for it, and wanted to get rid of it asap.
I know he had the rock sitting in a dry plastic container for a while, and I just have a flourescent light above my tank, and there is nothing, and I guess hasnt been anything growing on these rocks, unless the purple stuff on top counts?

 

[cb]

The purple stuff growing on top of the rock could be coralline algae which is a good thing. Do you know how long he had the rock in the dry container?

 

[inigomontoya]

Maybe just a couple days. Am I okay?

 

[inigomontoya]

How do I clean all of the floating green algae on LR, can I give it a shake in R/O water, or if I add salt to the R/O water like I would for my water change, can I use that? What will make these rocks want to produce and grow?

 

[cb]

If the rock was totally dry then everything is prpbably dead on and in the rock I don't know if the corralline algae will come back or not. As far as cleaning the rock you can take a soft new toothbrush and clean off the rock that way if the rock is dead it doesn't matter whether the water has salt in it or not.