Just tested my levels :(

[bigtankbigfish]

I got this 30 gallon reef tank from a guy. Ive had it up for a week now. Havent done a thing. Never tested the levels. I tested today and i got
ph= 7.8
ammon= .5
trate= 20
after seeing this I cleaned the protein skimmer which was filthy, and the canister filter and the foam screens on my powerheads.
Do you think this will bring my trate down within a day or two?
and also, is there a natural way to UP the PH. Every time I buy the 8.3 buffer it never works.

 

[cranberry]

If you keep your tank cleaner you will have less trouble with your pH. What's your set up?
Wait... this beast is mini cycling. I missed the "just got it" part. Is there fish in there?

 

[bigtankbigfish]

Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/2746313
If you keep your tank cleaner you will have less trouble with your pH. What's your set up?
Wait... this beast is mini cycling. I missed the "just got it" part. Is there fish in there?
the tank was fully setup and established when i picked it up. I kept roughly 80% of his water and of course all the live rock and live sand/cc. And yes there is fish in here. A pair of clarkii's, mandarin goby, coral banded, pair of clown gobies.
I have a red sea prizm HOT skimmer and a large eheim canister. The lights are (6) 24W T5 HO

 

[cranberry]

Moving a tank can cause a mini cycle. Your ammonia is high and your fish are suffering in it.
If I found my ammonia to be that high in any of my tanks they would be out of that environment in a heartbeat.

 

[bigtankbigfish]

Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/2746331
Moving a tank can cause a mini cycle. Your ammonia is high and your fish are suffering in it.
If I found my ammonia to be that high in any of my tanks they would be out of that environment in a heartbeat.
i didnt think .5 was all that bad. Is it actually enough to kill anything?
i'd do a water change but i just cleaned my filters i dont want to over do it.

 

[hlcroghan]

If you don't have a qt for them to go into then i would start doing regular water changes over the next week or so to keep all the level under control. It will be difficult to do this while it cycles but the cycle shouldn't be too bad since not much was changed in the way of sand and water and cc. If you can I would change out the cc for all sand but you will definitely have a cycle then. It is better to do it now though. You will have to move your fish if you do that though.

 

[cranberry]

Any ammonia is bad. It damages their gills.

 

[bigarn]

Originally Posted by BigTankBigFish
http:///forum/post/2746333
i didnt think .5 was all that bad. Is it actually enough to kill anything?
i'd do a water change but i just cleaned my filters i dont want to over do it.
ideally ammonia should be 0 of course.
however many test kits give constant .5 ammonia readings. salifert kits are the most accurate IMO.

 

[cranberry]

Even if the kit were suspect, I would err on the side of caution. If this were a long term tank, that had no detectable changes and all other parameters were fine, I would probably wait it out long enough to go buy another kit. But this tank was freshly moved which is highly suspect.
Wow, that second sentence of mine has the worse punctutaion I ever saw.

 

[bigtankbigfish]

im gonna wait it out. let the tank sit for 2 or 3 days and test again since i cleaned all the filters. Then I'll do a water change.
i used a API kit

 

[cranberry]

At least try to change some water or something. Don't let them sit in ammonia without even trying!
Not that I like the idea of pouring this stuff in a DT but maybe some AmQuel or something?

 

[subielover]

Yeah .5 is high, you should probably do at least a 50% water change for the health of the fish.

 

[bigarn]

as stated above, a water change now wouldn't hurt, especially since you have fish in there.

 

[bigtankbigfish]

alright ill change it out now at the request of you guys.. Ive already got some pre mixed anyway. Ive just figured the level will drop since my filters were so dirty but now they're clean. And ive always heard that you shouldnt change the water and filter pads in the same day because your taking out most of the beneficial bacteria at once.

 

[yearofthenick]

The cc may have something to do with your ammonia levels rising. I agree that any ammonia levels are not good and cause stress, but .5 isn't going to cause all your fish to go feet up.
Do a water change, give it a few days, then retest. I also have the API test kit and although I hate that i can never seem to get exactly 5ml in the test tubes (Usually slightly above or below the line), mine have always tested accurately.