Just tested the water... please help.

[kayak385]

pH: 8.2
Alk: ~1.7
NH3: 0.25
NO2: 0.05
NO3: High Range 100/Low Range 20
I tested my water after I found one of my Zebra Turbos dead and my plate coral not looking so good.
I just replaced my bioballs for live rock about a week ago. I went from 70-80lbs of LR to over 140 by adding all the LR at the same time i replaced the bioballs. This LR came from my girlfriend's tank which is where half the fish came from(upgraded her 48gal to my 75 gal+sump).
I am going to do a 10% water change, but is there anything else I can do to reduce my Nitrates?
This is by far the scariest thing I have encountered since starting, and so far its not the saddest, because I only lost a snail.
In my tank
Fish: 4 green chromis, 2 true osc clowns, sixline wrasse, LMB.
Inverts: 6 turbos, 7 pacific nerite snails, fire shrimp, peppermint shrimp(in sump), purple lobster, ~10 hermits, 2 emerald crabs, 2 porcelain crabs.
Corals:Eagle Eye Polyps, Orange Plate Coral, Mushrooms
Also, I have a rock with hair algae, another rock with green kelp like stuff, and in the sump i have chaeto, mangroves, and some type of grass.
Thanks!

 

[earlybird]

You can do more than a 10% water change first and follow up with small water changes daily until you are at a range you like. You could then add some cleaner clams to help reduce nitrates but don't know how much they will help.

 

[kayak385]

Originally Posted by earlybird
You can do more than a 10% water change first and follow up with small water changes daily until you are at a range you like. You could then add some cleaner clams to help reduce nitrates but don't know how much they will help.
I don't have an exact way of measuring my salt/gal ratio except by using 3cups/5gallons which seems to be around 1.025 which is why i would only like to do 10% at a time.
Cleaner clams from my knowledge will be ok in a wide range of temperatures but I hear they are only really good at colder temps.
I'm guessing if I do 10% WC everyother day they will go down, but I was wondering if the hair algae and/or LR that I added are causing these things to happen.
Unfortunately I cannot take a picture of the LR i added, but it is more purple than that LR i had in there before. The new LR has little white dots on parts of it which I don't know if its dying off or what.

 

[earlybird]

Do you have a refractometer? If you know that 5g of premix is 1.025 why not make 10g and do a larger water change?
reefkprz had an interesting post about cleaner clams and I don't know much about them but plan to add 2 to my tank. A lot of people swear by them as nitrate removers but idk.
The nitrates are fertilizer for the hair algae but I'm pretty sure that hair algae don't produce nitrate just feed off of it.
Was the new LR exposed to the air for a long period of time before you added it. If your gf's tank had different lighting than your tank your rock will need to adjust to the new lighting. It may be die off.

 

[renogaw]

from my own headaches, i think your alk is way too low btw for corals. might want to check that and calcium with GOOD test kits and see if thats the problem

 

[kayak385]

Originally Posted by earlybird
Do you have a refractometer? If you know that 5g of premix is 1.025 why not make 10g and do a larger water change?
reefkprz had an interesting post about cleaner clams and I don't know much about them but plan to add 2 to my tank. A lot of people swear by them as nitrate removers but idk.
The nitrates are fertilizer for the hair algae but I'm pretty sure that hair algae don't produce nitrate just feed off of it.
Was the new LR exposed to the air for a long period of time before you added it. If your gf's tank had different lighting than your tank your rock will need to adjust to the new lighting. It may be die off.
Refractometer... no
Her rocks were exposed to hair algae which i scrubbed off. I transferred them from her tank to my tank less than 10 blocks away in water so there wouldn't be close to any air exposure.
Her lighting was also pretty crappy, which probably led to the hair algae, and mine isn't the best, but its single sattelite 2x65.
I'll check up on the cleaner clam issue also, i'm going to the store to get RO water right now.

 

[earlybird]

to quote reefkprz "Lights don't cause algae just help them grow." Excess nutrients of nitrates and phosphates are what cause bad algae.

 

[kayak385]

Originally Posted by earlybird
to quote reefkprz "Lights don't cause algae just help them grow." Excess nutrients of nitrates and phosphates are what cause bad algae.
ok, so water change + feed less = lower nitrates... got it

 

[pandafish]

try testing DKH. I have stopped testing alk for the DKH you want it to be about 12 or 214.8ppm. Also there are some good filter pads that will help reduce your PO4 and NO3.
If the fish look happy don't worry to much a crab or something may have gotten to the snail.

 

[kayak385]

I did a 10% water change and tested the water to find the same reading on the Nitrates.
Anything else I can do? I will make another batch of water tonight to do a water change Friday.

 

[kayak385]

bump

 

[kayak385]

any critters that will help, i know ever critter will create nitrates, but won't some clean them up?

 

[susie&jeran]

Originally Posted by kayak385
any critters that will help, i know ever critter will create nitrates, but won't some clean them up?
Since I put 2 cleaner clams in, my nitrates seem to stay under control more.