More Problems...

sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Jim417mx
Yea the rock was put into seperate saltwater before I put it in. But now my readings have changed to. Let me tell you straight up - I'm about to give up on this whole saltwater thing... I cant get it right, and when it seems that I have, something else measures wrong. :mad:
Nitrates: went up 10... at about 20 now - time for 20% water change ?
Nitrites: about 0.75 - 1.0
alkalinity : 300+
Hardness: 425
ph: 8.4
Ammonia: About 3.0 still but goin down slowly
Salinity: 30
Specific Gravity: 1.022
Your tank will be ok, it is just going to take some time. I had major issues when I set up my tank. I made the same mistakes that you and many other new hobbiests make. I went too fast. My tank was about 6-7 months old by the time all of the levels were where they belonged. The fact that your ammonia has gone down and your nitrate has gone up means that things are moving in the right direction. You are not as bad off as you think. Just don't add anything and let your tank stabelize.
 
jim417mx

jim417mx

Member
Update as of christmas day... I have not touched the tank since my last post, the only thing I have been doing is adding freshwater that has evaporated. Is the tank supose to get cloudy during the last stages of cycling? Its not a really BAD cloudy yet, its just a light noticeable cloudy.
More info: The ammonia went down to 0 , then my nitrites rose to about 12, and now they are heading back down (they are at 3.0) and my nitrates are at 20. This is how cycling is supose to work, correct? But where is the cloudyness coming from???

Sooo Right now
Nitrates: 20
Nitrites: 3.0
Ammonia: 0
Ph: Went down about 0.2 so its at around 8.2 now.
Everything else is the same...
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Jim417mx
Update as of christmas day... I have not touched the tank since my last post, the only thing I have been doing is adding freshwater that has evaporated. Is the tank supose to get cloudy during the last stages of cycling? Its not a really BAD cloudy yet, its just a light noticeable cloudy.
More info: The ammonia went down to 0 , then my nitrites rose to about 12, and now they are heading back down (they are at 3.0) and my nitrates are at 20. This is how cycling is supose to work, correct? But where is the cloudyness coming from???

Sooo Right now
Nitrates: 20
Nitrites: 3.0
Ammonia: 0
Ph: Went down about 0.2 so its at around 8.2 now.
Everything else is the same...
Your ph went down to 0.2????? Do you have an alkalinity test kit? The nitrites being that high are still very dangerous and could be causing the slight cloudyness. Are all of your fish still alive? Also, your cycle is progressing normally. The reason your nitrites spiked so high was because there was such a large amount of ammonia that has already broken down. Your nitrates will likely skyrocket after your nitrites come down.
 
jim417mx

jim417mx

Member
Yea everything is still alive and the live rock looks better than the day I got it so thats good. The alkalinity still shows up as a blue color on the test strips, but I cant even compare it on the chart since the chart shows dark green. I have searched "cloudy water" and see that I shuld maybe change my filters? Or will that mess up my cycling process?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Jim417mx
Yea everything is still alive and the live rock looks better than the day I got it so thats good. The alkalinity still shows up as a blue color on the test strips, but I cant even compare it on the chart since the chart shows dark green. I have searched "cloudy water" and see that I shuld maybe change my filters? Or will that mess up my cycling process?
Jim, please do yourself a favor and pick up a liquid master test kit. The test strips are often inacurate. Also pick up an alkalinity test kit so we can see why it is dipping so low. Your filters should not be dirty yet, but you can always just take a look at them. If they are dirty, just rinse them off for now. You can change them later after your cycle is complete. What are you using to raise the ph?
 
jim417mx

jim417mx

Member
I havent done anything to raise the ph. Have not added any chemicals to the tank besides some "Amquel Plus" " Removes ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, Chlorine, and Chrloamines" which was reccomended by both of my LFS who are both really helpful, they arent just a normal fish store, I have been going to both of them for over 5 years and they know me by now and never try to screw me over. Was that a bad idea to add that chemical? Now that I think about it, my tank wasnt really cloudy until I added that stuff.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Jim417mx
I havent done anything to raise the ph. Have not added any chemicals to the tank besides some "Amquel Plus" " Removes ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, Chlorine, and Chrloamines" which was reccomended by both of my LFS who are both really helpful, they arent just a normal fish store, I have been going to both of them for over 5 years and they know me by now and never try to screw me over. Was that a bad idea to add that chemical? Now that I think about it, my tank wasnt really cloudy until I added that stuff.

No, actually when I had issues with my nitrites I used it as well and it was effective. I was asking about the ph because you said that it was at 0.2 and now it is 8.2 Was that just a typo?
Sorry, I just looked again. I assume you ment it went down .2 points?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Jim417mx
Yeah it went down .2 points. Sorry for the confusion.
Ph can drop from the presence of broken down organics (they produce acid) Do you have a skimmer? We realy need to know your alkalinity reading to be certain, but this is a possibility.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Jim417mx
All I can tell you about the alkalinity is that its over 300. And I have a skimmer coming in the mail.
ok, well your alk is certainly high enough, the skimmer will help remove the organics.
 
jim417mx

jim417mx

Member
Ok thanks, but now that we kind of drifted off of my main question
what do you think is causing the slight cloudiness? It doesnt seem to be getting worse, its just a noticeable slight fog.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Jim417mx
Ok thanks, but now that we kind of drifted off of my main question
what do you think is causing the slight cloudiness? It doesnt seem to be getting worse, its just a noticeable slight fog.
This is just my oppinion, but I think it is from the magnitude of your cycle. Your numbers are spiking very high. Ever hear of "new tank syndrome" It is very common in newly established tanks that have a constant ammonia source throghout the cycle.
 
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