new test kit gives shocking results

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saltymac2012

Guest
I check my water fairly frequently. After a water change, my PH went down. I checked the date and its 3-4 years old. So went to LFS and bought a new one. (I checked the date good until 2017) Came home and checked everything as follows:
TEMP 78
SALT 1.023
AMMONIA 0
NITRITE 0
PH 8.0
NITRATE 160
I was shocked, the old kit had me at 5.0. A 160 is at the top of the chart. Any suggestions as to lowering this reading? Besides less food, and another water change.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by saltymac2012 http:///t/392863/new-test-kit-gives-shocking-results#post_3491194
I check my water fairly frequently. After a water change, my PH went down. I checked the date and its 3-4 years old. So went to LFS and bought a new one. (I checked the date good until 2017) Came home and checked everything as follows:
TEMP 78
SALT 1.023
AMMONIA 0
NITRITE 0
PH 8.0
NITRATE 160
I was shocked, the old kit had me at 5.0. A 160 is at the top of the chart. Any suggestions as to lowering this reading? Besides less food, and another water change.
Do you have inverts in that tank? Because if you do, and they are alive and well then the test is not accurate since they can't live in nitrates higher than 40. If this is an API kit the nitrate test is not accurate.
To answer your question, macroalgae is the best thing for bringing nitrates down,
 
S

saltymac2012

Guest
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/392863/new-test-kit-gives-shocking-results#post_3491228
Do you have inverts in that tank? Because if you do, and they are alive and well then the test is not accurate since they can't live in nitrates higher than 40. If this is an API kit the nitrate test is not accurate.
To answer your question, macroalgae is the best thing for bringing nitrates down,
Yes to both. Why is api nitrate test not accurate? I talked to the LFS guy, and he figured out one probable cause to the high trates. At harvest time I was feeding it to my tangs( loved it). His explaniationwas because I use the "feather" macro all the nutrients were leeching back into the tank once the tangs bit it open. Are all the test in that kit bad?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
I'm not sure a Nitrate reading above 40ppm is fatal but I agree with Flower that you should get a second opinion from a different test kit before taking any action.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bang Guy http:///t/392863/new-test-kit-gives-shocking-results#post_3491251
I'm not sure a Nitrate reading above 40ppm is fatal but I agree with Flower that you should get a second opinion from a different test kit before taking any action.
LOL...okay, well 160 is definitely to much for them. I use SeaChem kits, each test comes with a regent to be able to double check for accuracy. So far the only test in the API kit absolutly not trustworthy is the nitrate, but I figure if that one isn't trustworthy, none of them are. JMO
 
S

saltymac2012

Guest
Im going to take sample to LFS tomorrow. See what they come up with. I checked my water before and after adding salt, both show 0ppm. But that was the API kit. I dont know what to do. I di another 15 gal water change. Thats 30 gal in 48 hrs. Read some posts on a few other sites, all of which were not good. One guy said you really have to shake the second bottle hard, like bang it off the counter to get the reagent crystals to dissolve... I dont know about that, but I tried it anyway.......exactly the same results as the day before off the chart. My old kit was red sea, three bottle mix. My readings were always around 2.5ppm, until I got the naso, then the were 5.0 (he poops alot). Does the feeding of the macro sound right to you guys?
 
S

saltymac2012

Guest
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bang Guy http:///t/392863/new-test-kit-gives-shocking-results#post_3491285
The Macro could release Nitrates if it was not eaten, died, and allowed to rot.
Otherwise no, I don't think that's it. Typically, any uneaten Macro will start to grow and consume Nitrate.
Not a chance, they gobble it down, and any pieces I find them in the pre filter or pwr heads, which I clean them the next day and usually every other day anyways. I got about two hours until the LFS opens, I'll post their results when I get back.
 
S

saltymac2012

Guest
well Lfs got high reading also. when I set up this tank 7-8 years ago the LFS at the tie was using DSB. The long and short of it is I set mine up that way also. You can figure out the rest. But if your new and wanna hear a sob story, I can tell you later. I just hope my corrective actions that I took today will solve that problem. It also explains a few other problems that I didnt know. How does that saying go? "The more I learn the more I realize I dont know" ??
 
S

saltymac2012

Guest
well, I took all the rock and live stock out of the tank and put them in brute garbage cans with heaters and power heads, Then removed 5 of the 6 inch sand bed that was in the tank. I then added the rock/fish back into the tank. My only regret looking back is that I would have "cleaned" the remaining sand better. But I was going on 2 different opinions from 2 LFS. 1 told me to remove all the sand and add new, the other told me to keep just an inch of the old, not to rinse it as to not have a drastic change. I was able to keep about 70% of the water. I also added a bottle of DR Tims bacteria to prevent (in theory) a spike in ammonia. My levels did come up somewhat in ammonia (.1) and no2(.25) while my no3 was 160+. I waited 2 days and did another 14 gal water change,but this time directly from the remaining sand bed. That was 2 buckets of nasty brown water. I have inverts in the tank, emerald crab, pepermint shrimps, turbo snails, I noticed since the water changes, removal of the dsb, that all inverts are more active along with the fish. But the fish seem to be the same as far as swimming, eatting etc. All levels have returned to accectable except for the no3, which remains off the charts. Im hoping that with a few more water changes that my macroalge will be able to catch up.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by saltymac2012 http:///t/392863/new-test-kit-gives-shocking-results#post_3491984
well, I took all the rock and live stock out of the tank and put them in brute garbage cans with heaters and power heads, Then removed 5 of the 6 inch sand bed that was in the tank. I then added the rock/fish back into the tank. My only regret looking back is that I would have "cleaned" the remaining sand better. But I was going on 2 different opinions from 2 LFS. 1 told me to remove all the sand and add new, the other told me to keep just an inch of the old, not to rinse it as to not have a drastic change. I was able to keep about 70% of the water. I also added a bottle of DR Tims bacteria to prevent (in theory) a spike in ammonia. My levels did come up somewhat in ammonia (.1) and no2(.25) while my no3 was 160+. I waited 2 days and did another 14 gal water change,but this time directly from the remaining sand bed. That was 2 buckets of nasty brown water. I have inverts in the tank, emerald crab, pepermint shrimps, turbo snails, I noticed since the water changes, removal of the dsb, that all inverts are more active along with the fish. But the fish seem to be the same as far as swimming, eatting etc. All levels have returned to accectable except for the no3, which remains off the charts. Im hoping that with a few more water changes that my macroalge will be able to catch up.
The macros grow and the overgrowth removed (called harvesting) that is when you will notice the change in nitrates. If you are using API test kits to test NO3...use another type of kit. I was going nuts with NO3 readings into the 80+ range, I even had 3 different API test kits and they all read the same. I swapped from a canster system to a sump and purchased an Aquaripure nitrate filter...still the API said I had 80+ NO3 even a day after a huge water change...yet the inverts were fine. I finally got a SeaChem kit, it comes with a regent to double check to make sure the test is accurate....the NO3 level was 1.
 
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