Nitrate jump

[maui]

I just added a goby last week who has done an excellent job stiring up the DSB. And my nitrates have jumped up. I'm doing a water change this afternoon to. What I'm wondering is if this is common. Goby's are constantly stiring the sand so is this constantly going to be a problem or just a one time deal.

 

[dad]

This really depends on alot of things. How long has your tank been set up and what you have in it.
How high did your nitrites go up?

 

[maui]

Tanks been setup for 8 mo. To be honest I didn't even look at the number if I had to guess it would be high, haven't seen that color on the kit in a long time used to be a verly hardly noticeable pink and is now a deep purple. By any number it is not good. Skimmers haven't been skimming as much out of the water last few days either.

 

[dad]

I would do the water change and then let things settle down.
Anytime you add something to your tank, you will notice some changes.
Anything, like a sand star or gobie will really stir thing up for awhile.
This is pretty normal and things will settle down.
Infact; I'm one of the few that do not beleive in water changes as a solution to everything.
They never hurt though,