Nitrite,Nitrate,Ammonia levels
- Thread starter whitefish
- Start date
whitefish
Member
I don't know the the exact levels of Nitrites, Nitrates, Ammonia.I'am at work right now and my wife called me from home to tell me that the test show a level higher than what it has been showing.All of the have been testing on the losest level on the color chart. I know my salt level is 1.020, could this be the cause of all this?
dalerich
Member
We are talking about 12 gallon tank? Has the tank cycled?
I could be wrong but salt level generally does not make or change your level a whole lot. What live stock do you have?
What filtering do you have? If this is a 12 gallon tank you may want to post in the nano section. Experts keep 1 gallon tanks on those message boards. I have a 55 gallon which you can make some mistakes without killing everything.
I could be wrong but salt level generally does not make or change your level a whole lot. What live stock do you have?
What filtering do you have? If this is a 12 gallon tank you may want to post in the nano section. Experts keep 1 gallon tanks on those message boards. I have a 55 gallon which you can make some mistakes without killing everything.
acrylic51
Active Member
How long has the tank been up??? Has the tank completed it's cycle... If the tank is still cycling you will see a progression of levels increasing and that would be normal... if the tank has been set up a bit and you all of a sudden noticed increased levels then I would say your filtration system is working as needed...
I wouldn't recommend water changes daily till you put out all the facts about the tank... The information is kinda vague.....
Dalerich... It's not always true the bigger the water volume the easier the water parameters... It's a bigger place to dilute the problem... You still have to stay on top of things... with a smaller tank it's just magnified.....
Give us more details on the tank... How longs it been up? Type of filtration???
I wouldn't recommend water changes daily till you put out all the facts about the tank... The information is kinda vague.....
Dalerich... It's not always true the bigger the water volume the easier the water parameters... It's a bigger place to dilute the problem... You still have to stay on top of things... with a smaller tank it's just magnified.....
Give us more details on the tank... How longs it been up? Type of filtration???
whitefish
Member
I set up my 12 Gal. Nano Cube Deluxe tank on Sunday Feb. 27th 2005 and let the salt water circulate for 3 days along with the a 1 inch layer of small Sea Gravel. On the third day(March 2nd) I purchased 3 Damsels, 1 Live Rock, and 1 Dead Rock.Then 5 days from that, Which brings us to today March 7th.I noticed when I got home from work that the Live Rock turned a rusty color. Early that today my wife called to tell me that the Ammonia was at 0.25. The Nitrites were between 1.0-3.0 and Nitrates were between 0-20.
I also have been checking my Salinity started at 1.024 when I first put my Damsels in the tank and today since then it has been changing as the water evaporates.Today it reads 1.020. How much sould I allow this to flucuate up and down on a daily or weekly bases. Is there a good way to keep at a constant level. I was told to keep a 5 Gal. Bucket of premixed saltwater for water changes.How cold will this back-up water be and will it be safe to just pour water right into tank or could I mix my saltwater minutes before a water change.
I also have been checking my Salinity started at 1.024 when I first put my Damsels in the tank and today since then it has been changing as the water evaporates.Today it reads 1.020. How much sould I allow this to flucuate up and down on a daily or weekly bases. Is there a good way to keep at a constant level. I was told to keep a 5 Gal. Bucket of premixed saltwater for water changes.How cold will this back-up water be and will it be safe to just pour water right into tank or could I mix my saltwater minutes before a water change.
mudplayerx
Active Member
Don't do water changes during the first 30-40 days... you are only making things worse. It is natural for you to have high readings during this time, and you shouldn't put any livestock in until it is done cycling.
acrylic51
Active Member
I have to agree that water changes at this point would kind of be defeating the purpose of the cycling process.... You want to see the spikes and then drop off... By you doing water changes you aren't allow that natural occurance to happen....
You should make sure your water change water matches or is close to your tank water...
You should make sure your water change water matches or is close to your tank water...
whitefish
Member
If I need to get the water to as close to tank temp. as possible. How do I do that. If I store premixed saltwater, how would I get that up to the proper temp.Will letting the water sit for days get to be a temp. of 76 degrees.Or should I be getting another heater to put in my back-up water?
acrylic51
Active Member
I'll never say I do it the correct way, but I usually keep about 50 gallons of water made up at all times.... I have my water vat which is nothing more than a rubbermaid trash can and has bulkheads drilled in bottom and near top and run an Iwaki pump 40RLT to circulate the water!!!! Kinda an overkill, but I had it laying around so I use it...
Letting the water come to room temp is ok, but I also use a heater since they aren't expensive, and try to get it the same as my tank water.... Tank usually stays around 79-80 so in that range I have the heater set, but then I also use a therometer to double check the display and water vat as well. I will do this before water change just to make sure everything is pretty close.....
Letting the water come to room temp is ok, but I also use a heater since they aren't expensive, and try to get it the same as my tank water.... Tank usually stays around 79-80 so in that range I have the heater set, but then I also use a therometer to double check the display and water vat as well. I will do this before water change just to make sure everything is pretty close.....
acrylic51
Active Member
I agree somewhat with bkbkid that the key is to do water changes, but you have to wait for the tank to cycle first....Adding the additive he suggested wouldn't hurt in my opinion. I've never used it personally. I use Cycle at this stage, but I have to say doing 50% water changes IMO are a bit drastic and would only do that amount if things were majorly headed the wrong direction. Smaller more frequent water changes are better IMO....
I shouldn't really say that, because on my tank weekly I change about 40 gallons, but have been on that schedule for years and everythings does fine....
I shouldn't really say that, because on my tank weekly I change about 40 gallons, but have been on that schedule for years and everythings does fine....