Now the Nitrates have spiked.What do i need to do??

[b-baby80]

I've changed 1/3 of the water yesterday and today.Now my Nitrates are up again.I don't want my crabs to die

 

[dmitry]

You have to keep doing large water changes to get them down. And figure out why they're spiking. What's in your tank? How big is the tank? What and how often do you feed the tank?

 

[b-baby80]

O.K. it's a 10 gallon take with filter and heater.It has 2 large hermit crabs and 1 small.I'm feedin about 8 little pellets every other day or so.It's very bare i know.I'm affraid to do much to it with it being small.I have to add this wasn't on purpose.I actually set up the tank after finding out the crabs were marine.They've been in their since mid July or so.

 

[bang guy]

These are just suggestions about what I would do:
Feed 1 small pellet every other day.

[hr]
What are the Nitrate levels? It's so difficult to help without real numbers. If you're uncomfortable with the Nitrate level just do a 90% water change.

 

[b-baby80]

Well for the last few days only the Nitrite was up.Now the Nitrate has went up to.Hang on and i'll test again and get the #'s

 

[b-baby80]

O.K. here are my current #'s
PH 8.4 Its been being 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 20 It was 5 yesterday
Nitrite 2.0 been that for days now
Salinity 1.021

 

[1journeyman]

Nitrite falling and Nitrate increasing is evidence that your biological filtration is working.

 

[b-baby80]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Nitrite falling and Nitrate increasing is evidence that your biological filtration is working.
The Nitrate actually went up.It's been being 5.The Nitrites haven't budged and the PH went up a bit too.What could this be??

 

[dmitry]

You're feeding too much. It's good to supplement hermit crabs' diet with pellets and such, but they also find things to eat naturally (algae that grows in every aquarium.) So you're giving them too many pellets, which start rotting before they can get to them.

 

[florida joe]

try a different test kit

 

[b-baby80]

Originally Posted by Dmitry
You're feeding too much. It's good to supplement hermit crabs' diet with pellets and such, but they also find things to eat naturally (algae that grows in every aquarium.) So you're giving them too many pellets, which start rotting before they can get to them.
Oh i knew they were scavengers but since their all thats in their.I mean it's so bare like gravel,1 big shell and them.Thats it nothing else.So the algae is all they need.How often should i give pellets if i do?Thanks so much you guys

 

[dmitry]

There are no hard rules about how much to feed, but you're obviously feeding too much now since your parameters are out of whack. So start doing half of what you're doing now and see what happens.

 

[squirreloso]

8 pellets for two hermits??
feed them one or two pellets every three days
when you have fish you dont even have to feed them, they will eat leftovers and dead bodies when it happends

 

[frankthetank]

I never feed my hermits. I let them feed off of the reef. However, I would like to have some algae sheets or pellet food to throw in maybe once a week or something. Just a treat for their hard work and dedication in helping keep my tank crystal clean!

 

[b-baby80]

Originally Posted by squirreloso
8 pellets for two hermits??
feed them one or two pellets every three days
when you have fish you dont even have to feed them, they will eat leftovers and dead bodies when it happends
No three Hermits 2 large(just smaller than a tennis ball)then one nickel sized one.I was just feeding cause i didn't think they had anything to feed on.Ooops my bad LOL!No more feeding the hermits

 

[dmitry]

If you don't add fish that you'll be feeding, it's ok to feed the hermits something. Just not as much as you're feeding.

 

[b-baby80]

O.K. their's no fish in their right now.I'll just give like 3 pellets once or twice a week??