OK,I'm stumped

trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
Yesterday I did a 10 gallon water change. I do this every week. I have a 45 gallon tank with another 10 gallons in my sump. I tested the water before the change and it read as follows: Ammonia .50, Nitrite .50, PH 8.2, Nitrate 20. Today I do another 10 gallon water change and the same thing. NO change. There should have been some kind of change in the tests, right? So then I test the water that I mixed up. PH is 8.2 and the Nitrite and Nitrate are perfect. The Ammonia however shows between .5 and 1. This means that either the salt I am using(Crystal Reef) or the RO water from the LFS has Ammonia in it.
 
T

tuningvis

Guest
could be
try switching salts and see if that does the trick .. also you wont have a direct change with 2 water changes .. it will take a few.
 
dmc888

dmc888

Member
Are you taking water from the tank or sump?
Are you siphoning the sand/substrate.
And are your filters clean?
It should atleast take out some nitrates.
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
When I had crushed coral, I used to vacuum the substrate but now I have sand and I was told not to vacuum the sand. I just move the vacuum around to try and get any debris to float up and then I suck it into the vacuum. I'm using a sump and the filter bag is brand new. I always thought that any kind of water change would have some effect on the water quality?
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Test the RO water from the LFS that you have. Sounds like the container he sold it out of is cycling, or he just gave you some old tank water. :notsure:
Thomas
 
reeferman1

reeferman1

Member
So its a good idea not to directly siphone the sand. Also, please explain the whole cycling period from start to finish. Anyone's advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanx.:notsure:
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
I had a 12 gallon nano tank set up for 3 months. This past weekend I transferred everything into the 45 gallon tank. The only thing that chnged is a different brand of salt. I was using Serasalt but they were out of it so I bought a 5 gallon bucket of Crystal Sea.
I also just did a test on the RO water, and the Nitrate and Nitrite were fine. The PH was 7.4 which was expected. Now the Ammonia was weird. Usually the Ammonia test comes out opauqe or cloudy in color. When I tested the water alone, the color came out clear. It had a green tint to it but it was still clear.
 
pelena

pelena

Member

Originally posted by Reeferman1
So its a good idea not to directly siphone the sand. Also, please explain the whole cycling period from start to finish. Anyone's advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanx.:notsure:
Try checking out a thread I started titled "more cycle questions" I don't know how to link it here, so you can search it or under Pelena. Hope it helps some reeferman.
 
dmc888

dmc888

Member
Well that explains why you had nitrites showing.
You went thru another cycle.
Does your test kit go up to 20 for nitrate.
If so perhaps it was over 20.
Some don't siphon the sand because of the live critters in it.
But if you don't have any i would siphon it.
I have a refugium so i'm not worried about loss of pods.
Just keep your finger over the hose and stop it if you see sand going thru and wait and let the sand fall back out.
I get alot of crap out when i siphon my sand.
 
pelena

pelena

Member
if you dont have another form or storing the bacteria, siphoning your sand can kill the bacteria you need. It could be like pressing the RESET button on your tank. Be careful.
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
I shouldn't have cycled again. All I really did was add extra water. It was the same rock and water and fish all placed in a bigger tank. I tested the water three ways, the water in the tank, newly mixed salt water, and the RO water, fresh from the LFS. The water from the tank tested as follows: Ammonia .50, Nitrite .50, Nitrate 20, PH 8.2, Freshly mixed saltwater Amonia .50, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 8.2, Somehow Ammonia is getting into the water. I then tested the RO water frsh from the store, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 7.4, Now this is the weird part. The Ammonia test vial usually has an opauque or cloudy look to it. This time it was clear, it still had a green tint to it but it was clear, not cloudy or opaque like it usually is.
 
dmc888

dmc888

Member
It seems to be common to have a small cycle when switching over to a new tank.
I have not experienced it myself, but i see people posting they had a small cycle when upgrading tanks.
I 'm guessing from less bacteria then before.
But it will catch up ofcourse.
Pelena could you post a link or some info about how it would affect bacteria by siphoning it.
Couldn't find anything on a search.
 
claire_r

claire_r

Member
Hey, Train.
I'm no expert (quite the opposite), so I don't like to try answering questions, but...could your test kit be off? Just a thought.
claire
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
No that's not it. I took my kit and a sample of water to the LFS and had them do a test with my kit and another with theirs. Both tests had the same rsults.
 
pelena

pelena

Member

Originally posted by dmc888
Pelena could you post a link or some info about how it would affect bacteria by siphoning it.
Couldn't find anything on a search.
I guess it is still on of those debated subjects. Try searching for SIPHON SAND. There is a thread titled vaccuum aragonite sand or something to that effect. I'd have to agree with Reef... on that one. Sorry for the confusing directions. I'm still new to the forum and don't know how to post links to other threads yet. It does make some sence to barely disturb the top milimeter when doing a water change if you can.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top