Water Parameters

[kingspade]

hi, my ammonia is good but nitrates are 20-40, will this level itself or do i need to do something about it? checked it friday and it hasnt changed any by today. tank is a little over a month old with live rock only right now. running no fish to kill ich.

 

[beth]

I would say that that is a problem. Why are the so high? Do you have a FO tank?

 

[kingspade]

yes but as you know from before i am still running with no fish because of the ich problem i had. it is only live rock in there about 180-200lbs

 

[kingspade]

here is what it looks like

 

[kingspade]

are you still here beth?

 

[beth]

But why the high nitrates? What is causing it. Sorry, but if you mentioned that in another thread, I don't recall the details.

 

[bailey52]

Yes.. do you clean the subsrtate at all.... do you have filter pads that you do not change.. they hold onto nitrates.. also.. thats 200 lbs of LR... doesnt look that much?

 

[kingspade]

it is between 180 and 200lbs but i have 2 emperoe 400 hang ons and an xps cannister filter that have filter pads. i have cleaned the emperors a couple times and the cannister hasnt been cleaned for about a month. like i said the tank is only just over a month old. and no beth i didnt post this in another thread, i mentioned that i had talked to you about my ich situation a couple weeks back thats what i was refering to when i said "as you know from before" about having no fish. thats why i dont understand why the nitrates are so high. pleaew help.

 

[kingspade]

oh yeah, i forgot to say that i have never done a water change or cleaned the substrate in any way since the tank has been up. just topped off with 1/2 cup of salt per gallon.

 

[bailey52]

Hold on a sec... top off with just salt?? I hope you mean you topped off with WATER with no SALT in it.... Im assuming you do mean that.. Anyway if about time for you to do a 20% water chance... then do about 10% everyweek and monitor the Nitrates... also replace all filter media.. like I said they are a nitrate sponge... this will lower your nitrates..... Again let me know if you are confused about the salt.. what is your SG?

 

[kingspade]

1.024 is my levels, and YES i meant salt WITH WATER. lol you say to replace all filter media, it is all pretty new can i just wash it?

 

[kingspade]

im going to do a water change. (this will be my firs ever, can i get a little walk through) do i have to somewhat vaccum the substrate with the siphon?

 

[bailey52]

Just to make sure.. are you talking about water changes or top offs.. you know with top offs you only want to use plain water with NO SALT... correct? Anyway yes.. you can wash it but Im nt sure what the effects on nitrates that has. I think it would only wash away debris and the such.. I would replace them completely and do the water changes

 

[bailey52]

Well you would want to get up and detrius off the substrate, but dont mess it up too much.. a cleaner crew would be great. you should get a power head and hold it up to the LR and blow off all the debris and some from the substrate, then start a syphon with a 1/2 inch or 3/4" tube right into a bucket.. then mix ro water in a bucket with the salt and replace it

 

[kingspade]

dont have RO water

 

[bailey52]

Well you should start using... walmart sells like .40 cents a gallon of it..

 

[beth]

Test your source water to see if it has nitrate. Also, what is your substrate?

 

[kingspade]

my substrate id crushed coral. i did a 25 gallon water change last night and nitrates went from 20-40 to 10-20, still high. how do i test my source water? can i just use the same test kit for testing my tap?

 

[bailey52]

check the kit but most likely yes.. also.. crush coral has been said many times to hold onto nitrates.. you might want to think about a DSB (deep sand bed)

 

[kingspade]

i plan to change to sand but i may be getting a different tank with overflows so i figured i would wait until then atleast so i dont make a bunch of extra work for myself. and my question is are these levels going to keep going down now that i did the water change? like i said they went from between 20-40 down to 10-20 checked this morning, so within hours it want down that far, ill check again tomorrow. SG 1.023 today. ammonia 0-.25, nitrite 0 pH 8.2-8.4 temp right around 80