Mistake after mistake..?

I have been working soo hard on this tank I got from someone.
It's a 29/30g tank. She stopped maintaining it some time ago, it seems..
The Nitrates are so high I was scared for the liverock..
The pH seems fine (now), and my ammonia is so/so. (Nitrites were fine)

I just don't get what I am doing wrong with this tank! I swear I think it hates me! I have completely changed the water for the nitrates (some website was my guide for this..)... And, they are still if-y to me.

Original levels were : pH : 8.4 , Ammonia : 0.50 , Nitrate = 80+

After trying a couple new things, getting things set up and doing a water change (not completely)
pH : 7.4 , Ammonia : 0.50 , Nitrate = 80+
And.. again.. another water change, around 10g this time...
pH = 7.9 , Ammonia = 0.50 , Nitrate = 80+

So, this website I found told me to take out all but 20% of the water, I did, then double it, I did, then take it out again, I did, then double it....
(Basically, take it out three times) then refill it..
I did..
I used purified water for the refilling..
pH is currently 8.2, ammonia is .50, and nitrate is 5.0

But, now that one thing is fixed, I realized my ammonia is supposed to be undetectable. So, another run to the store, and I have purchased Ammonia Clear? It's supposed to keep the ammonia out..
But, I am so terrified at this point that this will cause something, almost anything to sky rocket into something terrible..
This tank is out to get me, I swear it.

Is there anything I am doing wrong to have my water levels not want to work?

29/30g tank.
With a filter designed for 50g.
Medium waterflow.
Lots of live rocks.
(My liverock is just now coming back to life, I was so happy!)
Oh! But it has little anemones on it, and I don't know if thats a good thing or not?? I'll attach a picture of the tank, and the little hitchhikers.







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the anemone is an aiptasia, a pest anemone. id get rid of it. if the live rock you got was dead from all the ammonia and nitrates, the tank could be cycling again, in which case the nitrates and ammonia will go away in time, when the good bacteria in the LR build up enough to take care of it

 

that would be Aiptasia= bad, imo if you have no livestock/corals in there it may be in your best interest to cook the rock empty the tank completley, and do a fresh cycle from scratch. That would give you the best chance for success at this point. If you decide to just type in cooking live rock on here you will find several articles. Good luck

 

Won't cooking the live rock kill it?
It's so pretty and I would hate to kill the only living thing in the tank lol.

 

In that small of tank and that much (small) LR, I would remove all the rock, kill off all of the aiptasia. Not eliminating majano or aiptasia will be a huge mistake down the road in 6 months.

The only long term remedy for me with aiptasia was peppermint shrimp, but they came with their own set of problems. Aiptasia X, Joes Juice, boiling water, lemon juice all were temporary fixes.

Good luck and hang in there.

 

Peppermint Shrimp? I'll start researching them.. (I had wanted to get some shrimp in the tank anyways, might as well get one with such a nifty name..)

Thanks again everyone, this is my first attempt at a saltwater tank, and so far it's been harder than maintaining all my tropical tanks combined lol..

 

How old is this tank?

The best thing you can do, IMO, is stop the water changes, and do not add any products to the tank.

You have some die off, probably from the live rock. Ammonia needs to be present initially to assist in development of the biological filter if the tank is cycling. The rest of the time you want undetectable ammonia and nitrite levels.

Let the biological filter develop. If you decide to nuke the rock you are going to have to recycle it in a separate container for a few weeks IMO.

 

When you got the tank did you reuse the old sand? If so did you thoroughly rinse it? If you just reused it that could be what's causing the problems with ammonia and nitrates and should settle in time. Nuking the rock would still be an option for me though just to get rid of the aptaisia.

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Also if the tank was used before the nitrates might be coming from the sand - did you rinse the sand before putting it back in? Or was this a fully cycled aquarium when you bought it?

It does take time but once it all comes together it is an amazing hobby. Just take it slow and steady

 

well join the club on making a buch of mistakes everyone on here has done and continue to even the best of us LOL ;D

as far as the aspista goes you can use suoer glue and smother them in it so you dont have to nuke the rock, I would not get a pepermint shrimp untile you have things under control.

I also would not add any supliments to the tank let it run its cores for a few weeks and you should notice a diffrence in the ammonis lvls and nitrate levels.

this is just an option but you can empty it out and start fresh ans that might be a easier option than trying to revamp the tank to a better state, It might even be shorter time wise.