Water not improving -nitrates, amonia

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by jaymostella, Apr 1, 2012.

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  1. jaymostella

    jaymostella Skunk Shrimp

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    Location:
    North Alabama
    125 gal dt with sand substrate, 160lbs live rock running for 7.5 weeks.. I have been maintaining nitrates of around 30-40 for last 3 weeks. I did water change yesterday and was hoping they would lower but they didnt and show the same.. my ph is maintaining 8.0 before and after the water change.. phosphates have came and gone but when shown have only shown very minimally (.25) and my hardness test is still low after the water change which was 107... Should I be doing something more/different?
     
    jaymostella, Apr 1, 2012
    jaymostella, Apr 1, 2012
    #1

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  2. windowlicker

    windowlicker Astrea Snail

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    Location:
    Kent ,Ohio
    Did you start with live or dry sand? How much live rock was live or did you have dry rock also when you started the tank? Can you take a water sample to your lfs so you know your test kits are correct?
     
    windowlicker, Apr 1, 2012
    windowlicker, Apr 1, 2012
    #2
  3. jaymostella

    jaymostella Skunk Shrimp

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    Location:
    North Alabama
    started with live sand and 100% of live rock was live with good colored coralline, sponge corals, clams and etc, not to mention a few bad things, aiptasia, bubble algae and etc..

    I could take some test water in to test the water just hadnt thought of it.. May be a few days as i really dont have a lfs where i live..
     
    jaymostella, Apr 1, 2012
    jaymostella, Apr 1, 2012
    #3
  4. windowlicker

    windowlicker Astrea Snail

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    Location:
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    How big of a wc do you do? I do a 30 gal on my 125
     
    windowlicker, Apr 1, 2012
    windowlicker, Apr 1, 2012
    #4
  5. jaymostella

    jaymostella Skunk Shrimp

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    Location:
    North Alabama
    I did 34 gallons today.. I typically plan to do a 28gal every other week.. Today was larger partially because i wanted to get my numbers down and partially because I mixed too much salt water...
     
    jaymostella, Apr 1, 2012
    jaymostella, Apr 1, 2012
    #5
  6. jaymostella

    jaymostella Skunk Shrimp

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    Location:
    North Alabama
    Should I consider doing another water change within next few days?
     
    jaymostella, Apr 2, 2012
    jaymostella, Apr 2, 2012
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  7. NanaReefer

    NanaReefer Fu Manchu Lion Fish

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    What test kit are you using?
     
    NanaReefer, Apr 2, 2012
    NanaReefer, Apr 2, 2012
    #7
  8. jaymostella

    jaymostella Skunk Shrimp

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    Location:
    North Alabama
    API reef master with a couple API addons (amonia and nitrite). I bought it new from petco
     
    jaymostella, Apr 2, 2012
    jaymostella, Apr 2, 2012
    #8
  9. NanaReefer

    NanaReefer Fu Manchu Lion Fish

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    First of all a ph of 8.0 is fine. What are you using for filtration? For whatever reason your not exporting the nitrates via your water changes. Which leads me to believe your either having a lot of die off or something is harboring the nitrates.
    What is your water source?
     
    NanaReefer, Apr 2, 2012
    NanaReefer, Apr 2, 2012
    #9
  10. jaymostella

    jaymostella Skunk Shrimp

    Joined:
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    Location:
    North Alabama
    I have 40 gal sump with caulerpa and chaeto algae. I aded the chaeto, I am not sure how the caulerpa got in it but thats what my brother said it is... I have ro with dual di all with brand new spectrapure cartidges... The system wasnt used to fill the initial tank but I have been using it for last month now... TDS shows 0 on my meter as-well-as the output TDS on the dual di...

    What should I try or how do I figure out what the problem is?
     
    jaymostella, Apr 2, 2012
    jaymostella, Apr 2, 2012
    #10
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