Need Help understanding my parameters

schryvertime

schryvertime

New member
So I'm still fairly new to all of this and have a few questions about the parameters that I can test for. I do not have an alk or mag test kit yet (ice know, I need to get them and plan on it)

My SG is 1.025
High PH-8.2
Nitrates are 20
Nitrites are 0
Calcium is 500-520

I know know my Nitrates are high, I have removed all bio media from mechanical filter and skimmer. I have done small water changes going on 3 weeks now. The Nitrates have dropped but still not great. I have fish, cuc, softies and one brain coral. Everything seems to be doing well other than I had a pulsing xenia only last a week before it melted. (That was last week)

Is my calcium to high? And what is the difference between ph and high PH?

As always thanks to everyone and anyone that has helped through this first year of a reef tank.
 
Over feeding could cause the high nitrates. The xenia melting could add to that as well. The calcium is high but mine is the same and things are o.k. so far. I think some salt has more calcium than others. Are you talking about the po4? That is phosphate and should be kept low also.
 
I'm using the api freshwater test kit and just printed off the saltwater color sheet. It has ph and high PH. The ph has a range from like 6.something to low 7's. The high has from 7.4-8.6 or 8.8... I've read that ph should be somewhere around 8.2-8.4
 
Bogue Chitto said:
Over feeding could cause the high nitrates. The xenia melting could add to that as well. The calcium is high but mine is the same and things are o.k. so far. I think some salt has more calcium than others. Are you talking about the po4? That is phosphate and should be kept low also.
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Also I have cut back on my feeding by half. I think this has been a portion of the issue. The tank was getting two cube oft frozen mysis but is only getting one now. I've been doing this for about a week.
 
That pH is great. Most tanks run lower than that. The calcium level is high, but it is safe as is. Lots of people end up running at levels like that because of their salt mix. I'd probably stop dosing any calcium, if I were adding any, but I wouldn't worry.

That nitrate level should be safe for soft corals, although it might cause some browning. Xenia often disappear for reasons that are hard to determine.

How big is the tank, and how many pounds of live rock does it contain?
 
bertoni said:
That pH is great. Most tanks run lower than that. The calcium level is high, but it is safe as is. Lots of people end up running at levels like that because of their salt mix. I'd probably stop dosing any calcium, if I were adding any, but I wouldn't worry.

That nitrate level should be safe for soft corals, although it might cause some browning. Xenia often disappear for reasons that are hard to determine.

How big is the tank, and how many pounds of live rock does it contain?
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Thanks, I am not dosing anything. Figured I would get a better understanding of what I have before going doing that. It is a 60g tank with 55lbs of LR. I am thinking I need to beef up my CUC a bit. Maybe a turbo snails or two.
 
Bogue Chitto said:
I think 2 of the cubes of mysis was too much for that size tank, cutting down to one should make a big difference.
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Yea. I agree the more I watched. When I get from the actual LFS it isn't as much as the food from petsmart. So when started the first few months I was always buying from the LFS and two was enough. It was gone in under a minute. Two cubes from petsmart takes a few minutes to dissappear. Will the Nitrates go down on their own or should I continue to do weekly water changes?
 
You will need to continue the water changes to get them down. It won't go down real fast but it will. Just don't let the hair algae get a start.
 
It might also help when you do water change to take a turkey baster or spare powerhead and blow on the rocks to clean them, you would be surprised how much detritus is trapped in the nooks and crannies. If you dont wanna waste too much water, just connect a filter sock in the sump and run the siphon outlet into the sock in the sump so the water stays in the system and the detritus is trapped in the sock.
 
AcroNewbie said:
It might also help when you do water change to take a turkey baster or spare powerhead and blow on the rocks to clean them, you would be surprised how much detritus is trapped in the nooks and crannies. If you dont wanna waste too much water, just connect a filter sock in the sump and run the siphon outlet into the sock in the sump so the water stays in the system and the detritus is trapped in the sock.
Click to expand...

Won't all of the detritus be floating around in the tank and adventually settle on the rocks again? Or try to siphon it as it gets stirred up? I'm not running a sump. Just a skimmer and a mechanical filter for AC
 
schryvertime said:
Won't all of the detritus be floating around in the tank and adventually settle on the rocks again? Or try to siphon it as it gets stirred up? I'm not running a sump. Just a skimmer and a mechanical filter for AC
Click to expand...
Nevermind disregard my dumb question. Haha. I will do this. Thanks.
 
schryvertime said:
Nevermind disregard my dumb question. Haha. I will do this. Thanks.
Click to expand...

No question is dumb haha we all start somewhere better to ask than to watch livestock die. The filter for the AC would likely suck up some of the detritus but I would just siphon the detritus out, you are already spending the time to do this might as well make it a water change too, if you are worried about removing too much water a simple recirculating set-up can be rigged with a small pump, some spare tubing, and the bucket, so the siphoned water goes through the sock into the bucket, and the "clean" water in the bucket gets pumped back into the tank.
 
AcroNewbie said:
No question is dumb haha we all start somewhere better to ask than to watch livestock die. The filter for the AC would likely suck up some of the detritus but I would just siphon the detritus out, you are already spending the time to do this might as well make it a water change too, if you are worried about removing too much water a simple recirculating set-up can be rigged with a small pump, some spare tubing, and the bucket, so the siphoned water goes through the sock into the bucket, and the "clean" water in the bucket gets pumped back into the tank.
Click to expand...
I'm OK with an actual water change to get it I saw a video with that recirculation pump. Will probably do that later on but for now this will work.
 
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