opinions please

[bjtrapjr]

Ok so I check my water and it looks like my parameters look pretty good to me I wanted to see what everyone else thinks. I currently have 1 Saddleback clown, 1 lta, 1 rta, 3 frags of mushroom and 1 poly (I think that's what is called) and one other piece of coral.

I tried to get the best pictures I could. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[acabgd]

Give us the testkit readings. I don't use API tesfs and cannot read the picutre anyway as it's bad quality.

 

[bjtrapjr]

Salinity 1.025, ph 8.2, ammonia .25, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, phosphate 0 calcium 440, kh 214.8

 

[Lucky Lefty]

You really need to fill out your tank info, history and all that jazz.
Aside from that, from what I see, your ammonia test looks green, but I know that particular test is a little tricky to read, as 0 is like a yellowish green color, but any sign of ammonia will eliminate the yellow in the solution and should be pretty identifiable as green.

 

[Lucky Lefty]

How long has the tank been running?

 

[bjtrapjr]

How do I do that didn't even know it was available I'm new to the forum and less then a year having a tank

 

[bjtrapjr]

It's been running about 10 months is a 29 gal and has a hob filter

 

[Lucky Lefty]

Under the reef central banner, top left, go to User CP and fill out all of that stuff.

Less than a year.. as in 2 months.. or 6 months, or 11 months?
Specifics my friend, otherwise no one is gonna be able to help and you're going to get annoyed with people asking for you to clarify what you mean when you say things like 'less than a year' or 'levels are all good'
Not pickin on you, just trying to help a fellow noob

 

[Lucky Lefty]

Ok 10 months.. odd to see any sign of ammonia at that age of tank, and any ammonia is not good.

 

[bjtrapjr]

I've always have seemed to have between 0 and .25 ppm ammonia and I just dose with 1 cap of prime and it usually goes down

 

[billdogg]

Ammonia, at even a very low concentration, is harmful to fish and can be deadly to many invertebrates. At the very least, you need to do a fairly large water change to help get that level to 0. Because the level is above 0, that would indicate that either your tank is in the early stages of cycling, that something just died and the biological filtration cannot keep up, you are overfeeding, or a combination of the above.

As stated above, all the pertinent details will help a lot.
Tank size
sump size (if any)
amount of live rock
mechanical filtration (if used)
lighting
circulation (# and type of powerheads, return pump, etc)


I would also suggest investing better test kits. My personal preference is Salifert. They may cost a bit more, but are very easy to use, and the results are quite repeatable.

 

[bjtrapjr]

I usually repeat that every 2 weeks and it's stays at 0 as long as I don't let it go longer then 2 weeks. I check my parameters every 4 days. And thanks for the advice on the info page I didn't even know I could do that lol

 

[Lucky Lefty]

I'm surprised to hear you consistently get an ammonia reading after 2 weeks. If I understand right, you should be able to test your DT at any given moment and get a solid 0 ammonia reading, unless you just fed or something died.
Maybe I'm mistaken, and someone more experienced like billdog can clarify, is it not uncommon to get a random .25 ammonia reading? I thought even a significant amount of introduced ammonia would be broken down quickly, less than 24hrs, which is the sign of a post cycle, established tank, leaving you with awhat should be consistent, yet random 0 ammonia readings, unless 1 of 2 things I mentioned above just happened.

 

[bjtrapjr]

I tend to be a heavy feeder so that's what probably does it

 

[rlm2005]

I'm not a fan of API tests and the ammonia one tends to read .25 even if there is no ammonia present. However since you treat the water and the reading goes down, that would indicate that something is going on. How often do you do water changes and how much rock do you have?

 

[bjtrapjr]

I do 3 gal water changes every week and probably 15 - 20 lbs I think

 

[billdogg]

I'm surprised to hear you consistently get an ammonia reading after 2 weeks. If I understand right, you should be able to test your DT at any given moment and get a solid 0 ammonia reading, unless you just fed or something died.
Maybe I'm mistaken, and someone more experienced like billdog can clarify, is it not uncommon to get a random .25 ammonia reading? I thought even a significant amount of introduced ammonia would be broken down quickly, less than 24hrs, which is the sign of a post cycle, established tank, leaving you with awhat should be consistent, yet random 0 ammonia readings, unless 1 of 2 things I mentioned above just happened.

You are correct. Once cycled, your tank should never test positive for any amount of ammonia unless something bad is happening. IMHO if overrfeeding were the issue nitrates and probably phosphates would be present. That ammonia still shows up indicates a partially cycled tank in which there really should not be any livestock.

 

[bjtrapjr]

So what should I do

 

[Crooked Reef]

My API ammonia kit will look different depending on the ambient light in the room from the windows. I can read .25ppm and walk into another room and be 0ppm. Plus it seems that yours is cloudy up top and clear on the bottom. I have never had that happen. Re-read the instructions to be sure you are using it correctly. Use it at the same time and place every time. Walk into different rooms. Then get a salifert kit because the API kit is not accurate enough if you want to attempt anemones. With how demanding these organisms can be the $5 to $15 difference in the cost of the kit is minuscule compared to replacing the nem itself if it dies.

 

[Crooked Reef]

What type of lights do you have as well? Type, amount of bulbs, what kind and brand of bulbs if t5, how far off the surface of the water, and age of the bulbs. We need to make sure your lights will keep the anemones alive.