water param ?'s

Nu2SW

Nu2SW

New member
OK so im just curious why would ammonia be at around .25-.30 and nitrites be at 0 and nitrates be at 15ppm

I did a water change about 14 gallons in the main tank and i did a 2-3 gallon change in my refugium. main is a 50g tank and the refug is a 20g.

Cycle process is ammo>nitrites>nitrates which its kinda of confusing to me no nitrites.

Snails that are in there sure produce a lot of waste for there size, would some type of cleaner shrimp or crab help with that. I skimmed the surface of my sand bed to get top level waste out, do yall recommend actually going into the sand bed. I know someone people say not to, because it could hit a nasty pocket of crud and cause an issue .

I think maybe my water might have a little problem. Is there small amounts of ammonia in our drinking water. I tested my water it looked like there was a little bit, but i couldn't really tell.
 
Are you useing tap water for water changes and top off? There is a possiblity that it could have some trace ammonia. Check your test kit, it should be good for fresh water also so you can test it. However, I would recomend to start using RO/DI water for your tank. The ammonia may also be comeing from something that died like a snail or a hermit. You may not be detecting any of the nitrites due to how fast the bacteria can process it. Or they just may not have gotten up to the ammonia yet.
 
tap water for now till i get a ro/di unit

I did test the water, And it looked like it had a little bit of trace in it maybe .1 or .15

I know its nothing dead, I saw all 5 turbo snails that i have chowing down on algea last night.

My mother in law is some in home filtration which has a RO unit, but the thing Im worried about is she puts in some sort of salt into the main tank. I have to find out what kind of salt it is. Do you think that would cause a issue.


There is salt in our tap water for taste, Im thinking thats why they have it put in.

Its a aquakleen system. I tried finding something online bout it but i wasnt able to find much.

do you think that water would have an issue with the fish or is it safe to say if its safe for us its ok for them?

thanks for your response
 
That sounds more like a water softener, and I don't think I would use that water. From what I hear the RO/DI untis in front of some of grocery stores can be pretty good. I haven't used any befor, so I'm not sure what untis are good and which are bad.

As far as where the ammonia is comeing from I'm not really sure. Are you feeding heavy?
 
not that I think, I feed every other day a combo of mysid shrimp and plankton "frozen"

I put only very small amounts in since i have have a few fish.

only thing i can think of is either 1 the water im using or bio waste from the inhabitants of the tank.
 
WEll what about cleaning the top level of sand to get rid of waste from other fish? like about once a month, is that something people normally does?
 
For a shallow sand bed of like 1/2" or so I would think you would want to vacuum it on a regular basis. However, once you start to deal with a "deep" sand bed I would leave it undistubed. A deep sand bed will kind of act as a sponge to a certain extent, and distubing it can release a whole lot of nutrients and other nasties into the water.

There is another possiblity. That is that you test kit is bad. What I would do if you can not pin down any problem is check the water for the next couple of days. If the value does not seem to be going anywhere you might want to take some of your tank water to a good LFS and have them test it to double check your results.
 
sand bed is about 2-3 inches. someone told me if i just skimmed the top of the sand, not going all the way down, just to suck the top crud out.

test kit is new, it should be fine , but ill try and take it to a lfs for them to look at it.
 
Dont use your tap water - its really too questiobale to risk - Invest a few bucks in buying bottled water until you get a RO/DI unit.

Also, Your tank is VERY young - and you have at least 2 fish plus other stuff that I know of - Your cycle was likely not completely done when you started adding critters. So slow down, do your water changes, use Tap water and by all means take a water sample to the LFS to Double check just in case you are getting inaccurate readings.

Check this link - I keep it handy for quick reference at all times. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php
 
Yeah, I would have to agree that you may have thrown it into a mini cycle by adding stuff. Which happens everytime you do add something, with the tank being so new and having so little load, the effects are very noticeable. Could be some remnant live rock cycling giving you the ammonia also.......I say give it a little time.
 
I didnt have a ammonia test when i started but the nitrites were at 0 and the nitrates were also at 0, which usually means cycling is done... IM pretty sure its the water. Im gonna talk to my wife about a ro/di unit.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7180155#post7180155 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nu2SW
I didnt have a ammonia test when i started but the nitrites were at 0 and the nitrates were also at 0, which usually means cycling is done... IM pretty sure its the water. Im gonna talk to my wife about a ro/di unit.
Click to expand...

"Ussually" and "Is" are 2 different things. When My tank was cycling I often had ammonia readings when I had no Nitrites... for instance here is the levels I tested during my cycle - I pulled these numbers from my old test log book:

Day 7: Ammonia= .25 ppm, Nitrite= 0ppm, Nitrate 10ppm.


The fact that you had 0 nitrates should have told you the ammonia that you were not testing for had not yet had a chance to cycle thru to the nitrate stage.

I think its pretty safe for me to say that nothing in this hobby should be just assumed or hoped or guessed at; esspecially when it comes to a healthy cycle and the lives of the unique variety of animals we keep. Just because your animals arent dead or sick doesnt mean that your water was/is healthy for them now or when you put them in your tank. Very possible they could be suffering quite a bit living in a tank that isnt fully cycled.

Now, I am not trying to jump on your case here, but I'd really hate to see you make assumptions that could hurt your chances at success in the hobby, and of course your animals chances at long happy healthy lives. Its certainly not something to be cavalier about, rather the water params of your tank should have been your #1 priority.

Make that and keep that your number one priority before the need for instant gratification of adding animals.
 
Yes I understand that the water quality is the most important thing and still do think that and always will, If I did not I would not be in this hobby.

I did believe that the cycle was done because the nitrates and nitrites are at zero And I have asked many people that are in this hobby for a long time and they said if they are at zero that is a good indicator that your cycle is done.

We all make mistakes and learn from them. I am doing water changes every 3-4 days to make sure the water is not getting out of hand. The few animals I have are eating and acting just fine. the nitrates are low nitrites, just went up a little bit . the main thing im worried about is the ammonia, Then again today someone told me that ammonia at.25 is ok, its not that stressfull and others have said to keep it at 0. Its all in the eye of the beholder and each person is different at what they perceive is ok.

Question? If the nitrites are at 0 and the nitrates are at 0, then could one also think that the ammonia is at 0 because if it did cycle,then the ammonia would be at 0. the reason of the cycle is to go from ammonia>nitrites>nitrates, well thats the ole mantra at least. If that is not the case then when would we ever know to add fish?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7179682#post7179682 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TotalKhaos
by all means take a water sample to the LFS to Double check just in case you are getting inaccurate readings.
Click to expand...

Does anyone know if John does free water testing at his store?
 
NU2SW-

Ok I didnt mean to come off sounding like I was on the offensive, I just see that you've made some mistakes that you need to recognize and focus on correcting before anything else.

lets eliminate a few possibilities first. You are worried about your sourse water with good reason. the first time I set up a tank I got all my equipment together was ready to fill it up and then DOH I found out about tap water.... so I waited for an RO/DI. There is a 6 stage RO/DI system on Ebay for 69.99 plus shipping. Several members are using the same unit as do I, no complaints. Check it out. In the mean time Walmart sells Bottled water pretty cheap, Go Spend $20 bucks on some bottled water there and use it for water changes while you wait on your RO?DI unit. Be careful to read the labels on the water, some varieties add minerals for taste. You want to find a variety that does not.

To Answer Your Question. The Basic concept of Ammonia>Nitrite>Nitrate is correct. But Every cycle is going to be a little different depending on the amount of die off, water changes, source water, skimmer, carbon usage etc... SOme Cycles are long and slow, some seem lighting fast. But Testing only 1 or 2 levels is not the best indicater. You saw that during my cycle I sometimes had ammonia without nitrites. Could be that My Cycle was nearing completion and then a sponge or something that was hanging on to life died and got the cycle started again.

That is why we should always test for Ammonia. In fact during my cycle I only tested nitrites ever couple days. Ammonia is the real indicater. Also Once Your Ammonia is at 0 you should still give your tank a couple days to avoid any suprises.

At this point here is my advise; Get some Bottle Water and do 10% water changes every couple days. Test your Ammonia Levels daily, write them down so you can easily keep track. If Your Ammonia goes over say .15 you need to do an immeadiete water change to get it down. Even though some ppl may have said .25 ammonia is ok, a healthy fully cycled tank does not have ammonia. By All means Run some Carbon or my favorite Purigen to help.

Put some Nori on a clip for your Yellow Tang and dont feed the tank for about a week. The Tang will be fine Grazing and Your Mandarin should be able to scavenge pods. If you are really worried about your critters being hungry you can feed very lightly once during the week.

As to your sand cleanup Q's - Use a vaccum to stir the top half inch of sand to remove waste. Get a turkey baster and blow off the rocks and crevices where detrius might have settled then siphon the water to be changed out. Dont worry about animals to clean up after your cleanup crew right now - In a month or so you might be able to put a cuke in there, they are little miracle workers for sand beds...but your tank is ready for one yet.

Sorry for length, I'm just redundant and cant help it.
 
length was alright, and thank you

Sorry if i came off a little hard, wasn't trying to and I totally appreciate your help.

I was wondering about Carbon, Ive seen some that says it takes ammonia out and others that dont. So just normal filter carbon placed in my 20g would be OK?

Can you send me the name of the RO/di unit your talking about or a link, If its 70 plus shipping I think i can pass that and get it now.

I was actually gonna go get some water from either the store or those glacier water dispensers filters around town that does RO but only thing is if they put some sort of mineral for taste in it.

I did get the scooter some pods and they are in a separate container trying to see if i can get them to reproduce. I am feed about every other day with little amount a mysis and plankton.

I have the CPR bakPak 2 and its working good.

And thank you for answering the vacuum question that i wasnt sure about.
 
yes, I drink it its just extra pure without any dissolved solids. Some ppl would say you shouldnt as it has no extra minerals that your body uses but I think it tastes better... like water should.

here is a link to the unit I was talking about: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Reef-6st-10...454374626QQcategoryZ20684QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

When I recieved my unit a little piece was broken in shipment - the guy was really easy to deal with and quick with responces... other than the directions being a little difficult I was pleased.

Yes Regular Carbon will be just fine.
 
How long have you had that ro/di unit?

I cant really find any info on it as if its good or bad or any issues
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Jyetman
Why do my Grandis Palys look like this
Replies
0
Views
416
Jyetman
Jyetman
Jyetman
Why do my grandis palys look like this?
Replies
2
Views
246
Jyetman
Jyetman
J
Tank restart after 8 years 😳
Replies
13
Views
638
griss
griss
N
Saltwater cycle possible stuck
2
Replies
26
Views
1K
Guygettnby
Guygettnby
A
Please help reef tank
Replies
2
Views
320
SantaMonica
S
Back
Top