Nitrates and PH

[tony1021]

How can i get my PH level up? its at 7.8 now.

already did a pwc and still kinda low

my nitrates are increasing, my water test last week showed 10ppm and did another today and showing 20 ppm.

I have been adding 2 new chemicals for the last week or so don't know if this would affect anything as their food for corals.

I've been adding zooplanktos-m daily (1 cap full) and liquid reef every other day.

other test results in case they matter:

nitrites 0 ppm
ammonia 0 ppm
calcium 450 ppm

 

[ryshark]

What time are you measuring your PH? Is it at 7.8 in the morning before the lights turn on? If so, you are probably ok. Test the water for PH again when the lights first turn off and the PH will probably be higher. You can also slowly add a PH booster to increase PH, but if you are testing 7.8 before lights turn on, then I wouldn't use additives to raise PH. Just increase the amount of water for your pwc. You should also list on here what your alkalinity reading or DKH is???
If your nitrates are increasing that fast, it probably does have to do with the coral food you are adding, which is increasing waste. It sounds like you may need to upgrade your protein skimmer and then do a couple big partial water changes to get you nitrates back down before they get out of hand. I think liquid reef just helps to keep up water parameters like alkalinity, calcium, magnesium etc, so I doubt that is increasing your nitrate.
So in a nutshell my recommendations are:
1. Test for alkalinity which could have an effect on your PH
2. Look into upgrading your skimmer
3. Increase partial water changes for awhile

 

[thincat]

How old is your tank? Most accurate ph reading is done before your main lights switch off. What do you have in your tank as far as coral? Any fish? You should not be feeding your corals zooplanktos daily.

 

[tony1021]

i don't have an alkalinity test kit so i don't know where they're at atm.

im changing 5 gallons every week as part of my pwc

i did add a few more inhabitants if that may affect the results and my sump was running really low and i had to add ~1 gallon of tap water to get through the night before i was able to go to the lfs and get some ro water, i don't know if that would be another cause for the boost in nitrates.

i haven't gotten a protein skimmer yet as the guy at the lfs mentioned that with my frequent pwc its not really necessary atm.

ohh...and i did the test after lights were on for a few hours

 

[tony1021]

How old is your tank? Most accurate ph reading is done before your main lights switch off. What do you have in your tank as far as coral? Any fish? You should not be feeding your corals zooplanktos daily.

i will do another ph reading tonight just before i turn lights off and see if there is any difference.

corals: a few mushrooms, torch coral, zoos, and polyps.

fish: 2 gobies, clown, bi-color angelfish, chromis

inverts: fire shrimp, 2 peppermint shrimp, 3 emerald crabs, and about 15 snails and 10 hermits

i've been feeding corals zooplanktos daily as per the instructions on the bottle...i also feed corals phytoplankton every other day, and i fed my torch coral brine yesterday (that was pretty cool)

 

[thincat]

I would feed the corals once a week. they get some food from the water colume when you feed your fish. What two chemicals are you adding?
How often do you feed the fish?
How old is your tank. I ask this because PH in a new tank can be all over the scale. 7.8 is not so bad.

 

[fishmonkey]

I would add a pH buffer

 

[thincat]

and....

 

[ryshark]

i don't have an alkalinity test kit so i don't know where they're at atm.

im changing 5 gallons every week as part of my pwc

i did add a few more inhabitants if that may affect the results and my sump was running really low and i had to add ~1 gallon of tap water to get through the night before i was able to go to the lfs and get some ro water, i don't know if that would be another cause for the boost in nitrates.

i haven't gotten a protein skimmer yet as the guy at the lfs mentioned that with my frequent pwc its not really necessary atm.

ohh...and i did the test after lights were on for a few hours

What size tank is this that you have no skimmer? If it is very small you can probably get away without one, but I would still get one anyway. It will lower your Nitrate
Yes, tap water is typically loaded with Nitrate, mine is at least.
I am surprised you nitrate is not higher than it is.... lets just hope it doesn't jump by 10ppm every week.
1. Dont worry about PH, I think you are fine there
2. Don't use tap water anymore, look into a skimmer (both reduce nitrate)

 

[tony1021]

the tank is pretty new...going on 3 months now and is a 55 gallon tank

 

[tony1021]

just did another 5 gallon water change and i'll do another test tonight so we'll see what happens...thanks for all the help

 

[thincat]

That's pretty heavy stocking even for a 55g tank in just three months time. With that load you should get a skimmer. Don't worry to much about the PH just now. Cut the feeding to every other day for the fish and once a week for the corals and that should help out a lot.

 

[ryshark]

For a 55-gallon I think you should definitely get a skimmer. That will make a big difference in keeping Nitrate in check. Look into something like this:
Reef Octopus NWB 110 Needle Wheel Protein Skimmer - AquaCave