Help Please!!!! Im not sure what to do next.

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Ladybus301

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
24
Hi all, I have a 54 gallon corner tank. I thought it was cycled. Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0. In the last 2 days my nitrates have gone from 10 to 20. I did a 20% water change today and rechecked my nitrate level. It was still at 20 and it did not seem to help at all. Ive had my tank up and running for 5 weeks. Should I do another bigger water change or will these nitrates come down slowly on their own? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!!!
 
I am sure your tank is cycled. Nitrates are the end production. Do another big water change.
Do you have fish? if so, how many etc....
 
I have 2 damsels and a coral banded shrimp. also some snails.. Im worried about the shrimp if the nitrates keep going up. How much of a water change do u think i need?
 
I would do at least 25%, and then do it again a couple days later if needed. Youa re right to be concerned about the shrimp.
 
What is your water source? Tap or RO. I suggest you test your source water if you have not done so already.
 
I originally used tap water in the tank but have done 2 water changes now using RO. I have a canister filter that I have not done anything with , meaning I havent cleaned it or anything since I first set up my tank. Could this be contributing to the nitrates?
 
I'd still test your source water - even if it's RO - just to rule that out. You'll find several threads around here about folks getting RO water at their LFS that has high disolved solids levels (TDS) in it.
 
Just make sure mix your SW for 24+ hours with a ph and match ph/sg/temp as close as possible to the main when doing pwc, especially when doing a large pwc. If the levels are too far off you can kill of your stock.

Also retest your no3 with the lfs or another test kit to make sure it's accurate. Most test kits for no3 go bad after a year or so and will show higher levels of no3 when they aren't really present IME. My AP test went bad almost instantly testing 5 ppm one week and then a jump to 40 ppm the next. With a new test it was back at 0-5 ppm without doing a pwc.
 
The answer to "How big a water change do I need" is almost always "By what percentage do you need to lower your nitrate level?"

If you feel the need to reduce nitrates by >50%, you should think about doing it in steps, with a day or two taken between steps.
One 50% PWC=50% reduction in nitrates.
Two 50% PWCs=75% reduction in nitrates.
Three 50% PWCs=87.5% reduction in nitrates...
 
Do you have sponges in your canister? I have a fluvial and it had 4 sponges, they tend to become nitrAte factories (I removed them two at a time). I also clean my filter, in old SW when I do PWCs. They tend to build up gunk and I needs to be removed. The GAC and other filter media will also store up gunk and help to produce nitrAtes.
 
Thanks for all the help with the nitrate problem. I cleaned out my filter today. I retested for nitrate and came up withe .10 so I didnt do another water change. Now my PH is at 7.8 and I know that is too low. Will this take care of itself or do I need to add something. It was at 8.4 before the water change.
 
Did you premix your water for at least 24 hours?
Do you have a cover over the tank?
You can adjust your phs to cause more surface ripple, this should increase your pH.
 
Ladybus301 said:
Now my PH is at 7.8 and I know that is too low.
That's still within acceptable range (7.8-8.4). Rapid changes (up more then down) will harm your stock so I wouldn't do anything at this point.

As Scott mentioned proper circulation and an open top will keep it from falling but I wouldn't worry about the current level and just keep doing regular pwc. It will level out slightly higher within a couple of weeks if not sooner.
 
I agree dont panic as far as the PH. Unstability is a worse factor at this point. Keep doing frequent PWC`s and you`ll see it stabilize. Hope all goes well
 
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