Water parameters for a newb

[bavass]

I do 2 5g water changes a week on my 55g. As far as getting your trates down. You can do a PWC every 3 days till they get to 20ppm. Once they get to 20ppm then you can either stay on top of it with water changes or start thinking about macro's to use as a natural nitrate reducer. Once they get to 20ppm it seems harder to get them down. Just stay on top of it and don't give up. I was at 160ppm at one time too. I am now between 2-5ppm all the time (Knock on wood) I am still trying to hit 0 and stay there.

 

[Lowsdime]

Thanks for all the help I know these are probably elementary questions but all the help is appreciated, what is considered a natural trate reducer?

 

[carey]

I would do an even 10g. two buckets out, two buckets in.

 

[bavass]

Thanks for all the help I know these are probably elementary questions but all the help is appreciated, what is considered a natural trate reducer?

Thats the beauty of this forum you can ask any question. Natural Nitrate reducers are macro algaes mangroves, halmedia, etc. www.reefcleaners.org has a great selection. Some people make a refugium in there sump and add it there some can take over tanks if you put in the display. Some people use algae scrubbers. Me? I took mangroves and hung them along the back of the tank. There are a lot of ways to reduce nitrates and keep them down. Go into google and do search you will find a ton of ways. Just pick one you like and go with it. I don't think I have enough mangroves to reduce nitrates much if any but I think they look cool.

 

[Lowsdime]

Good tip thanks I don't have a refugium setup wish I did maybe soneday

 

[Lowsdime]

Ok today there's even more brown algae in the rock and sand, I've read that this will come and go with the tank maturation, hopefully it will, but here are the test results
Ph is 8.0
Ammonia is .25 !
Nitrite is 0ppm
Nitrate is 20 ppm

So ammonia is building and nitrates are dropping off does that sound right? Should I leave everything alone or what should I do?! This is exciting seeing some changes! Even tho that algae looks nasty haha

 

[thincat]

Ok I think I understand so after it cycles I will only see trates. And if the levels climb to 20 ppm it's time to water change. And I just have to keep on top of that,

This is not correct! you don't wait until the nitrates get to 20 ppm's. You must get into the habit of doing either 20% PWC every two weeks or better yet every week. If you wait you will only stress your animals.

 

[carey]

He is pretty much cycling with fish in. His trates were over 160ppm a few days ago, he's been doing massive pwc's

On another note, you asked when to pwc again, lol, now is the time. That ammonia is what i was talking about earlier. You will probably start seeing nitrites soon as your cycle progresses.

 

[Lowsdime]

Do u think it can go till tomorrow or it should be done tonight Carey?

 

[carey]

Since you have ammonia I'd say sooner the better.

 

[Lowsdime]

How many gallons?

 

[carey]

ammonia and nitrites are evil and if you ever have any you need to pwc as soon as you can. I'd do a regular size pwc. It wil lower your trates as well.

 

[Lowsdime]

Like ten gal?

 

[carey]

Sounds good. Thats about what you should be doing weekly so you can get used to it. LOL

 

[Lowsdime]

Hopefully it'll b less frequent than every other day like I have been! Lol. But I just did the change and the ammonia is down to zero, 0 trites and 40 ppm for the trates, so were looking ok, what's the next step now?

 

[carey]

Your nitrates didn't go down with the pwc? Just be ready for another pwc if theres any more ammonia. Otherwise i would say pick your day and do your change then, like Sunday.

Are you mixing your own water or buying premade? i can only imagine if you are buying how much this will all cost in the end.

Your fish are still doing well, correct? No weird behavior or at the surface?

 

[Lowsdime]

Ok cool , I'm buying RO and mixing my own salt so it's not too too bad! But I need to get my ro unit hooked up! There's just no room in the apartment, fish seem to be doing good eating and swimming lively, I dunno why the trates haven't come down to zero yet?! I've change almost the full tank in the past few days! What do you thinks causing it to stay up?

 

[carey]

have you tested your RO water? I was getting ro for awhile that had trates and phosphates in it.

Just keep an eye on that ammonia. With another pwc tomorrow you should drop your trates some. It's takes ALOT to get them to 0, it took me months on my 55g to get them there. In my cube I still run with 10ppm.

 

[Lowsdime]

I tested my ro the first time I mixed it and everything was 0 and I get it from the same place so o figured I wouldn't bother anymore lol, would you suggest that I test it everytime? Also that brown algae I was talking about is covered in little gas bubbles and they are releasing and floating to the top of the tank what's up with that?? The surface of the water has a film of junk on the top too is this normal? Also I had a question on reading my test results the nitrate test is very hard to distinguish between the reds, do u press the glass vial right up against the white comparison card or do you hold it off the card slightly because I color differs quite a bit? Either way if the test is red it's not a good thing so I guess it doesn't matter much lol today's test results are
Ph:8.3
Am:0
Trite: 0
Trate: 40
How am I looking? Lol I'll put up a pic of the air bubbles so u know what I'm talking about, the fish are still very active and attacking the food I put in once a day so that's good too I hope

 

[carey]

Sounds good, no more ammonia. I would still do your pwc tomorrow. I read the nitrate test held a bit away from the card, it's seems to be accurate that way when I corss reference with my salifert test.

I wouldn't test the water each time, but every once in awhile wouldn't hurt. If they don't change their filters those nasties can get by.

I'm not sure about the bubbling algae, I haven't seen that in my tanks. :-(

Glad your fish are doing well, your working hard at it and that's admirable. Some people just give up on their pwc's and hope for the best.