Need help!!!! 75g fowlr

[Cjsanders757]

40-80 trates
.25-.50 ammonia
0trites?'(how?!)
Ph a little low

My dwg, culoMbian shark and clownfish are all doing good swimming good and eating. My refugium has some cyano and gha in it. I do have some snails as an emerald crab. I do have a protein skimmer along with some carbon too. I do a 10g water change every Friday half rodi half saltwater.

 

[Mebbid]

a reduction in the amount of nitrites is a normal part of the cycling process. However having ammonia present in your tank is a bad thing as well as the level of nitrates that you have. I would start out doing a larger water change because a 10g change isn't going to have much impact at all on the amount of ammonia / nitrates you are removing.

 

[TheTodd]

So exactly what filtration do you have? What size tank? Something is going on to have a cycled tank with ammonia (at all) and pretty high Trates.

Also, did you say you do water changes with half saltwater and half RODI? Shouldn't it be all saltwater made with RODI?

 

[Cjsanders757]

So exactly what filtration do you have? What size tank? Something is going on to have a cycled tank with ammonia (at all) and pretty high Trates.

Also, did you say you do water changes with half saltwater and half RODI? Shouldn't it be all saltwater made with RODI?

Protein skimmer a bag of carbon in my sump.
I have high salinity. Why I do half and half

 

[TheTodd]

How big is the tank? How often do you feed? Have you done anything new lately (had a fish die, added new fish or rock, anything)? Did these parameters jump suddenly?

If your tank is cycled, you should not get ammonia or nitrites. If nitrates are going high with nothing new going on (assuming the tank is not overstocked), then filtration is not sufficient and/or it could be overfeeding?

 

[Cjsanders757]

How big is the tank? How often do you feed? Have you done anything new lately (had a fish die, added new fish or rock, anything)? Did these parameters jump suddenly?

If your tank is cycled, you should not get ammonia or nitrites. If nitrates are going high with nothing new going on (assuming the tank is not overstocked), then filtration is not sufficient and/or it could be overfeeding?

75g(says in subject). Once a week. No new fish no deaths recently. Trates been high for awhile.

 

[TheTodd]

I'd try larger water changes for a while, just to get those lowered a bit, but it does not sound overstocked or that there is a big bioload. Assuming that your skimmer is pulling stuff out and you aren't overfeeding, I can't see what would be causing ammonia and/or the higher nitrates. Could you get a second opinion from a LFS on parameters? Maybe its a bad test kit?

 

[Cjsanders757]

I'd try larger water changes for a while, just to get those lowered a bit, but it does not sound overstocked or that there is a big bioload. Assuming that your skimmer is pulling stuff out and you aren't overfeeding, I can't see what would be causing ammonia and/or the higher nitrates. Could you get a second opinion from a LFS on parameters? Maybe its a bad test kit?

Started doing added chunks of chaeto from my 20g. Did rock rearranging cleaned some and cleaned the sand bed a bit. Started doing 20g water changes now.

 

[mr_X]

I would invest in a refractometer also, and check the SG of the water you are adding. You could be shocking everything pouring very low SG water into the tank.

 

[Cjsanders757]

I would invest in a refractometer also, and check the SG of the water you are adding. You could be shocking everything pouring very low SG water into the tank.

What's the best way to lower sg??

 

[mr_X]

I would do it slowly. Pull water and add fresh, but in small increments.

 

[Cjsanders757]

I would do it slowly. Pull water and add fresh, but in small increments.

Cool.
And I checked it today the salinity has dropped to -1.030 just doing top offs.