Water parameters

[BigEfromthe813]

monday I realized i needed to top off my tank, tested my water at my quality LFS and there were both nitrites and nitrates.. my salinity was low so i topped of with a little more than a gallon of saltwater.. my water started looking better and I tested 0 for ammonia, 0 for nitrites and 10ppm for nitrates on tuesday.. today it was 0's across the board

 

[Flake]

Unless you have some sort of macroalgae (and probably a lot of it) they can't just disappear.

 

[hackteck]

what test kit are you using to test your water parameters with?

 

[BigEfromthe813]

I got all of my live sand and half of my water straight from an LFS tank with a CUC in there from day 1

 

[BigEfromthe813]

API saltwater master test kit

 

[Flake]

None of that would affect nitrates. Bacteria breaks down ammonia and nitrites, but not nitrates.

 

[BigEfromthe813]

is this macroalgae?

 

[hackteck]

are you using tap water? or ro water that kinda looks like the start of green hair algae

 

[iDream]

That's some hair algae, not the kind we're talking about. You would've gotten it from someone if you had it.

 

[BigEfromthe813]

RO water-- what should i do about that algae??

 

[iDream]

It's nothing to worry about, the real cause is why you're reading nothing.


IMO, do another test and post your results, do a full workup

 

[hackteck]

do you have alot of this algae? and when did it start growing in your tank because that could possibly be the reason you read 0 green hair algae consumes excess nutrients

 

[Flake]

That much green hair algae would not absorb everything.

 

[BigEfromthe813]

to be honest i think that algae came on the rock-- i didnt notice it until i saw an emerald crab grubbin on it.. right now im capable of testing for ammnia, pH, Nitrite, and Nitrate.. post the results in a few

 

[BigEfromthe813]

High Range pH 8, Ammonia 0 ppm, Nitrite 0 ppm, Nitrate 0 ppm

 

[BigEfromthe813]

its a 20g tank also im not sure if i mentioned that

 

[iDream]

Strange, the tank size shouldn't matter though.


Not sure what's going on

 

[BigEfromthe813]

could it just be a quick cycle? shouldnt nitrates get down to 0 eventually anyways?

 

[iDream]

Nitrates don't just disappear, they're only removed by water changes in the case of your set up

 

[BigEfromthe813]

Nitrates don't just disappear, they're only removed by water changes in the case of your set up

Could that 1-2 gallon "top off" caused it?