coral question

[acw90]

so i just recently did a water test and the results i had were nitrates were at 10, nitrates were at 1.5, ph was 8.0 and ammonia was at 0.... I do believe it is time for a water change relatively soon as i have a few hermit crabs and i know they need the nitrate and nitrites a little lower my salinity is low for coral i believe at 1.023.... Im sorry if this has been a question already answered on here before but i couldnt find anything on it... would these be okay water levels for a mushroom coral.... if so any specific species that would be recommended. another concern i had would be my lighting it would have to be low light coral i believe as i have a marineland double bright led system.... so would i be okay to add one and try out corals. if so any tips on care of mushrooms



looking forward to everyones advice thanks

 

[crister13]

Your nitrites are way too high. If they are readable it means that your cycle has not yet complete. I would strongly advise you not to get any more livestock (shouldn't really have any at all) until your nitrites are at 0. Ammonia needs to read 0 as well. Your salinity is actually ok but you may want it a little higher around 1.025. Hope this helps

 

[acw90]

Im not sure i did the dead shrimp cycle for a little over a month then added bio spira all my levels spiked and went to 0 and stayed for a while i added biospira and then added a my live stock slowly after that and this has now been several months. Although one thing i should menton is that i did add about 10 extra lbs of livesand and 12 lbs of live rock recently could this cause a second mini cycle? I cleaned the sand pretty well and the rock i scrubbed for a good hour before i put it in

 

[mr_X]

Yes, it could have caused a spike.

 

[acw90]

well thats an easy fix i guess.... water changes and time can take care of that... maybe scaling back on my feeding(i feel as if i feed quite graciously) but aside from that would my equipment be right for a low light mushroom

 

[Gregcoyote]

You should be okay with most mushrooms. As mentioned, a bit of work on the water quality would go a long way to helping mushrooms grow.

 

[z_dano]

Once everything goes back down to 0 (nitrites and ammonia)I think mushrooms would be ok. Start then at the bottom of the tank and move then up if they appear to need more light. They are practically indestructible. I have probably 25 (or more) mushrooms. I didn't even buy them, they came on a piece of live rock that was sitting in a tank with no lights for weeks at the lfr.