Am I ready for fish?

[sramkumar]

Dear All,

My tank has been cycling for 5 weeks now and my salinity, pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium levels are normal (Ammonia and Nitrite are zero). I have phosphate and nitrates though. Am I ready for fish now or should I bring those two down to zero as well? How can I bring them down?

Any help is welcomed!

Thanks,
Ram

 

[Reef Nutz]

What are your Nitrate readings? Phosphate will not really affect the fish. It will on the rocks and coral though, so if you plan on having those later on, I would knock phos down also. If your Trate reading are below 20, then you can add fish......slowly introduce fish..... What is your "normal" salinity reading? Fish only tank can be anywhere between .018 and .026. And then, go get em!! :bounce:

 

[Jmck]

+1 Reef, I would honestly try and bring your nitrates below 10 though, Helps makes things easier for you later.

Like reef said what are your phosphates? when you say 'my levels are normal'. or 'I have nitrates' we always want to see what they are at :)

Add one fish every 3 weeks :)

 

[little_fish]

+1 boys!

 

[sramkumar]

Sorry for being incomplete guys...here are my numbers:

Salinity: 1.026
pH: 8.3
Ammonia/Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 80 mg/l
Phosphate: 1.5 mg/l
Alkalinity: 11
Magnesium: 1300 ppm

How can I bring the phosphate and nitrate levels down? Can I add something to the water to bring them down?

Thank you,
Ram

 

[sramkumar]

and my calcium is 425...

 

[Jmck]

Well, 80 and 1.5 are both way too high, I would start doing water changes, 50% to start actually, that will get you down to 40 and from there you have to continue getting it down below 10 really

 

[Bifferwine]

You should definitely try to get those nitrates down before adding fish. The most effective and easiest way to reduce nitrates is to do water changes. At this point, you should get in the habit of doing a regular water change once a week, or every other week to keep your nitrate levels low.

 

[Jmck]

Alkalinity is also a bit high, this can affect your calcium and cause precipitation. Try and keep alkalinity around 9 when you start monitoring it. For the moment, water changes should bring that to the correct level and balance out your chemicals in the tank

 

[sramkumar]

I am actually doing water changes once a week now...I did three times a week for the first two weeks and once a week now for the next three...I just finished my 5th week of cycling...

Can I do anything else to bring those levels down? Sure, I will do 50% water change tomorrow and see...

 

[Bifferwine]

Are you using tap water? If so, I'd test for nitrates when you first mix up your new water. You may be using water that's high in nitrates to begin with if your nitrates are that high after doing so many water changes! Or...your test kit could be bad, which unfortunately is not all that uncommon!

 

[Jmck]

Nope, unless you want to try some very advanced stuff like vodka dosing, or an algae scrubber (all are not guaranteed and take a long time to work)

But the best thing for all tanks is water changes :)

 

[Sir Alex]

What did you use to cycle the tank. Have you taken it out yet? If you have a couple pieces of shrimp in there or something that would probably make the nitrates go up pretty fast. Do you have a sump? You could try a protein skimmer and chaeto.

 

[sramkumar]

I have live rock and live sand to cycle the tank...I don't have shrimp but have about 10 hermit crabs that I added 2 weeks back...I have a protein skimmer...

I am not using tap water...I am buying filtered water from a local pet store...I will check the nitrate levels on that water like Bifferwine suggested...

 

[Jmck]

well, most likely all is fine, you probably lost a few hermits who contributed to a bigger cycle and big nitrates. Water changes will get you normal and then you can just get going with fishies :)

 

[sramkumar]

Thanks Josh! I feel better now...I will change 50% water tomorrow morning like you suggested and keep the thread posted...would the water change bring the phosphates down too?

 

[Bifferwine]

Yep, they should help with the phosphates too.

 

[sramkumar]

Thanks Sarah...hopefully the 50% change doesnt spike up the other levels! :-(

 

[sramkumar]

Also, how can I find the hermits that may have died? Do I have to take them out of the tank?...with the live rock I have, it is almost not possible to find the dead ones...

 

[Bifferwine]

Nope, you should be fine. The majority of your beneficial bacteria lives on the rock and sand; not in the water column.