Ammonia and Nitrates High

Shep

Reefing newb
Hey,

So for some reason my levels have spiked big time, the ammonia is at .25ppm and the nitrates are at 80ppm. I have done two 15% water changes in the past two days and have tested the water before adding it. I feed twice a day but a good portion of the food does not get eaten, is this why my levels are so high and could I skip feeding for a day to try to bring down the levels?
 
The over feeding is almost certainly the cause of your high levels. I feed once a day and net out anything that doesn't get eaten. Even if its not the cause of your high levels it is still a good idea to cut back. Are you using RODI water to do your water changes?
 
Why do you keep feeding the same quantity if you see they don't eat it all?
I try to lower the amount but I use frozen cubes and the density is not always constant so it is hard to judge how much I am putting in.
The over feeding is almost certainly the cause of your high levels. I feed once a day and net out anything that doesn't get eaten. Even if its not the cause of your high levels it is still a good idea to cut back. Are you using RODI water to do your water changes?
I do use RO/DI water but its from my school's system and while the levels read zero it might be off or something
 
.think alot of people feed twice a day but i dont anymore with my tank being small and my water quality alot better for it
 
I think that is what I am going to go towards, I am going to try and get my fish to start eating the pellet food that I got
 
So this week's tests show that my ammonia is at 0ppm but my nitrate is still at around 30-40.....how can this be? Its not coming from the water I am adding because I have tested it and it shows 0ppm.
 
Your are reeding 0 ammonia because the nitrite is consuming it as fast as it's made, and the nitrate is consuming the nitrite as fast as it is made. But the nitrate is still high because your nitrate consuming bacteria are still low so your only means of nitrate reduction at the moment is water changes. It will come down just be give it time.
 
No IME they don't help much. Just keep up with the water changes and let it run it's course. It should make a large drop from 30-40- to the 20's and then level out for a few months. Just give it time
 
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