First test results

S

shanet1975

Reefing newb
Just re-set up the 55 gallon saltwater tank on Friday morning and here are some test results. This was an established tank and I used all of the liverock and sand and about 20% of the water. Just wondering if these seem OK.
Nitrate - 40
Nitrate - 0
Ammonia - .25
PH - 8.2
 
Nitrates are high. Try to get them to 20 or lower. Regular water changes will do this.

Also, your ammonia reads .25. This either means that you have started a cycle again by moving everything, or that your test kit is giving you a bad reading. I'd buy a second test kit and double check that.
 
Biffs right as usuall.Double check your ammonia,and do some water changes to bring the nitrates down.
 
Thanks for the input. I will do a water change today after a wedding I have to go to. Any thoughts on how much water to change? There is 1 8 year old clown fish in there that came with the setup. That fish is a pig. How often should I feed him/her?
Thanks again...
 
Thanks again Yote. I may have another 25 or so gallons of ro water. I'll use whatever I have left.
When people say regular water changes. Is that about 10% every other week? Or more?
 
I personally do around 10% once a week.Some do it every 2 weeks.While some do 30% once a month.
Let your tank tell how often it needs to be done. Just test regularly and when you notice nitrates climbing,do a water change.
 
I go by my water readings when my nitrates start rising I do a water change. But mine been at zero for awhile now.
 
The thing is,Water changes aint just for lowering nitrates.It also helps replace trace minerals and elements that your tank needs.
IMO,The better you keep up with the water changes,the less money you have to spend on suppliments and additives.
 
Thanks again....Well I just changed about 1/2 of the water. How long should I wait to test again? Should I also purchase some sort of additive to help?
Also, I am trying to upload a picture, but the pictures are too big and seem to be in the wrong format. If I save to a png, they are about 11 mb. I'd like to post a picture to show the tank, but can't firgure it out....
This isn't quite as inportant as getting the tank healthy though :)
 
Mint. I'm upstairs now and the pictures are on the downstairs pc. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. I'll also test again tomorrow and let you all know if the water change helped things....
Thanks again!!!
 
I have gotten used to doing about 10% per week. Makes it easier to keep track of when I last changed water, did a water test, so on and so forth..
 
I don't like to add anything to my tank. All I add is iodine and calcium. So far everything is doing great.
 
Piggy
Be careful with iodine.If the iodine level gets to high,its supposed to highly toxic.
I dont know if thats a fact or not,but I dont think i'd be willing to chance my corals and fish.
 
I keep it in the range for my inverts. If I don't add it gets way low. I test it every week to keep it in the safe zone.
 
Thanks again....I will test again tonight? Are there any chemicals I should get to keep around just in case? I'll post the results again when I get home from work...Quite curious to see where we are at. I will also try to upload a picture or 2 to that putfile site and link to it here...
 

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