Nitrate Spike???

[Sir Alex]

I was gone for 3 days. When I left the nitrates were at about 20 ppm. When I got home they where at like 70 ppm???????????? The only thing that has changed is that my father emptied out the skimmer and messed up the water level, so it wasn't producing much skim. It doesn't make sense, they were actually dropping and now they spiked. :sad: Ugh.:frustrat:

 

[Sir Alex]

Please help!!!

 

[Bifferwine]

Water changes, water changes, water changes. That's the most effective thing you can do right now.

 

[Sir Alex]

I pretty much know how to solve it but I want to figure out why it happened.

 

[Bifferwine]

I'm guessing your dad overfed the tank but isn't telling you that. ;)

 

[Sir Alex]

He didn't feed anything...:shock:

 

[Bifferwine]

Test kit gone bad?

 

[Smitty]

Did anything die, check all your livestock.

 

[Sir Alex]

Test kit gone bad?

I don't think so, would it go bad so suddenly?

Did anything die, check all your livestock.

Hmmm, lets see, one eel. Yup, he's still alive. I have 2 hermits and 3 snails. I think they're still there.

 

[Bifferwine]

Hmmm, lets see, one eel. Yup, he's still alive. I have 2 hermits and 3 snails. I think they're still there.

LOL. You crack me up.

I don't have a good reason for why it would shoot up like that. Did some rocks or sand get stirred up or moved around?

 

[Sir Alex]

LOL. You crack me up.

I don't have a good reason for why it would shoot up like that. Did some rocks or sand get stirred up or moved around?

There was a little sand on the rocks that he probably stirred up but I really doubt that's it. It is a fairly old test kit, but would it have gone bad so suddenly?

 

[Sir Alex]

Oh duh, I also tested it with some test paper. That showed about 50 ppm. So it's not the test kit.

 

[Sir Alex]

Is it possible that since I started running the skimmer, some of the bacteria has died of since there isn't as much waste. And then when it wasn't working it went through a mini cycle? I'll do an ammonia and nitrite test.

 

[Sir Alex]

Amonia and nitrites are both zero.

 

[Bifferwine]

I don't think that's what happened. I've never heard of a skimmer spiking nitrates.

 

[Sir Alex]

I got a new test kit a week ago and the nitrates where at about 40 ppm. Now they're at like 5 ppm. :question: :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

Now all I need are lights that are about 10 times stronger and I can keep some corals or an anemone!!!

When converting a FOWLR in to a reef do you just gradually do water changes using reef crystals instead of regular salt?


I was thinking of using these in my 75 gallon reef to be. Do you think they're necessary?

Reef Aquarium Supplements: Seachem Reef Calcium

Marine Reef Aquarium Iodine Supplements: Kent Marine Iodine

 

[Bifferwine]

I hope your new test kit is right! Regular salt - what do you mean by that? Like Instant Ocean? That's fine for keeping corals. Supplements probably won't be necessary if you are keeping easy corals. Water changes will take care of what you need, and don't dose anything without testing for it first.

 

[Sir Alex]

I meant instant ocean reef crystals instead of regular instant ocean salt. Don't I need to use reef crystals to bring the calcium and stuff up? And I do want to keep SPS eventually (in my 75 at least).

 

[Bifferwine]

Well you need to buy a calcium test kit and test for calcium before you can know if you need to bring it up. If it's low, then switching to a different salt or dosing a calcium supplement will help. But you should test for it first. :)

 

[Sir Alex]

I didn't mean I was planning on getting corals tomorrow...

So there is calcium in the regular salt, just not as much? What about iodine?