why oh why

lilduud

lilduud

Reefing newb
would my nitrates spike after water changes?the past two changes it has been lower before the change then the day after... after two weeks with levels all at 0 i did a change on the first and today my nitrates are at 10? what the hell
 
Did you check the water right before you did the change, are you sure they weren't already high? Did you use RO water or tap? Could you possibly have disturbed the sand bed when you filled it back up?
I can't think of any other reason for it
 
i tested within an hour before doing the change and it was at zero... yes RO water from my own filter, and maybe slightly disturbed the sand bed... i did scrape lots of algae off just before... perhaps its dying in the water because i didnt remove enough with the removal of the old water?
 
How did you extract you water from the tank? Did you use a vacuum? Did you vacuum the gravel/sand bed? You could have your substrate holding it, and the water change is enough to disturb the substrate to release it.
 
i skim my sandbed when i clean the tank unless you are digging in the sand i dont think it would kick something up. even if you did not get all the alage out during the water change it would not just die and release all of its stored nutrients right away more than likely it would re attatch somewere and start growing again. did you move the rocks around at all? test your ro water for nitrates. it is hard to say what is going on
 
i removed the top layer of sand this time because of some cyano?
and i didnt vacum it i full on removed it with just a normal thin tube. ill test the water after i mix it for another change today
 
What brand test kit do you use?
Given the accuracy of hobby grade test kits and how hard it might be to tell the slightly different shades of a color, there probably isn't any change in your nitrate.
 
haha i know i just, like earlier stated, am a maniac about my tank haha and its the api test kit with the two part test tube misy thingy... its a good test and i knnow when zero is zero and this is nooott zero hahah but im probly over reacting haha i really dont feel like doing a change already so ill see what the level is tomorrow... i also just dont want the algae to be like HOOORRAAYYY NITRATES!!!
 
api test kit with the two part test tube misy thingy... its a good test
Click to expand...
That's pushing it a little. I wouldn't call API a good test kit. Fair at best. Like just about anything else, you get what you pay for. An API nitrate test kit is like $8. For more accuracy, try a Salifert which runs around $21.
 
ccCapt said:
That's pushing it a little. I wouldn't call API a good test kit. Fair at best. Like just about anything else, you get what you pay for. An API nitrate test kit is like $8. For more accuracy, try a Salifert which runs around $21.
Click to expand...


1 on the Sailfert. ccCapt knows what he's talking about when it comes to water chemistry.
 
so ive concluded tat im agitating the sand bed too much.. after i rearanged my rockwork my nitrates shot to like 20 so ive done about 3 gallons of a change in the past two days... i test the source water and its sero for nitrates so it must have been the sand bed. just updating
 
Well I don't agitate it specifically but sometimes I'll get a layer of algae encrusting on top and I'll just suck it off completely and remove it.
 

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