Problems with Nitrates and pH.
I’m having a little trouble all of the sudden with balancing my tank… For the first 4-5 months everything ran smooth, now I’m getting a Nitrate spike, and my pH is running a little low.
I’ve got a 20 gallon tank, with about 18 lbs of live rock, crushed argonite substrate, and a carbon filter designed for a 30 gallon tank. I don’t have a Protein skimmer yet, I’m trying to find a decent one within my price range (~$50-$60). My tank currently has 1 common clownfish, 2 flame firefish, and 1 turbo snail.
Ideally I’d like my tank to have the 3 fish it has now, 3 snails, 1-2 small crabs (blue legged hermits or something), and a skunk cleaner shrimp. Maybe a starfish if I can really get things working right - that would be the end of inhabitants.
On March 23 I did a water test, here were my readings:
Nitrates ppm (mg/L): 80 Nitrites ppm (mg/L): 0 Chlorine: 0 Alkalinity ppm (KH): 300 pH: 7.8 Ammonia ppm (mg/L): 0.5 Specific Gravity: 1.026 Temperature: 79 F
I replaced my filter and did a major water change (about 40%). I tested my water tonight (4/2/08) and got the following readings:
Nitrates ppm (mg/L): 60 Nitrites ppm (mg/L): 0 Chlorine: 0 Alkalinity ppm (KH): 240 pH: 7.8 Ammonia ppm (mg/L): 0.125 Specific Gravity: 1.025 Temperature: 79 F
I’ve done water changes at least once, sometimes twice, a week; and larger water changes than I usually do. I can’t seem to get my Nitrates to go down though, they hover between 50-80 for the last 3-4 weeks. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to fix my Nitrates problem and/or raise my pH a little?
My Live rock is going really well, it’s probably 50-60% covered with purple coraline algae. And I’ve never really had an algae problem, or any other issues. Would a protein skimmer help with my nitrates problem? Would it be worth trying to get some of the chemicals designed to lower Nitrate issues? Would adding more cleaning crew right now (i.e. snails and crabs) help or hurt my water problems?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is my first saltwater tank, and at 5 months in I’d say I’m still fairly new to things…. Thank in advance for any help you can offer.
Category: AquaticLife
