help!!!

[pagerocks]

hi all i have a little problem my 20 gallon high has been up for about a month i have live rock,1 firefish,1 clown,1 starry blenny also have a green star polyp my ph is low and my nitrite and nitrate have risen a bit for some reason i do 5 gallon water changes once a week and have added alkaline 8.3 here are my perameters
temp 79
nitrate 10ppm
nitrite .25
ph 80
amonia 0

 

[Scomstock]

Honestly, you may be doing water changes too often, or changing too much of the water at once. I know this seems contrary to the belief that frequent water changes are a good thing because they ARE a good thing, but I ran into this problem a while back and when i asked my friend what he does to keep his tank to perfect he said "almost nothing"... I also like to let some algae grow on the back glass to help keep nitrates in check for the long term. Where your tank is still so "young" i would limit your water changes and add livestock very slowly, keep an eye on water parameters an change water only when NECESSARY until your tank ages more, and develops more beneficial bacteria. Hopefully this was some help to you, good luck... Happy Reefing

 

[tike]

When you say you have a problem does that mean........ fish or coral are looking stressed. Your parameters aren't that bad. Nitrite exsists because the tank hasn't fully cycled yet. You can get the nitrates down by either reducing your feed, adding a skimmer , or water changes. I would not add the alkaline to the tank, water changes (5% weekly)will take care of that. I do 5% weekly water changes on my nano that doesn't currently have a skimmer with no ill effects. pH will bounce around a bit in a reef tank depending on what time of the day you are taking your reading, 8.0 isn't out of line for this range. What type of salt are you using?

 

[Johnthebaptist]

If it has only been up for a month you are probably still cycling. The bacteria that processes ammonia develops first, and then bacteria that processes nitrite. Nitrate is only removed by water change in a system without a refugium or other specializes equipment.

As far as the phosphates go, there are several chemical ways to remove that. Just check you local pet store and put some in a bag in your filter. Star polyps are hardy once they are established and in my experience don't like a terribly clean tank.

If you want, you could get some starter bacteria in bottled form or by buying some sand from a friend/store that is in a well established tank.

As said earlier just be really patient. The tank will stabilize over time.

 

[returnofsid]

Your tank is still cycling and possibly overloaded. IMO, your 3 fish might be too much of a bioload for such a new and small tank.

 

[Murfman]

pH of 8 is not too low.

 

[_Alex_]

To many fish to fast IMO. Nitrate of ten is fine nitrite tells me tour tank is still cycling. Stop water changes unless you start getting ammonia. Nitrate should raise up and slow/stop once nitrite down to 0. Then start back with water changes. You could do 2 gal a week and be good.

 

[pagerocks]

im using instant ocean salt

 

[btkrausen]

To many fish to fast IMO. Nitrate of ten is fine nitrite tells me tour tank is still cycling. Stop water changes unless you start getting ammonia. Nitrate should raise up and slow/stop once nitrite down to 0. Then start back with water changes. You could do 2 gal a week and be good.

This. If your tank is still cycling you need to stop doing water changes for a bit until things settle down. During the cycle, fish should not be present in the tank due to ammonia spikes that can, and probably will, kill the fish.

 

[tike]

im using instant ocean salt

Yeah I use it too, on a straight mix up it tests at 11 for alk so you don't need to add anymore alk.