nitrate and P H

[stevieduk]

Hello, I have just joined R2R. I have been keeping Marines for a while , with 3 tanks , 2 fish and 1 invert. everything has always been ok , but the thing that keeps bugging me is my nitrate and P H readings, my ammonia is almost non existent , the nitrite is really low , but i cannot seem to get the nitrate reading down below 12.5mg/litre despite 2 week water changes and using nitrate sponges , and my PH will always be 8 , no matter how much i try to get it to 8.3 ish .Every thing is living and feeding well including a copperband ive had for about 8 months and so i know i should be happy , but i just always wonder why these two readings wont get perfect like the others.
any ideas. Oh and i always use R/O water

 

[beaslbob]

Hello, I have just joined R2R. I have been keeping Marines for a while , with 3 tanks , 2 fish and 1 invert. everything has always been ok , but the thing that keeps bugging me is my nitrate and P H readings, my ammonia is almost non existent , the nitrite is really low , but i cannot seem to get the nitrate reading down below 12.5mg/litre despite 2 week water changes and using nitrate sponges , and my PH will always be 8 , no matter how much i try to get it to 8.3 ish .Every thing is living and feeding well including a copperband ive had for about 8 months and so i know i should be happy , but i just always wonder why these two readings wont get perfect like the others.
any ideas. Oh and i always use R/O water

IMHO macor algaes or an algae turf scrubber will increase your (just before lights out) pH and lower nitrates to unmeasureable levels.

You could also look into (if you're not already using) the diy two part. could be a little baking soda is needed to raise your alk for instance.


my .02

 

[stevieduk]

o k thanks, I have tried baking soda and that does it for a few days then it goes back to 8 , always 8 , (weird ) and as for algae there is non to speak of cos the yellow tang eats it all. it is a very large eating machine , just grazes the algae all day long

 

[KJAG]

Hey just a couple thoughts. RO water sometimes takes awhile to settle at its true rating when using a ph probe IME, and the quality of the meter comes into play as well. I always had issues with my Hanna and Milwaukee pen meters, have since purchased a Bluelab combo meter and love it.What kind of ph meter are you using?Depending on your meter/ calibration, youre reading could be a few points off.just my 0.2

 

[Dozerman]

I started using a media reactor with Vertex Biopellets several months ago and i now have no detectable nitrates or phosphates. Also no cyano or other pest algae. My pH is notoriously lowish (7.6-7.8) but after doing a ton of reading it seems that as long as it stays stable and calcium stays slightly higher than normal (due to corals having a harder time percipitating calcium out of the water at lower pH) that isnt a huge issue. I haven't had any issues and I keep many sps, lps, clams softies ... a little bit of everything.

 

[stevieduk]

dont use a p h meter , i use a test kit(chemicals) but thanks anyway

 

[Mufasa31]

it seems like you may have some water issues. both ammonia and nitrite should be 0.

 

[CJO]

it seems like you may have some water issues. both ammonia and nitrite should be 0.

I agree. How long have the tanks been set up?

CJ

 

[florida reef]

Forget chasing PH numbers and find the source of your nitrates. Some nitrates are ok, but ammonia and nitrite are not.

 

[stevieduk]

well they vertuly are , ammonia is almost not detectable on the colour scale card thats with the test kit , and nitrites are very very low, its just the nitrate readings that are a third of the way up the scale. But as I said , even the sensitive fish seem healthy and feed like gannets so there cant be a lot wrong

 

[Dozerman]

I wouldn't worry too much about the pH. At an average of 8.0 or slightly below you won't have any issues. Especially with no corals. As long as it doesn't change rapidly slightly low pH is fine. Nitrates aren't a huge issue for fish, within reason. At 12.5mg/l that isn't outrageously high for fish and I don't think any harm will come from it. Continue with regular water changes and keep an eye on it.

I notice from your profile you have Fluval canister filters on it. I would recommend ditching those. Any canister filter with a media in it will tend to become a "nitrate factory" in that it will work well to break nutrients down as far as nitrate but will not grow anaerobic bacteria needed to continue this process and break down the nitrate into nitrogen. Wet/dry trickle filters are another example of a filter notorious for high nitrates in a tank.This is where the live rock comes into play. It naturally houses anaerobic bacteria in the deep porous structure of the rock thus allowing for it to complete the nitrogen cycle and break down the nitrate into harmless nitrogen.

You don't mention what type of skimmer you're using or how much live rock you have. These 2 items can take care of most of your nitrate concerns. Better skimming removes more waste before it breaks down, more rock will better remove nitrate.

In the end though, your tank parameters really aren't bad enough to worry about for just fish.

 

[KJAG]

dont use a p h meter , i use a test kit(chemicals) but thanks anyway

So, You distinguished a .0 to 0.3 ph margin without a meter, and by a color chart? Your ph could be and most likely is right on. The only reliable test is by a quality meter.

 

[stevieduk]

Hi, sorry,only just able to get back to you , the fluval filter i have is very large , able to do tanks at least twice the size of mine. got it very cheap on Ebay. thought it would be great with it having a high flow rate. as regards the other stuff, I have a small protein skimmer and a 50/50 mix of live rock and tufa rock,although the tufa rock must be on its way to becoming living rock by now.( anyone know how long it takes tufa to become living rock ), anyway , imust have about 18 to 20 lbs of proper living rock as well as a two inch deep coral sand base.
I am not able to have any kind of sump filter as this point in time , so are there any other types of filter that do the anaerobic work?