Discouraging Testing Results

[jgiannini]

So my tank has been up for about 8 weeks and was pretty much done cycling and my live rock was pretty much cured. I did some tests on the Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrates and got these results:

Ammonia - 0.0
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 30-40

So I figured ok...I need to do one last scrub of the rock to remove any remaining dead material and do a water change and I'll be ready. I vaccumed out all the crap from the bottom (bare bottom right now for the curing/cycling to make cleaning easier, sand to be added in a minute), pulled out about 60% of the water, added the aragonite, positioned rockwork, and added freshly mixed saltwater. That was yesterday. This morning I did another test and got the same results as up top....

Ammonia - 0.0
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 30-40

Am I missing something or is my test kit flawed? It's an API kit. I figured with the water change/detritus removal, I would have seen some kind of change in the Nitrates. I already had a Salifert kit ordered which should be coming today, so hopefully it's just a bad test kit, but has anyone else seen issues like this? Thanks.

[masonicman]

do you have a protein skimmer?

[jgiannini]

yep....been running since day 1. It was skimming pretty good while the rock was curing and the tank cycling. Since I did the water change, etc. nothing since there is no load.

[jgiannini]

Also...I'm only using RO/DI water.

[masonicman]

Yes Salifert is better. What make is your existing test kit? Do you have any live stock in the tank?

[masonicman]

Also did you scrub the rock in the tank or did you tank them out?

[jgiannini]

Current test kit is an API (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals) kit. I scrubbed the rock outside of the tank. What I did was siphoned out about 3 gallons worth of water at a time and used that bucked to scrub the rock in. When the water got dirty enough, I dumped and repeated the process. Currently no livestock in the tank, just whatever is currently in the rock. I was planning on going out this weekend to get my first inhabitants (2 clowns and a couple snails), but may hold off until the nitrate issue is resolved.

[masonicman]

I was struggling not too long ago with nitrates. I'm down to about 10.0 now. Water changes with RO/DI did the job. I also started using Purigen also. The snails are fine to get but I would hold of on the clowns for now. I currently use AP aslo. I just never got the salifert one. I have almost all of the other basic test kit by salifert. Do me a favor. When you get your kit and get your results. Let me know it there is a big difference. Post it on this thread. I will keep a look out for it. Thanks

[jgiannini]

I would to water changes constantly if I wasn't discouraged by the last one. I changed about 22 gallons of the 38 and it didn't seem to change the reading....figured it would have done something....which is why I think it may be the test kit. I'll post for you when I get the salifert kit and see how the readings compare. I may break down and get some Purigen too....

[masonicman]

Yes I have had the same issues with using AP. I took out 25 gallons from my 55 gallon and it didn't lower either. keep in mind with all the live rock and sand, it's about 42 gallons of water.

Purigen is expensive but great.......

[Jareth]

::waves at masonicman from Oak Plains Lodge 789, Sacramento CA::

As for your nitrates, I am having the same issue about 3 months into my build. Last nite I added a pinch (less than 1/8 teaspoon) of sugar and found the last bits of a decaying crab. Have you counted your livestock to see if something died off?

[jgiannini]

there's no livestock in it yet....just about 50 lbs of LR and some aragonite, which I still need to seed.

[Scuba_Steve]

Its possible that all the cleaning caused some pent up ammonia sources to be released when you put the rock back. Your take is cycled enough that this didnt cause any danger, but your nitrates went up. So in a sense you brought them down with your water change, took away thier source with the cleaning, but released some bad stuff in the process. I would do another large water change and see what happens. I bet they will go down. If they dont, I would blame your test kit. 40 isnt very high btw for cleaners, or fish. Sps would probably be the only thing really affected.

[Scuba_Steve]

Oh and no need to seed the sand, Your rock will do that. Adding sand now will just give you a mini cycle, although a cup or 2 at a time wouldnt do any harm.

[jgiannini]

I got my salifert nitrate test kit and tried it out and got some very different results. The salifert kit puts my nitrates around 10-15....much lower than the previous kit. Assuming the testing I did prior to the water change was correct, this is the reading I'd expect with an approximate 60% water change. That makes me feel a little better now...

[masonicman]

Thanks, I bought a test kit last night. I have not tested yet. I will tonight. I will let you know if my 10ppm I got with AP on Monday is different.

[WaterKeeper]

Make sure you know the units the kits are reporting. Some kits use nitrate as nitrate and other nitrate as nitrogen. A value of 40 with the NO₃ as NO₃ will be only a shade over 9 with a NO₃ as N kit.

Did you have an algae bloom and if so how did you handle it?

[DrBegalke]

it can take awhile for anerobic bacteria to build up until they are able to handle the nitrate load.

i would give it time, only do water changes if you are seeing adverse effects.

[WaterKeeper]

Why skip the water changes? They improve water quality better than any other single method and don't cost that much to boot. If it is something related to slowing down the cycle period then that is a complete myth.

As the Jedi Master once said-

The bacteria you seek, in the water column they are not. Look to the LR and LS for them, you do.

[timrandlerv10]

first off, Go Appstate. (ingratiating myself with the Ohio fans!)

i am soon to be doing the same thing--i bought some LR and LS, and put it in an empty tank, heated, lit and circulated the water.

next month i'll be jumping all that to a new tank, and then moving my inhabitants from a third tank into the new one...how can i make sure that my bacteria are up to the job?

jgianninni--did the second water change do the trick? how hard did you scrub those rocks? did you do it in a bucket or in the tank and then vacuum?

will he (and i!) get a new cycle start from disturbing the sand when it gets added?

tim

[WaterKeeper]

Not a cycle but nitrate levels may climb until the bed re-establishes itself.