Water Chemistry

[mardaman]

To anyone that may help,

I have a 29 gallon marine biocube, I did a water test today and got the following results:
pH = 8.2
Alk = 2.0
NO2 = 0.2
NO3 = 5/25
NH3/NH4 = 0.5
Calcium = 340

I would like to know if these are good readings, I tried as best as I could to figure it out per the cards in the test kit.  This is my first try at a marine aquarium and doing the water quality testing on my own.  If these readings are too low / high how can I adjust to get optimal readings.  Any help will be of course greatly appreciated.

Thanks....................drew

[Just_Greg]

from the looks of your readings, your tank is still cycling.  is this correct?

[Bergy]

yea, please give a little biography on your system... how old is it, what equipment, etc..

also, it would be good to give a little synopsis on what type of tank you want to have,  i.e. fish only, or full reef tank?

and yes, it looks like your tank is cycling... you have ammonia present, which isnt good.  but it should get better soon

[mardaman]

First of all................thanks for the input.

I have had the tank for 2 years but just moved 3 months ago at this location with all new bottom substrate, I did use the old rock.  The fish are also new a clown, blue tang and banded coral shrimp.  They are all healthy and happy and the shrimp already molted once.  The tank was sitting for 1 month before I added anything to it.  So how can I get the ammonia down?  I do also want to add some corals.  Any assistance from the community will be greatly apprecaited.

Thank You

[RandyFolds]

Are your test kits expired? What brand are they? Are you sure they are for saltwater? That is some gnarly water quality for a stocked tank. A water change is the safest and easiest way to bring down ammonia content, and some products like Amquel and the like can do it chemically. Probably both would be best...

First things first, make sure your reading are correct. You should check the expiration date and retest if they are still good. If you have some extra cash, having two different brands of tests provides a basis for comparison. If things are still nasty, i.e. ANY Ammonia (NH3) or Nitrite (NO2), plan on doing a big -maybe %50- water change.

As far as the corals go, what kind of light do you have, and how much work do you want to do? You can keep ahermatypic corals, those that lack zoanthellae, the symbiotic bacteria that produce nutrition for the coral through photosynthesis. Because they lack the ability to garner nutrition from light, they must be fed, which is labor intensive and destroys your water quality. There are also a lot of corals that tolerate very low light. There are plenty of Zoas and mushrooms that can hang.

[Just_Greg]

change and/or run a goodly amount of carbon as well.

if you add an ammonia binder, make sure it's buffered (Amquel+ or Ultimate), they can crash your pH in a hurry, so even then, use it sparingly.

[Bergy]

it really doesnt matter how old a tank is... when the question is asked it is meant to understand how long it has had water in it, this time around...

And yea, those test readings seem to be consistant with a newer tank..

I would make sure to keep ahead of the water changes... the main issue to avoid ammonia...  this will damage and leave your fish suscetpable to infections and other issues...

[mardaman]

Wow!!!!! I have so much to learn and I think I will take a water sample to my fish store as they seem to be very knowledgeable (cant spell too good at this time) but I also would definatly appreciate the continued advice from the community.  Even though I have read up on keeping marine tanks I know I still have a long way to go.  I am just curious as to where all the respondants get thier information and can guide me to any sources.  Everyone seems very helpful and nice..............and seem genuinly concerned with the health of not just thier fishes but any other aquarium owners.  And hopefully some of my questions will not seem too ridiculous

[Bergy]

most of the info i give is from experience or from what i remember reading about from other reefers

I love wetwebmedia   and of course  www.allexperts.com   and www.about.com   and www.saltwaterfish.com

There are other forums, reefcentral being the biggest, but they are or rather they have issues... lots of drama... most of which is created by their own moderators...  i understand they need moderation, but those guys take it to another level

www.reef2reef.com is another good forum


but generally speaking most forums have cliques and the members have attitudes of thier info being the only method that will work and anything else is LOSERs

The other issue with most other forums is that they are sponsored... sponsorship means that you cant say anything about the sponsors, or you cant post/discuss anything positive about the sponsors competitors...



anyways, you got take the info anyway you can, but try to avoid the drama

[mardaman]

Thanks Bergy:)  Can you tell me what my readings should be around

[Bergy]

you should have ZERO nitrite and zero ammonia...

it is okay to have some nitrate, although  the goal should always be as little as possible, but it wont make a difference until you start gathering corals..

salinity is between 1.022-1.026

tempertaure is between 75-81

calc 400+  (if you have corals)
Alk should be 10+ 



but, ammonia and nitrite are the two big things for determining whether your tank is cycled sufficiently

[pinkorchid]

Have no advice to add but just wanted to say good luck at getting things leveled out...
This is a great place full of many people that know there stuff  ;)

[cruzincaril]

yep all good info..by way bill my calc. still hovering at 340

[Bergy]

can you test your water before water change and after water change

also test the water your adding


where do you get your saltwater from???  what is the Calc and Alk supposed to be??? (in the new saltwater)

and maybe start a thread of your own in your forum??

[Just_Greg]

Mardaman,

you might also want to pick up a copy of "The Consciencious Marine Aquarium" by Bob Fenner and/or "Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques" by Jay Hemdal.  Both are excellent references.  another book i HIGHLY recommend is "Reef Fishes, Vol. I" by Scott Michael, who has always been one of my fave authors (his photos are super too!).

yep all good info..by way bill my calc. still hovering at 340

there's a relationship between Ca, alk., and Mg, and if the levels are out of whack, that may be your problem.  i suggest testing your Mg level as well as your alk..  if all your levels are correct, Mg should basically be 3x your Ca level, so about 1200 to 1500 ppm is correct.

IIRC, you're not currently stocking anything that sucks up the Ca, so the trouble may lie in this relationship.  are you dosing anything?