Does my tank have a problem??

[Brancho]

Hey all I'm slowly banging my head against the wall as I don't know what up with my tank!! Can't get thr nitrates down must have changed almost 70% last 2 weeks in my 130 gall tank (4 months old) and it's still 20- 40ppm and I keep getting the odd ammonia spike? Just changed 25% and now my ammonia is 2ppm from .25 yesterday? I did feed the fish 4 hours ago but not much. My calcium is 380 and MG 1200 how is best to increase those? Just put some prime in but the 4 fish all look fine and corals are all growing and good! Tanks got loads of bio and rock?? Even been chucking stability in recently. Am I missing something?

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

There must be a testing issue. 2ppm ammonia would kill fish and corals, and the nitrate wouldn't help. What test kit are you using? I'd have your LFS test a water sample.

 

[Brancho]

Api test kits

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

API kits are notorious for getting incorrect results, especially if it has expired. I hope that this helps!

 

[Spare time]

Check nitrite.

 

[Brancho]

Check nitrite.

Was 0

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Say buh-by to your API test kits. Your ammonia is probably zero. Your nitrates at even 20 or 40 aren’t the end of the world. How much detritus sits in your sandbed and sump? Are you blowing off your rock work with a pump or turkey baster? It all adds up. Another 70 % water change should drop you to 5. A few pictures could help as well.
If you have larger more demanding sps, lps corals, and clams that are depleting your calcium faster than you can water change then it’s time to start dosing. Maybe 2 part and a good mag additive. Pictures

 

[Brancho]

Say buh-by to your API test kits. Your ammonia is probably zero. Your nitrates at even 20 or 40 aren’t the end of the world. How much detritus sits in your sandbed and sump? Are you blowing off your rock work with a pump or turkey baster? It all adds up. Another 70 % water change should drop you to 5. A few pictures could help as well.
If you have larger more demanding sps, lps corals, and clams that are depleting your calcium faster than you can water change then it’s time to start dosing. Maybe 2 part and a good mag additive. Pictures

I only have marine pure and a polyplab rock in the sump plus some bio in a bag and polishing filter. The wave make may brush the top rock and it's hitting off the bottom middle rock off the glass. Only 6 pieces of coral and 4 fish. Do have a diamond goby who sits through **** all day

 

[blaxsun]

I only have marine pure and a polyplab rock in the sump plus some bio in a bag and polishing filter. The wave make may brush the top rock and it's hitting off the bottom middle rock off the glass. Only 6 pieces of coral and 4 fish. Do have a diamond goby who sits through **** all day

Are you running filter socks or filter floss? Protein skimmer? The former can remove up to 75% of the waste that contributes to nitrates - the latter up to 15%.

 

[Spare time]

Could you post pics of the tests results? People here smack talk api tests all the time yet don't have experience with them. I have used them hundreds upon hundreds of times. They are extremely reliable, though the color match may not be accurate to what the color on the card appears to match in ppm.

 

[Brancho]

Filter floss no skimmer.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Great pics. So your tank looks quite clean. Good. Your setup looks to be new. You only have 4 fish in a decent sized tank. Was your rock work cured-clean before you put it in your tank? If you put it in dry, there may be some die off going on? Ammonia and nitrates showing because of this. Still API test kits are one of the things in the hobby that you’ll upgrade from. Red Sea or Salifert would be a more dependable option. .25 on your API ammonia test in my experience means 0.

 

[Dave1993]

Api test kits

i knew it was API test kit before i even saw this post lol they r trash