danielagom0414
New Member
Hello everyone, I am new to reef tanks and I am experiencing complications with my tank. I set up my tank 8 gallon evolve on April 21, 2014 and everything was running smoothly. I added buffer for the first week as well as a cap full of micro bacteria. Like I said, everything was going great, I tested my water and all the readings were nearly perfect that I was told I could buy a fish. I bought my first fish about a week and a half ago and he seems to be adjusting great to the tank. Thinking that everything was still great, I bought some hermit crabs and snails and put them in my tank with no problem. Later that day, I tested my water and when I checked my alkalinity , and the reading was 30!! That's right, and alkalinity level of 30. I quickly ran to my LFS and asked them to test the water to see if maybe I was doing it wrong, which obviously I wasn't. I was told to do a water change, but my boyfriend told me not to do so because my tank isn't completely cycled as of yet and doing so, could make me start the cycle all over again. I went to another fish store nearby and asked for a second opinion. The second fish store told me that I should do a water change as well so I did. An hour after doing the water change, I tested the alkalinity again and it went down to half(15). My fish, hermit crabs, and snails are still alive. It has been three days and my alkalinity is still at 15 and my PH is getting bad as well as the ammonia. I need major help with this, I would HATE to see myself starting from zero again, especially since I have grown so attached to my fish. Thank you guys in advance!! -Daniela 
