Just did MY first water test

Bentonb · Jun 15, 2012

tell me what you guys think/suggestions... normally I have the LFS test my water, but I just bought a kit so I thought I'd give it a try

pH-8.2
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-between 20-40ppm

I just did a partial water change on Wednesday, yet my nitrate seems high? I'm not sure what's normal, I also used phyto for the first time on Wednesday, just to find out that I don't need it for my Leather Toadstool and Kenyan Tree coral. Also my leather toadstool is quite droopy and I haven't ever seen it fully "out"? I'm not sure what's wrong with it... :squigglemouth:

BarbH · Jun 15, 2012

From my understanding in new tanks nitrates are common, nitrates in my tank are high right now also. Regular waterchanges and being careful to not feed the tank to heavily will help. It will take sometime for the tank to become established. How long has your tank been up and running for now?

Bentonb · Jun 15, 2012

about three weeks lol

wysiwyg · Jun 15, 2012

only running for 3 weeks the nitrate lvl is what you would expect

NanoNathan · Jun 15, 2012

yea that good for ajust a few weeks. as for your toadstool leather they seem to go threw phases of looking great to being ****** off for a while and closed up. id start to worrie if its droopy and looking bad for more then a few weeks. also if its discharging waste/rotting then its probaly dieing.. just my .02 cents

meir · Jun 5, 2016

My toadstool is rotting but there is a bit that is still ok what do I do

LakeCityReefs · Jun 6, 2016

Add some macroalgae to reduce the nitrates. It's great if you have a refugium and can do 24 hrs of light or reverse lighting.

Keep up on monthly 20% water changes. Remember the WC is to reduce your nitrates and any other buildup that we can't test for. Make sure the Alk is spot on to what your tank reads before dumping in new saltwater. Ca. And Mag. aren't as important but they should be close to what your tank is reading.

What are your phosphates at?

Toadstools can be finicky at first. Give it some time. They don't like a totally clean tank. No coral likes drastic changes.

Run a little carbon once a month. Typically I do a WC and then 2 weeks later refresh my carbon. This puts my WC and Carbon refresh on alternate cycle .

Keep phosphates at .02-.08 and nitrates around 5.

The tank is young. Have you witnessed a diatom bloom or any algae growing yet?

BoneXriffic · Jun 6, 2016

LakeCityReefs said:
Add some macroalgae to reduce the nitrates. It's great if you have a refugium and can do 24 hrs of light or reverse lighting.

Keep up on monthly 20% water changes. Remember the WC is to reduce your nitrates and any other buildup that we can't test for. Make sure the Alk is spot on to what your tank reads before dumping in new saltwater. Ca. And Mag. aren't as important but they should be close to what your tank is reading.

What are your phosphates at?

Toadstools can be finicky at first. Give it some time. They don't like a totally clean tank. No coral likes drastic changes.

Run a little carbon once a month. Typically I do a WC and then 2 weeks later refresh my carbon. This puts my WC and Carbon refresh on alternate cycle .

Keep phosphates at .02-.08 and nitrates around 5.

The tank is young. Have you witnessed a diatom bloom or any algae growing yet?

At three weeks old chasing alk mag and calc maybe wastful...once the tank matures itll be easier. With just a few softies it should be fine. My tank would swing like a crane in a tornado...for 9 months

This is all good info i think it may be just a bit soon so fight to stabilize. Just imo i could be an idiot tho

LakeCityReefs · Jun 6, 2016

BoneXriffic said:
At three weeks old chasing alk mag and calc maybe wastful...once the tank matures itll be easier. With just a few softies it should be fine. My tank would swing like a crane in a tornado...for 9 months

Sounds like your Mag might have been low if you had a hard time keeping things stable (been there before too). My current tank is only 3 months old and has been stable for the past 2 months with BRS 2 part dosing.
You're right that softies shouldn't require as much attention. In fact if you were to only keep a few softies in a tank you could probably get away with only using WC to replenish the big 3. I think I assumed the OP was looking to stock various corals after he completed the nitrogen cycle (I could be wrong).
Wondering why a toadstool could be retracting and Alk swings come to mind.

BoneXriffic · Jun 6, 2016

LakeCityReefs said:
Sounds like your Mag might have been low if you had a hard time keeping things stable (been there before too). My current tank is only 3 months old and has been stable for the past 2 months with BRS 2 part dosing.
You're right that softies shouldn't require as much attention. In fact if you were to only keep a few softies in a tank you could probably get away with only using WC to replenish the big 3. I think I assumed the OP was looking to stock various corals after he completed the nitrogen cycle (I could be wrong).
Wondering why a toadstool could be retracting and Alk swings come to mind.

Leathers have a habbit of being picky about placment also. I did have low mag and dosed. I dont consider a tank stable untill its matured past the ugly stage. And i never fought it. Which is weird i am normally impatient lol. But when your goal is sps dominant in my experience it seems best to let a tank go through its phases before chasing numbers.

Russ265 · Jun 6, 2016

meir said:
My toadstool is rotting but there is a bit that is still ok what do I do

replace it with a homewrecker or walt disney.

im kidding...

@BoneXriffic is giving some good advice

meir · Jun 6, 2016

Russ265 said:
replace it with a homewrecker or walt disney.

im kidding...

@BoneXriffic is giving some good advice

Say whaaaat?!?!?!

Russ265 · Jun 6, 2016

meir said:
Say whaaaat?!?!?!

was a dry joke.
as far as your leather deteriorating, i couldnt help you. i went from lps to sps.

if a softy is deteriorating it is more than likely your water.

every softy ive encountered has been a weed and i really dont want to do that much propogating in a 7 ft long 3ft high tank.

meir · Jun 6, 2016

Russ265 said:
was a dry joke.
as far as your leather deteriorating, i couldnt help you. i went from lps to sps.

if a softy is deteriorating it is more than likely your water.

every softy ive encountered has been a weed and i really dont want to do that much propogating in a 7 ft long 3ft high tank.

So anyway I basically fragged it and threw the rotten pieces away and the piece I kept is doing well