Water parameters and change question

TJFitz1980 · Dec 31, 2016

My tank has been up almost 2 months. Is is a 40b FOWLR. I have been doing water changes biweekly. Removing and replacing approx 7 gallons each change.

Last weekend I did my regular water change and the numbers seemed pretty good. After the water change the nitrites and nitrates have gone up a little. Today I am a day short on a week but those numbers are still higher than I believe I want. So I am going to do a 3.5 gal water change real fast.

My wife and I just had a baby and we are staying in the hospital but I had to run home to do a few things and check the tank is one of them.

Do you feel those numbers are safe? Am I ok doing biweekly water changes? For a 40 gal tank should I be going more than 7 gals changes? If so how much? Thank you

Garrett W. · Dec 31, 2016

the nitrites and phosphates are the only issue i see with your numbers. Your temp and salinity are a little low (compared to my system) but within acceptable ranges. Do you have a lot of algae in your tank right now?

Reefnewb · Dec 31, 2016

your nitrite needs to be zero before you can get a truly accurate reading of nitrates. I would not be doing any water changes until your initial cycle is completely over (when ammonia and nitrites are at zero and stay there)

Reefnewb · Dec 31, 2016

sorry just read that the tank is 2 months old.... something is definitely not right i would double check those nitrites with another test kit.

mpjmeyer · Dec 31, 2016

Congratulations on the new baby!!!

TJFitz1980 · Dec 31, 2016

Yeah I don't know why the rites jumped up...so we will do a change and go from there. I figured a small water change would help since I can't stay here until the baby comes home. Hopefully tomorrow...fingers crossed.

Thanks on the congrats we are excited lol

The salinity is at that level since there I nothing but fish and the temp is driving me nuts. The heater says one the the thermometer says another. So a second thermometer is agree with the excusing one so I am going to order another heater. Also no not much of any algae. The test is hard to read it is between zero and .25 so I just marked .25.

I am adding seachem stability and prime daily to try to prevent the rites and rates from being toxic.

How many gallons should I be changing biweekly? 7 enough?

TJFitz1980 · Dec 31, 2016

This is how they were prior to the biweekly water change last week so there were at zero.

Xerxes_Zoanthids444 · Dec 31, 2016

TJFitz1980 said:
My tank has been up almost 2 months. Is is a 40b FOWLR. I have been doing water changes biweekly. Removing and replacing approx 7 gallons each change.

Last weekend I did my regular water change and the numbers seemed pretty good. After the water change the nitrites and nitrates have gone up a little. Today I am a day short on a week but those numbers are still higher than I believe I want. So I am going to do a 3.5 gal water change real fast.

My wife and I just had a baby and we are staying in the hospital but I had to run home to do a few things and check the tank is one of them.

Do you feel those numbers are safe? Am I ok doing biweekly water changes? For a 40 gal tank should I be going more than 7 gals changes? If so how much? Thank you

Hey great stuff here!!! What app are you using to keep track of your water perimeters?

Grimreaperz · Dec 31, 2016

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] Gratz on the new Comer! I started my tank 1.5months before my daughter was born.

IMHO stop doing water changes until ammonia and Nitrite reach a consistent level of 0...then do the water changes just to get the nitrates out...if you are getting nitrites after water changes there may be something in the water killing off bacteria?

Or the bioload is to high and should have introduced more gradually....

TJFitz1980 · Dec 31, 2016

Xerxes_Zoanthids444 said:
Hey great stuff here!!! What app are you using to keep track of your water perimeters?

It is call AquaticLog

TJFitz1980 · Dec 31, 2016

Grimreaperz said:
[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] Gratz on the new Comer! I started my tank 1.5months before my daughter was born.

IMHO stop doing water changes until ammonia and Nitrite reach a consistent level of 0...then do the water changes just to get the nitrates out...if you are getting nitrites after water changes there may be something in the water killing off bacteria?

Or the bioload is to high and should have introduced more gradually....

I am going to hold off on water changes until all the bacteria catches up with each other. The stability and prime should prevent it from getting too toxic I would imagine

Pongo · Dec 31, 2016

TJFitz1980 said:
My tank has been up almost 2 months. Is is a 40b FOWLR. I have been doing water changes biweekly. Removing and replacing approx 7 gallons each change.

Is that wet for 2 months or 2 months since the cycle was running properly?
What is your water source?
What is your current bio load?
What other nutrient export methods do you have besides water changes?
How many lbs of rock and sand do you have?

Xerxes_Zoanthids444 · Dec 31, 2016

TJFitz1980 said:
It is call AquaticLog

Thank you bud I really appreciate it!!

TJFitz1980 · Dec 31, 2016

Pongo said:
Is that wet for 2 months or 2 months since the cycle was running properly?
What is your water source?
What is your current bio load?
What other nutrient export methods do you have besides water changes?
How many lbs of rock and sand do you have?

Wet
Tap (I know, I know)
2 small clowns. Small regal. Heniochus butterfly. Small royal gramma and smaller stars strips puffer.
Prime/stability
40 lbs live sand 20 lbs of rock

Pongo · Dec 31, 2016

TJFitz1980 said:
Wet
Tap (I know, I know)
2 small clowns. Small regal. Heniochus butterfly. Small royal gramma and smaller stars strips puffer.
Prime/stability
40 lbs live sand 20 lbs of rock

Tap water: any chance you can buy saltwater locally? Even Petco sells it and they use RO water.
Even grocery store RO water to mix salt in a rubbermaid trash can would work.

Your tank is young, you've only got 20lbs of rock and are water changes your only means of nutrient export?
I don't know what a heavy bioload is for a 40B, but maybe your bacterial population hasn't matured enough to handle it.
You say you do biweekly water changes - 7 gal. Which definition of biweekly are you using?..........twice a week or every 2 weeks?
I'm not sure why you want to hold off on water changes.
I'd add a bottle of bacteria and keep up with the water changes.
Keep testing for trends.

Overall nothing looks too bad. Take it slow, be patient.
Good luck

TJFitz1980 · Jan 2, 2017

I mean every other week I change 7 gallons of water.

I have plans of ordering a RO/DI filter but haven't yet.

By holding off I mean just do water change every other week instead of weekly.

As for filtration I have a aquaclear 70 and a penguin 200 (which soon I will be replacing it with a aquaclear 110). I run chemipure purigen and matrix carbon. I also have a eshopps 100 skimmer.

Pongo · Jan 3, 2017

Here's a link to an excellent article on optimal water parameters.

Link

akarusso · Jan 3, 2017

I would hold off on the water changes. Its possible you are removing good bacteria with every water change.

glb · Jan 3, 2017

If your nitrites were 0 before, you might have had another mini-cycle. Did you check to see if anything died in the tank? Did you add any new fish lately? Once things settle down and you have an idea of how the nitrates rise, you can adjust your water change schedule. I'm building the same setup and plan to change 4g/week to start. How do your fish look?