Water parameters, need advice

Rodolfo Garcia · May 7, 2017

Morning guys, i just texted my water parameters and they came back all like this. My tank is 4 weeks old.

Ammonia: 0.00ppm
Nitrite: 0.00ppm
Nitrate: 5.00ppm
Phosphates: 0.25 ppm
Dkh: 13dkh
Ph: 7.8

What do you guys think? Can i add my first fish?
I want to add one hardy coral as well but im not sure if this would be ideal.
My PH is relatively low but i heard this is normal for a rather newish tank. Is that correct?

Swoody · May 7, 2017

PH is a bit low you could take care of that with a 8.3 ph buffer but then you need to figure out why your pH is consistently running low and take steps to keep it up around eight or a little bit above. Also your phosphates are maybe a little bit high (that with the No3 can lead towards an algae bloom) I'm actually able to keep mine at about .06 and I'm not running my GFO reactor although I have ran it in the past when my phosphates got up to .34. The only corals in my tank are a small colony of palys that came with some rock added and I haven't added any others yet.... I will say though that they were Flourishing even when my phosphates were at .34 and trates at ~15.....which is pretty normal for my tank. But , yes you could add some livestock at this point.

Flippers4pups · May 7, 2017

It looks like you have cycled successfully. With those numbers I'd say yes.

Rodolfo Garcia · May 7, 2017

Swoody said:
PH is a bit low you could take care of that with a 8.3 ph buffer but then you need to figure out why your pH is consistently running low and take steps to keep it up around eight or a little bit above. Also your phosphates are maybe a little bit high (that with the No3 can lead towards an algae bloom) I'm actually able to keep mine at about .06 and I'm not running my GFO reactor although I have ran it in the past when my phosphates got up to .34. The only corals in my tank are a small colony of palys that came with some rock added and I haven't added any others yet.... I will say though that they were Flourishing even when my phosphates were at .34 and trates at ~15.....which is pretty normal for my tank. But , yes you could add some livestock at this point.

I never saw an algae bloom throughout my cycle. I know about ph buffers but i want to fix the root problem of why it may be that low. I also heard that ph will be low in the morning before the lights turn on, i tested my water ph when lights were off. My aquarium has a 25x overturn via a powerhead. Do i need any more? As i heard water agitation may raise ph. Phosphates have stayed at 0.25 since i started my tank , no signs of it budging.

Rodolfo Garcia · May 7, 2017

Flippers4pups said:
It looks like you have cycled successfully. With those numbers I'd say yes.

That's great i been dying for animal life in the tank lol

Flippers4pups · May 7, 2017

I wouldn't chase PH. Just keep your big three in check: calcium, alkalinity and mag for corals.

Of course keep you SG at 35 ppm or 1.026.

Your alkalinity is high for corals now. What salt brand are you using?

Rodolfo Garcia · May 7, 2017

Flippers4pups said:
I wouldn't chase PH. Just keep your big three in check: calcium, alkalinity and mag for corals.

Of course keep you SG at 35 ppm or 1.026.

Your alkalinity is high for corals now. What salt brand are you using?

Im using regular red sea sand. What is the recommended alkalinity for a reef tank? And how can i bring it down?

Flippers4pups · May 7, 2017

8-9 dkh is best.

Good read:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

Rodolfo Garcia · May 7, 2017

Great read man. Gave me a lot of insight on keeping corals.

Havoks · May 7, 2017

Just need to bring your dkh down to at least 10 and ph up to 8 parameters will balance out with time

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 7, 2017

Swoody said:
PH is a bit low you could take care of that with a 8.3 ph buffer but then you need to figure out why your pH is consistently running low and take steps to keep it up around eight or a little bit above.

Definitely not the best choice. A buffer will raise his already high alkalinity.

Havoks · May 7, 2017

I would try a water change to try to get ph and alk a bit more balanced

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 7, 2017

Havoks said:
I would try a water change to try to get ph and alk a bit more balanced

Water changes are hardly ever a good way to adjust pH. pH is determined mathematically by the alkalinity and the CO2 level in the water, which usually follows from the CO2 level in your home air. So changing the water won't lead to any sort of fix to pH issues for more than a few hours (the time for the CO2 to equilibrate with the room air)

Havoks · May 7, 2017

Didnt know that, so co2 causing the low ph?

Flippers4pups · May 7, 2017

Actually 7.8 isn't bad. Closed house with people exhaling CO2 contributes. As Randy said, the CO2 in the water will equalize with the surrounding air CO2.

Opening windows helps, as does a DIY CO2 scrubber. Surrounding air passing through soda lime and being sucked into a skimmers intake works well. The trip is the cost of the soda lime as it depletes and needs to be replaced.

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 8, 2017

Havoks said:
Didnt know that, so co2 causing the low ph?

Yes:

pH And The Reef Aquarium
http://www.reefedition.com/ph-and-the-reef-aquarium/

jason2459 · May 8, 2017

Flippers4pups said:
8-9 dkh is best.

Good read:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

For me 7-11dkh is best.

I've kept my alk at all different levels and even times above that range like 12-13dkh with out any noticeable ill effects besides when accidentally spiking quickly.

Just keep it consistent and your corals will adjust. If you run an extremely low nutrient system (ULNS) how ever it's defined with a lot of SPS one may want to keep the alk below 8.

Rick Mathew · May 9, 2017

Rodolfo Garcia said:
Morning guys, i just texted my water parameters and they came back all like this. My tank is 4 weeks old.

Ammonia: 0.00ppm
Nitrite: 0.00ppm
Nitrate: 5.00ppm
Phosphates: 0.25 ppm
Dkh: 13dkh
Ph: 7.8

What do you guys think? Can i add my first fish?
I want to add one hardy coral as well but im not sure if this would be ideal.
My PH is relatively low but i heard this is normal for a rather newish tank. Is that correct?

In my experience once you add fish and coral and start feeding everything will change...Go slow!...Monitor but unless something goes really out of whack make no changes let it settle for a couple of weeks or longer and see where you are...When I started making changes before the system setted out I ended up with the YO-YO effect...parameters going up and down because I was fighting the natural changes...If you watch your fish and corals they will let you know when they are happy or sad...IMO