What the heck is going on ?

specialk · Mar 9, 2016

So had some parameter issues in my tank .. primarily high phosphate and nitrate. ... I have a 125 gallon tank with sump and fuge.

* Started running GFO to get the phosphate down and while i am waiting for my new hanna checker to get here, it seems that the cheap (which I know you can't trust their readings) phosphate test kits are showing that it is dropping.

* Also added a good amount of chaeto macroalgae to the sump as well about 4 weeks ago.

* Just tested my nitrate BEFORE I did about a 35- 40% water change. I just finished up the water change and tested the nitrates right after .. the reading for the nitrates is actually HIGHER then before!!??!

How the heck can this be .. is this typical for nitrate to spike or something after a big water change in a tank with some high phosphates and nitrates?

Also used the same salt I always use, used RO/Di water with 0 ppm readings.

Duke4Life · Mar 9, 2016

What test kit are you using to test nitrate?

specialk · Mar 9, 2016

Just the API test kit. Its a few years old but the color went from bad to worse ...which I don't get

Erick F. · Mar 9, 2016

Is your area known to use chloramine to treat their public water? Here in pittsburgh they use it and it took me a long time to figure out why over night my phosphate and nitrates went up. After adding chloramine filters my water is back to normal.

specialk · Mar 9, 2016

Erick F. said:
Is your area known to use chloramine to treat their public water? Here in pittsburgh they use it and it took me a long time to figure out why over night my phosphate and nitrates went up. After adding chloramine filters my water is back to normal.

I am not sure but I will definitely look into it first thing in the morning.

specialk · Mar 9, 2016

I may also note, as I am not sure if this would make a difference, but I did pull some rock out and scrub the nasty algae off of it and then put the rock back in the tank. Would that cause something to leach out even more so? (Although I did do this BEFORE I drained all the water and replaced it with the good water)

specialk · Mar 9, 2016

Also, would stirring up my sand bed, as I siphoned the sand bed for the 1st time in a year, would that stir things up and cause a spike ?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 9, 2016

Yes, releasing matter from the sand bed may be the explanation. I don't see how chloramine in the tap water would cause such an issue as long as the TDS was 0 ppm TDS.

specialk · Mar 10, 2016

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Yes, releasing matter from the sand bed may be the explanation. I don't see how chloramine in the tap water would cause such an issue as long as the TDS was 0 ppm TDS.

SO I am guessing then I should probably continue to do water changes to bring the nitrates down to reasonable levels? OR will the chaeto macroalgae in my sump remove a lot of it ...?

specialk · Mar 10, 2016

Although....i sent that last reply as soon as I got up this morning. Then I tested again ...and as you can see it is drastically lower then the test I did last night (the bad orange reading is the one I did last night immediately after the water change ...and the yellow much better test is the one I just did now)

So would stirring up the sand bed raise it momentarily and then ita normal that it comes back down? .....

...or did stirring up the sand bed just provide a false reading?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 10, 2016

specialk said:
SO I am guessing then I should probably continue to do water changes to bring the nitrates down to reasonable levels? OR will the chaeto macroalgae in my sump remove a lot of it ...?

Both can work, as can other methods. Water changes alone often do not keep nitrate sufficiently low.

I describe and compare all of these methods here:

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/nitrate-in-the-reef-aquarium

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 10, 2016

specialk said:
Although....i sent that last reply as soon as I got up this morning. Then I tested again ...and as you can see it is drastically lower then the test I did last night (the bad orange reading is the one I did last night immediately after the water change ...and the yellow much better test is the one I just did now)

So would stirring up the sand bed raise it momentarily and then ita normal that it comes back down? .....

...or did stirring up the sand bed just provide a false reading?

The unusually high reading might just have been testing error. Nitrate would not typically drop back that fast.

However, some nitrate kits detect nitrite, and they can detect a little nitrite as a lot of nitrate.

So if you stirred up nitrite from the sand and then it got converted to nitrate, that might explain the results.

specialk · Mar 10, 2016

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
The unusually high reading might just have been testing error. Nitrate would not typically drop back that fast.

However, some nitrate kits detect nitrite, and they can detect a little nitrite as a lot of nitrate.

So if you stirred up nitrite from the sand and then it got converted to nitrate, that might explain the results.

Unbelievable .. I swear to god I am being careful with these tests .. so I just tested again, AND .. back to nasty orange color! What the heck is going on ... could it be a bad test kit or something. This is just messing with my day now at this point ..

specialk · Mar 10, 2016

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
The unusually high reading might just have been testing error. Nitrate would not typically drop back that fast.

However, some nitrate kits detect nitrite, and they can detect a little nitrite as a lot of nitrate.

So if you stirred up nitrite from the sand and then it got converted to nitrate, that might explain the results.

But I guess in your master opinion, if one were to siphon the sand bed and scrub the nastiness off the rocks (is a separate container of course) and then remove the water and then do about a 40% water change .. would siphoning that water be enough to raise those nitrates? Or ... do you think it SHOULD be back down to reasonable levels after a big water changes like that ?>

Duke4Life · Mar 11, 2016

I ditched my API kit as I found it wasn't reliable. Ditch and go with a better brand. Sorry for the delayed response

Joshky · Mar 11, 2016

A few year old test kit is probably no good, definitely buy a new one of a better brand.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 11, 2016

specialk said:
But I guess in your master opinion, if one were to siphon the sand bed and scrub the nastiness off the rocks (is a separate container of course) and then remove the water and then do about a 40% water change .. would siphoning that water be enough to raise those nitrates? Or ... do you think it SHOULD be back down to reasonable levels after a big water changes like that ?>

Hard to say. A 40% change will only drop nitrate by 40%, so if messing with the sand boosted it by more than that (and it might), you may still see a boost.

ianthepoolguy · Mar 12, 2016

Are these high readings being done with the same test tube and lid as the lower one? If not, then try that; I test water A LOT of times in a week, (100+ tests) but I rinse the kit well after every test, and never leave a completed test in the tubes for more than a minute... You seem to have left a test "festering" overnight; there may simply be residue on the tube causing the higher readings.