Kimberlee Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 So I'm currently tank sitting a 40B that was moved to my house well over a month ago. Nitrates are 80 and no matter what is done to get them down they bounce back to 80 with in a day. I have had them below 15 just to see them at 80 inside 24hrs. Ammonia is 0-.25 Phosphates are 0 and nitrates are back at 80. Tested my make up water and those levels are A 0-.25 (think this may be the test) Ph 0 and nitrates 0. I'm making up water now for the tank I'm caring for and will test that make up water as soon as I can. Fish all look good BTA's both look good the only thing suffering is the sps. I think something died during the tank move but its been a month so any ideas would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 more info needed- But before any of that, I'd have someone else test your water. Nitrates going to 80 from 15 in 24 hours just seems wrong-borderline impossible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberlee Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 I have 2 test kits and have used both but just to be safe I'll take a sample in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I understand determining the reason is most important, but the easiest way and the quickest way to reduce them is water changes, but I am sure you realize that. You dont have some dead fish in there by chance? It'll be interesting to see who chimes in with some idea of what causes that spike in such a short time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberlee Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 No dead fish and we've been doing regular WC plus some extra ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illcssd Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Deep sand bed in the tank? When moved, did you guys just reuse the sand? How long has the tank been setup before you got it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberlee Posted June 17, 2012 Author Share Posted June 17, 2012 When it was moved the sand bed was left in there and than yes re used. Tried to leave the sand bed undisturbed as much as possible. Its only about 2.5 inches. Tanks been up almost 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illcssd Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 My first suspect is the sand bed. IMO, rock can be reused, but reusing sand somehow leads to the problem you're having. I have known/spoken to a lot of people who have moved their tank, any almost 100% of them that reused the sand bed had continued nitrate problems until it was removed/replaced. Something happens when sand beds are moved and it's not a good something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 My first suspect is the sand bed. IMO' date=' rock can be reused, but reusing sand somehow leads to the problem you're having. I have known/spoken to a lot of people who have moved their tank, any almost 100% of them that reused the sand bed had continued nitrate problems until it was removed/replaced. Something happens when sand beds are moved and it's not a good something.[/quote'] This is good to know, worse than a dead fish (scary) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Scott Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Just so ya all know this is my tank. Kimberlee and I have been trying to figure out what has been going on for two or three weeks now. probably should have posted about it sooner (scratch) ( it was Kimberlee's idea to post it to the forum) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelhead77 Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Nitrates of 80, while undesirable, are by no means something to panic about. Four 50% water changes over next week or so, will get you down to 5. The trick is to not wait to long between WC's and let them build up again. A couple summers ago, my 180 had nitrates above 160 due to being in Asia for most off the summer. When I came back, I did five 50% changes over the course of a couple weeks and they've never risen above 5 ever since. Also, re-using a sand bed is perfectly fine as long as the sand smells like the beach and not rotten eggs. IF it smells like rotten eggs, toss it. If it smells like the beach, go ahead and re-use it. This advice was given to me by Jason, formally of Coral Reef, someone who we all respect and trust with the advice he provided while he had the shop. A spike of what you are seeing, IMO, points more to either the kits being bad or the method of testing not being consistent. It is possible for two kits to give bad readings. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev311 Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Are you using an API test if so are you at the end of the bottle, I've gotten grossly inaccurate readings from a near empty test kit. Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberlee Posted June 17, 2012 Author Share Posted June 17, 2012 yes we are using API, but there are 2 test kits in the house and they are both giving the same readings. And I am on top of the WC, something I learned early from you Steelhead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alterego Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 I agree with the sandbed theory, but if you dry the sand, rinse it, re-dry it, the sand should be usable. I would go buy a small bag of live sand from your LFS and add it to the system somewhere. You need a LOT more denitrifying bacteria in there, or get some of that quick start additive. Move the sps until the system stabilizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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