Water quality on 130 L nano

[knut-ove]

Hi.

I have been running my 130L nano tank for five weeks now.
Got some LS in for a few days back.
I tested my water quality today, and here are the results:

Temp: 26,7
Ph: 7,8 <-- How do get this to be more stable on higher rate?
Alkalinity: 7,4 Dkh
Calcium: 450
ammonia: 0.09
No2: 0
No3: 2,5
Magnesium: 1200 <-- also a little low i think?

I am do to make a 10% water change today, i take one once a week.

My question is how do i get the parameters to become stable?
After what i understand nano`s are harder to keep, does this means that i have to use some sort of buffers to keep water stable?

About the Ph value, I live in a new house that is build to be pretty closed with regards to air flow and have a balanced ventilation system. Can it be that my co2 isen`t freash enugh?

I have two Tunize 6025 inside the tank so sircultain of the water shoud be good enough.

Hope someone can educate me a little on this.

 

[Apollo]

Hello knut-ove,

Stability in a tank comes only when there is a balance between your bacterial population and the amount of Ammonia , Nitrates & Nitrites etc. produced.

Your tank is still pretty new , so some of your parameters will swing up and down a bit. This is quite normal and will settle in time.

Your pH is a little on the low side . This may be due to your salt mix , but can also be due to dissolved CO2 and O2 concentrations not being at a balanced level. I'm not an expert though and there could be other factors.
Unless the ventilation in your house and close to the tank is very poor , IMO the chances are fairly minimal that the amount of CO2 is causing the pH drop

Yes, you can buffer the pH upwards by means of additives but IMO I wouldn't do so at this point.First look at other causes.

Here's an interesting article on Low and High pH levels:

High pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Low pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

How many waterchanges have you done ?
Have you measured the pH on the water & salt mix you use for waterchanges ?
What LS do you have in your tank at present ?

Be careful of what you add to your tank. My view on this is "If you can't test for it ... don't add it "

Just a thought

 

[knut-ove]

Hello knut-ove,

Stability in a tank comes only when there is a balance between your bacterial population and the amount of Ammonia , Nitrates & Nitrites etc. produced.

Your tank is still pretty new , so some of your parameters will swing up and down a bit. This is quite normal and will settle in time.

Your pH is a little on the low side . This may be due to your salt mix , but can also be due to dissolved CO2 and O2 concentrations not being at a balanced level. Although IMO , I would probably look to the salt first.
Unless the ventilation in your house and close to the tank is very poor , the chances are fairly minimal that the amount of CO2 is causing the pH drop

Yes, you can buffer the pH upwards by means of additives but IMO I wouldn't do so at this point.First look at other causes such as salt .

Here's an interesting article on Low and High pH levels:

High pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Low pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

How many waterchanges have you done ?
Have you measured the pH on the water & salt mix you use for waterchanges ?
What LS do you have in your tank at present ?

Be careful of what you add to your tank. My view on this is "If you can't test for it ... don't add it "

Just a thought

I have changed 10% of the water every week. 4 changes.
I have not measured the pH on the water, but i will. I am also changing brand of salt to a noon pro salt (have been using RedSea pro salt up until now)

I have in my tank at the moment:

2 Clowns (Ocellaris)
3 Damsel.
1 landmower Blenny
2 cleaner chrimps
5 eremites
8 turbo snails.
1 leather finger coral
1 button coral
1 pincushion coral

Thanks for the links regarding pH, and i will definitively not put something into the tank before i am 100% sure that it is the right ting to do

 

[Apollo]

Knut-ove,

Just a question : Was your nano setup from scratch or did you use water & rock from a mature system ? ( Sorry I can't remember whether you already mentioned this in another post)

The reason I ask is because you already have a fair amount of livestock in your tank after only 5 weeks.

Sometimes you will get a "bad" batch of salt which can result in a lower pH. I seem to recall a thread some time ago where there was mention of different salt brands and the experience other reefers have had . Can't remember what the thread was called though

 

[Ross]

That is a lot of stock for 5 weeks old.
Did you cycle this tank as I doubt it would have cycled at this stage and that would account for your problems.

Are you hooked on the Damsels?
The reason I ask is they are cheep and a lot of people start off with them, but they get aggressive and can be almost impossible to catch at a later sage when your scaping is all sorted out.

 

[knut-ove]

Knut-ove,

Just a question : Was your nano setup from scratch or did you use water & rock from a mature system ? ( Sorry I can't remember whether you already mentioned this in another post)

The system was bought used, so i got the LR and about 30L of water with it.

The reason I ask is because you already have a fair amount of livestock in your tank after only 5 weeks.

Yes, but the tank seems to have finished the cycle (I tested water quality during the process)

Sometimes you will get a "bad" batch of salt which can result in a lower pH. I seem to recall a thread some time ago where there was mention of different salt brands and the experience other reefers have had . Can't remember what the thread was called though

I will search for it. Someone told me that the "pro" salt has got a lot of trace elements in it, and if you don`t have a lot of corals the trace elements tend to pile up. (The salt i am changing to don`t have trace elements)

 

[knut-ove]

That is a lot of stock for 5 weeks old.
Did you cycle this tank as I doubt it would have cycled at this stage and that would account for your problems.

Are you hooked on the Damsels?
The reason I ask is they are cheep and a lot of people start off with them, but they get aggressive and can be almost impossible to catch at a later sage when your scaping is all sorted out.

No i am not hooked on Damsels, but i was shopping for LS in the LFS that was nearest to me (3 hour's drive) And all they got was Damsel Not the hottest fish, but a start

 

[Apollo]

I will search for it. Someone told me that the "pro" salt has got a lot of trace elements in it, and if you don`t have a lot of corals the trace elements tend to pile up. (The salt i am changing to don`t have trace elements)

Mhhmmm. Knut ove , once again just my opinion but trace elements are good and neccessary for a healthy system. Trace elements are not just used by corals.

Besides , your water changes will also help in ensuring that you don't get a build up of excess nutrients etc.

 

[Warr7207]

Knut, what salt are you using ?

 

[knut-ove]

I have been using RedSea pro, but now I got another that is not Pro type. in other word without the trace elements. I have had quite a algae growth , due to too much food inn the water. But the last few days after my clean up crew got bigger and applying phosphate remover I see that i am winning the battle