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View Full Version : NO3 and PH problems maybe

sw_df27
08/04/2012, 06:36 PM
okay today I did a 20% water change with RO/DI water from my LFS and added 5 more lbs of live rock just did all my test everything is fine except for some reason I can't get my NO3 any lower then 10ppm I have been stuck at that number for several weeks despite the weekly water changes my PH is also low it's 7.8 and I can't get it any higher I added a Korilia 550 today too so I don't know what I'm doing wrong with the PH or the NO3 what can I do to get these 2 levels where I need them they are the only 2 giving me problems I have a 29gal long with 2 clowns 4 turbo snails 13 Nas snails and a starfish I vacuum my crushed coral every week when I do the water changes should I wait a couple days and test again or what?
disc1
08/04/2012, 07:32 PM
crushed coral

There's your nitrate problem...

7.8 isn't too bad for pH. If you really want it to be higher then you have to get fresh air to the tank to lower the CO2 levels.
andy2966
08/04/2012, 08:08 PM
I have a 30 gallon tank that has been set up for years and it has crushed coral for substrate. My nitrates are off the chart no mater how many water changes I do. They stay at 80+. But it was a fish only tank. For my Ph I use Kent Marine -super buffer dKh and it stays between 8.2 - 8.4. I recently bought some Natural Nitrate Remover to see if I could lower my Nitrates. But it takes a few weeks to start working.
hollister
08/04/2012, 10:20 PM
Thats alot of nass snails. To many i would say. The powerhead will help keep uneatin food and fish waste from collecting on the rocks and SB. Some type of media will also help collect it. A HOB filter works best.

Looks like u have 1 fish. You should feed him twice a day and only what he can eat in 1 or 2 min and no more. Clowns are omnivores so feed flake or some type of veggie and then frozen brine shrimp in the evening or vise versa.

You want around 15 times the tank size in water flow so a 29 gallon means 435 gallons per hour water flow. The 550 should work but useing two that equal around 500 on both means better water movement control. 1 on one side and one on the other.