nitrate nitrite help

[biggzs89]

I have a 125 with a 30 gallon sump I tested my ammonia it was 0 ppm my ph was 8.2 my nitrate was 0.25 my nitrate was 5.0 what is it spouse to b n how can I lower it

 

[ryangrieder]

Water change with ro water will get rid of nitrites, and your nitrate is not a worry, your low enough...

Also, what test kit did you use?

 

[biggzs89]

Api

 

[biggzs89]

Is their something I can use in their 2 help it

 

[masterswimmer]

Water change with ro water will get rid of nitrites, and your nitrate is not a worry, your low enough...

+1

Do a wc

 

[ryangrieder]

First, get a more accurate test kit, API is more "general ballpark". For all you know, you could already be at zero for both.

As for adding something to it to help,besides fresh ro water change, not really. Natural fix is always better then chemical fix

 

[Dre]

API is good enough for Nitrate testing. If you had ''0'' nitrate it would indicate ''0''.
Keep up with water change, cut back on feedings and keep testing. A little nitrate is okay nitrite is more dangerous.

 

[Chris Jury]

How long has the tank been set up?

 

[biggzs89]

It has been up 4 a month

 

[Belwell]

You running a refugium? Not as crucial for a 125, but still helpful. Also what is your feeding schedule?

 

[Chris Jury]

Ok, in a 4 month old tank, unless there has recently been a major disturbance (i.e., moved the tank, fallen power head blew the sand bed everywhere, etc.), I would disregard the positive nitrite reading. It is almost certainly a false positive as nitrite tends to get scavenged pretty quickly if there are sufficient nitrifiers present, and 4 months is plenty of time for nitrification to get up to speed.

Nitrate tends to decrease over the course of months to about the first year or so in most reef tanks, as algal biomass increase (especially coralline and turf algae) and as food webs become more complex and more stable (mostly little critters--various worms, crustaceans, sponges, etc.--and microbes). However, it also depends heavily on the filtration system and fish biomass (or rather, the amount of fish waste). For a 4 month old tank, nitrate at 5 ppm doesn't seem bad at all to me. I'd continue to apply good husbandry (what that entails takes at least a book to describe) and the tank should continue to stabilize and improve in conditon.

cj