How are my parameters

[amerced19]

Ph 7.6
Calcium 460 ppm
KH 214.8 ppm
Phosphate 0.25
Nitrate 80 ppm

in the last 3 days and nitrates spiked from 20 to 80 ppm
I added a sea hare, and two corals could that be the culprit

 

[DaneGer21]

PH is a little low
Calcium is a “tad” high but fine
Alkalinity is high
Phosphates are high
Nitrates are high

I personally don’t think a sea hare and two corals would do it.

 

[X-37B]

Take the sea hare back to lfs.
Their is no algae for it to eat and it will die quickly without food.

 

[Garf]

Your nitrite may be elevating your nitrate reading falsely. Can you check nitrite?

 

[amerced19]

Take the sea hare back to lfs.
Their is no algae for it to eat and it will die quickly without food.

Am i able to feed it algae wafers

 

[blaxsun]

Am i able to feed it algae wafers

Maybe, but they are also incredibly sensitive to water parameter changes.

 

[amerced19]

PH is a little low
Calcium is a “tad” high but fine
Alkalinity is high
Phosphates are high
Nitrates are high

I personally don’t think a sea hare and two corals would do

What do you suggest, water changes?

 

[X-37B]

Am i able to feed it algae wafers

No. I would take it back.
They are used in tanks that are overrun with hair algae and will strip a large tank quite fast.

 

[blaxsun]

What do you suggest, water changes?

Sure, you could do a water change - but without knowing details of your setup and filtration it’s anyone’s guess whether this would be a temporary or permanent fix.

 

[attiland]

Ph 7.6
Calcium 460 ppm
KH 214.8 ppm
Phosphate 0.25
Nitrate 80 ppm

in the last 3 days and nitrates spiked from 20 to 80 ppm
I added a sea hare, and two corals could that be the culprit

What else did you do for that nitrate spike? Sounds like a water change is due.

 

[DaneGer21]

What do you suggest, water changes?

It depends, for the phosphate and nitrates yes.

But for the other parameters it may be salt related. Can you test your new saltwater and post those numbers?

 

[ZoWhat]

How old is this tank?

IMO you never add corals to a newer tank until your LR and sand is fully cycled.. .. not just one cycle but multiple cycles

That can take several months for the debris deep within the pores of rock to die off and go through the COMPLETE cycling process

You gloss over your knowledge of the pic below, you're simply wasting your time & money.... you MUST wait (yes, wait) for the Red arrow to develop below

Looking at your LR .... IMO your not fully cycled

.

 

[amerced19]

How old is this tank?

IMO you never add corals to a newer tank until your LR and sand is fully cycled.. .. not just one cycle but multiple cycles

That can take several months for the debris deep within the pores of rock to die off and go through the COMPLETE cycling process

You gloss over your knowledge of the pic below, you're simply wasting your time & money.... you MUST wait (yes, wait) for the Red arrow to develop below

Looking at your LR .... IMO your not fully cycled

.

About 8 months
Will the corals i have die

 

[amerced19]

It depends, for the phosphate and nitrates yes.

But for the other parameters it may be salt related. Can you test your new saltwater and post those numbers?

Ca 38ppm
9dkh

 

[amerced19]

What else did you do for that nitrate spike? Sounds like a water change is due.

Only other thing i did was add chemipure elite

 

[ZoWhat]

About 8 months
Will the corals i have die

Weird that 8mos old LR hasn't turned into a deep dark color.

Are you stripping NO3 and PO4 continuously down to 0? Via some method?

Your LR is not fully cured (i.e. cycled)

Corals? Don't know... I definitely wouldn't add more

.

 

[amerced19]

Weird that 8mos old LR hasn't turned into a deep dark color.

Are you stripping NO3 and PO4 continuously down to 0? Via some method?

Your LR is not fully cured (i.e. cycled)

Corals? Don't know... I definitely wouldn't add more

.

I probably did 2 water changes in the beginning and completely neglected afterwards. Only recently began maintaining it. I have notice coralline growth on rock speeding up recently

any suggestions on how to proceed?

 

[ThatPhillyReefer]

Weird question but what light are you running, i ask because i had a 20g nuvo with a fluval light when i first started 5 years ago.

I hadn’t seen any color on my rocks for about a year, but once i changed to t5’s coralline grew

 

[attiland]

Only other thing i did was add chemipure elite

Unless it has killed of something in your tank I don’t see the reason why it would have caused nitrate spike.
I don’t have personal experience with chemipure elite to be honest.
regardless I would do some water changes to reduce nitrate as it is very high. If after the nitrate is still climbing up I would rethink how nitrate and phosphate removal works in your tank. I am big fan of micro algae as that is addressing both

 

[amerced19]

Weird question but what light are you running, i ask because i had a 20g nuvo with a fluval light when i first started 5 years ago.

I hadn’t seen any color on my rocks for about a year, but once i changed to t5’s coralline grew

Nicrew led lights i found on Amazon