I’m not an expert by any means but if you can I’d do a 70 percent water change and then add some bacteria to make up for it. For pH you could look into pH buffers that don’t use calcium . For calcium I would try said water change with IO salt as it doesn’t add to much to the water. For magnesium add supplements and dose, however do it relatively slowly and test as you go. Alkalinity isn’t the worst so try tackling the nitrates, calc, and mag first.Hey yall. Just tested my levels in my tank ancant figure out how to fix the high calcium and nitrate levels. For nitrates I've dropped feeding to 1 time a day. Quarter of cube. And bi weekly water changes.
Currently I have a 13.5gal nano that's about 9 months old now. 3 fish and a shrimp. And clean up crew of around 15 critters.
Also try to find the source for elevated levels, or else they might persist.Hey yall. Just tested my levels in my tank ancant figure out how to fix the high calcium and nitrate levels. For nitrates I've dropped feeding to 1 time a day. Quarter of cube. And bi weekly water changes.
Currently I have a 13.5gal nano that's about 9 months old now. 3 fish and a shrimp. And clean up crew of around 15 critters.
Im using API's test kit, I was doing the bi weekly changes because of the high nitrate levels, I was only doing 1-1.5 gallons on the changes.
With API rest kits you need to take them with a grain of salt. No pun intended. But look at those test as a none detected, trace, or full blown red. Small water changes aren't going to really dilute nitrates. Find the cause of the nitrates. Rather it be something dead in the tank, over feeding, uncured rock. Nitrates are from things breaking down so find the cause..up your filter change schedule and go to a bigger water change..40-50% once a week versus several small ones multiple times. That will give your tank time to balance out and let you watch for issues. Would also recommend a different nitrate test kit so you have something else to compare the api test too.
I agree with @TeamTurtle, if you are doing small water changes, you won't really be making a dent in such high nitrate measurements, especially if it may just climb back up to the same spot again by the next water change.
no clue, im not dosing anything, i think its a build up from frequent waterchanges to be honest
nothing dead in the tank, although just yesterday i noticed under my skimmer in the aio compartment theres a bunch of anomie looking things
That is probably aptasia. How did you buy your rock...was it dry rock, live from LFS? Someone else's tank? It could be leaching nutrients if you did not cure it.
I am using RODI water with red sea salt
if was live rock from my old tank that sat in storage for a year. I cleaned it soaked it and then cycled my tank for 4 months beofre adding any livestock
That's probably the source then...unless you soaked and did water changes on it while it was soaking..it is leaching.. rocks are like sponges and will hold nutrients..once you kick on the power heads and water starts working its way down into the rock...BAM, nutrient battery. Best advice at this point. Get some dr tims waste away. or take some rock out, not all, and soak in a tub of heated, fresh saltwater with a pump, power head for a few days and test that water. If you get high nitrates again...there's your problem..just keep the rock in there and change 50% of that water once a week...test 24 hours after water change..and wait until the levels go down...way down..then put back in your tank and do the next rock.
