- Joined
- Sep 2, 2006
- Messages
- 27
Hey there,
I have a 65 gal tank that has been up and running for about 4 months now. It will eventually be for an octo once everything becomes mature and stable. It cycled in about 2 weeks, but for the past 2-3 weeks my nitrates have been thru the roof - around 80ppm. My ammonia & nitrites are at 0, PH at 8.2, temp a constant 77 deg. I've done 15-20 gal water changes every week but it doesn't seem to be helping at all. My source h2o is RO/DO. I also have a 15 gal sump, 70 lb live rock, 2 in sand bed, and current inhabitants include: 20+- blue legs, 10-15 snails, 3 tiny urchins, small xenia, 1 polyp duncan coral, and 5 tiny mushrooms. I'm not feeding anything other than the occasional piece of shrimp to the duncan - and hermits get leftovers (if there is any) Everything in the tank appears to be doing fine, but I know it could take a while for corals to show distress signs....
Any ideas on what could be causing this nitrate spike - and more importantly how to get it down, and stay down?
Thanks for any thoughts!
(PS - I've tested with 2 different tests, both came out the same)
I have a 65 gal tank that has been up and running for about 4 months now. It will eventually be for an octo once everything becomes mature and stable. It cycled in about 2 weeks, but for the past 2-3 weeks my nitrates have been thru the roof - around 80ppm. My ammonia & nitrites are at 0, PH at 8.2, temp a constant 77 deg. I've done 15-20 gal water changes every week but it doesn't seem to be helping at all. My source h2o is RO/DO. I also have a 15 gal sump, 70 lb live rock, 2 in sand bed, and current inhabitants include: 20+- blue legs, 10-15 snails, 3 tiny urchins, small xenia, 1 polyp duncan coral, and 5 tiny mushrooms. I'm not feeding anything other than the occasional piece of shrimp to the duncan - and hermits get leftovers (if there is any) Everything in the tank appears to be doing fine, but I know it could take a while for corals to show distress signs....
Any ideas on what could be causing this nitrate spike - and more importantly how to get it down, and stay down?
Thanks for any thoughts!
(PS - I've tested with 2 different tests, both came out the same)