nitrate up a bit

[bigbill]

i did a 50 % water change to day and my nitrate went up to 20 is this normal?

[Manoj's Reef]

No its not normal. Did you check your water before doing the change?

[bigbill]

no but i allso added a fish today i did test on mon and all was at 0

[MizTanks]

50% is a lot of water to change! Why so much?

[bigbill]

was probly closer to 35% changed 4 gallons of the 12

[Sir Patrick]

I would mix another batch of water- and test it. See what happens.

[bigbill]

got water from lfs pre mixed

[Sir Patrick]

Did you test your water right before the water change? Did you stir up some nasty stuff during the water change? Did you disturb the substrate at all?

[bigbill]

yea its all most inpossblie to add that much water and not stir the bottom a bit

[Sir Patrick]

How old is the substrate, and how deep is it?

[bigbill]

How old is the substrate, and how deep is it?

not sure what substrate is but if u mean sand its 9 weeks old like the tank

[Sir Patrick]

Hmmm...9 weeks old- stiring your sand, being so new shouldnt cause issues.

Gonna think a bit more....

If your sand is less than 3" deep- continue stirring it w/ every water change. It will help prevent issues on down the road. A mature deep sand bed can cause big nitrate spikes if disturbed- but doesnt sound like that is what happened to you.

[bigbill]

could it be that filltar / skimmer causeing a smal cycle

[BeakerBob]

Sounds like your tank is going through another cycle with the water change and the substrate (sand) mixing. Another potential issue may be the test kit results....old test kit?

[bigbill]

no just bought it last week but all other levels are fine

[MizTanks]

Sounds like a mini cycle.

[streetrodder007]

That 1 fish would more than likely only add a little Ammonia. I think your testing is off. I would test again, and maybe even get a second opinion. I clean my sand beds in my tanks so I don't hold nitrates or detrius. If you can, when you pour in new water, pour it into the filtering / sump/ holding area. That way it wont blast the sand bed or corals all over, and it will mix with the current water you have.

[ReeferRob]

Another good practice is to simulate Hurricane type weather. I'll take a small PH or turkey bumper and blast the rocks and corals and everything everywhere. Behind the reef and in the overflow. I even stir the skimmer chamber in the sump.

[bigbill]

ty all i checked agin to day ill take some up to rs tom and have them check it