salt

My duncan tonite is starting to open up again Whew! It's still a little unsettled but at least its open this is what it looked like before water change

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Originally Posted by Rpalt1

I mixed the water in 5 gal pail with an old maxi jet for 8 hrs and then added to tank water was within 5 degrees of tank. I am ordering a salifert nitrate kit because the api im not cofident in. The instructions say to wait 5 minutes for the correct color but i noticed that the longer the vial sits it just keeps getting darker! Then the color is offf the chart. I checked nitrates 3 times and from what i can tell it apoears to be around 80 reading ph,nitrite and amm is ok but the nitrates are a pain to read! If i look at vial after 1 minute its at 40 ppm argh! I can't afford a hanna so i'll try salifert. Would using nitra sorb help until i get a good routine down? And should i do another w/c this weekend? Kind of nervous about doing another w/c right now but nitrates are high

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Sounds like they're pretty hi! If I may make a suggest ,you should look into creating a good biological answer to the issue. I use pro bido Bio Digest,does wonders and feed it Britwells Bio reef. Both products Are developed to start the nitrifying process and to keep it going, this is the best way to control No3 in my book,along with a good skimmer. There is other products like Microbacter7 that will also do a very good job! I have used nitrate reactors bio pellete's you name it ! Changeing my thought processes and showing some patience truly paid off ! I have a more then heavy bio load and feed huge amounts of my frozen homemade food and still maintain undetectable levels ! I don't think you have a bad test kit honestly just new tank issues that are normal for everyone . Honestly the API test is much easier to read then the others IMHO,it's just hard to sit and watch it get darker by the minute! But man does it feel great when you watch it turn clear yellow and stay there !! Good luck. :oldman:

This is what it loks like today

Old Man do you use microbactor7 by itself or with a bio pellets reactor running. I have been thinking about using it but wasnt sure how it worked. My nitrates tend to get up there because I target feed my corals. My skimmer, GFO, and carbon keep the tank looking pretty clear but the nitrates not always great. How does the Microbactor7 work?

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Thanks Binford I'll look into it:big_grin:

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Originally Posted by pinhigh1886

Old Man do you use microbactor7 by itself or with a bio pellets reactor running. I have been thinking about using it but wasnt sure how it worked. My nitrates tend to get up there because I target feed my corals. My skimmer, GFO, and carbon keep the tank looking pretty clear but the nitrates not always great. How does the Microbactor7 work?

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Microbactor 7 like bio digest is just biological bacteria that thrives on No3,Po4 and waste it creates a ntrafying and denytrfying processes. I use bio reef for a carbon source to feed the strain. It is much safer then vodka and is also a bacteria source. Both products give excelant instructions of how to get the ntrafying process started then how to keep it going. I doase the bio reef daily and the bio digest every fifteen days. I have never seen polyp extension like I have now. One thing you must do before doing this is be committed to testing daily while getting this started. Once it kicks in they drop very quickly and then you will want to change to maintaing doase levels. Once you get to that point it is so easy you will slap yourself ! If you need help or want to swing by and see what I am talking about shoot me a PM. Hope that explained it some .

I think your first problem is.....your using tap water!!! Tap water can be very high in TDS, Phosphates & Nitrates.
If at all possible switch to using an RO/DI unit for filtering your tap water or find out if your LFS sells this water or buy RO from your local grocery store.


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Originally Posted by MizTanks

I think your first problem is.....your using tap water!!! Tap water can be very high in TDS, Phosphates & Nitrates.
If at all possible switch to using an RO/DI unit for filtering your tap water or find out if your LFS sells this water or buy RO from your local grocery store.


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Good catch Miz ! I read right over the tap water ! Distilled water is also an alternative if R/O is not obtainable.

Oh yes tap water not good! Do you have algae issues?

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No algae issues yet. But i am sure its coming. I cant get ro/di water so ill get distilled watertoday. When should i do another w/c? I dont want to kill off to m
uch bacteria