Problem with Nitrates!

[bobboman11]

I have a Aquapod 24g that has been running almost 2 years. about a week agoi upgraded the stock lighting (64w i think) to a 150w mh 10000k light. i checked my water quality 2 days ago, and i found that my nitrates were at 5 ppm, so i did a 5g water change. yesterday when i checked to see if the nitrates were lowered they were at 10ppm!! and today they are the same.

 

at first i thought the problem might be my test kit, but when i took the water to the lfs for a reading they got the same results. 10ppm. then i thought it might be the water supply that i was using, so i tested that and it turned out to be 0ppm. i tested the water again after i added salt, and it was still 0ppm. i searched my tank for anything dead. all live stock is still alive and accounted for.

 

this is the first time i have ever had my nitrates raise like this since my tank cycled.

 

in the tank right now i have a few mushrooms, xenia, and a torch coral. i just got the torch coral about 3 days ago.. this is when the problem started to happen. all the corals still seem really happy and are expanded to the fullest.

 

im not sure if this could be a problem, but when i got the new light i put 3 layers of screening over the tank and removed a layer every couple days.. i still have 1 layer over the tank and i will be removing it tomorrow. the problem is that the screen dipped into the water for about an hour before i noticed it. could this be the problem??

 

also how much water can i remove from the tank at one time? i usually do 5g water changes every 2 weeks, but now my water is all messed up. can i take like 10g out at a time?

 

my water parameters are:

NITRATES 10ppm!!!!

phosphate 0

ammonia 0

ph 8.2

salinity 1.024

dkh 9-10

calcium 440

[Trolldoll]

slow down. your water is not all messed up. i would do 5 gallon changes weekly until you reach zero. the corals that you have can tolerate 10 and actually might prefer dirty water. My BC29 nitrates reach 20 all the time and my corals and bta are extremly happy. I overfeed and I dont always do my water changes.