General Questions

[JonathanDillio]

Hey everyone! 

 

So my tank has been set up for about 3 months now. I had a slightly delayed cycle that took about 6-7 weeks. I added two clowns and a small clean up crew and then waited about 1 month and added a cleaner shrimp and some more snails. One of the clowns died but I am 99.9% sure that the other EVIL clown fish, that i have now named Pennywise, killed him.

 

Currently, All of the inhabitants in the tank seem happy and healthy BUT i can not get my damn Nitrate below 30ppm. My Ammonia and Nitrite is steady at 0ppm. Salinity is steady at 1.025 an my temp stays between 79.9 and 80.1. I do 5g water changed once a week. I guess I should mention that my tank is a Red Sea Max Nano (20g). What can i do? Is 30ppm ok  for the longevity of my fish and eventually corals? I did 10g weekly changes for 2 weeks and even that didnt help, it literally never budges from 30ppm. I have NOPOX from redsea but i didnt know if I should use it or not. 

 

My next question is, Is it ok to start adding corals now?  This is my first saltwater/reef tank so for now I am only going to do LPS and softies. Is there a limit to how many corals can be added at a time (like there is for fish). 

 

And i guess my last question, for now, is : Should i start dosing for Alkalinity? I have a Hanna test for Alk and since the water change on Monday it has gone from 8.1 to 7.5. I feel like this is a dumb question and I really should dose, especially if i want coralline algae to grow but I just want to make sure. 

 

Seriously, thank you all for being so amazing helpful through this learning process. I always feel that i am being annoying by asking questions but you guys are amazing! 

[seabass]

9 hours ago, JonathanDillio said:

I have NOPOX from redsea but i didnt know if I should use it or not. 

 

My next question is, Is it ok to start adding corals now?  This is my first saltwater/reef tank so for now I am only going to do LPS and softies. Is there a limit to how many corals can be added at a time (like there is for fish). 

I probably wouldn't start using NOPOX at this point.

 

As far as adding coral, I'd wait until I got nitrate down below 10 ppm.  Check your source water for nitrate as I mentioned in your other thread.

[WV Reefer]

13 hours ago, JonathanDillio said:

Hey everyone! 

 

So my tank has been set up for about 3 months now. I had a slightly delayed cycle that took about 6-7 weeks. I added two clowns and a small clean up crew and then waited about 1 month and added a cleaner shrimp and some more snails. One of the clowns died but I am 99.9% sure that the other EVIL clown fish, that i have now named Pennywise, killed him.

 

Currently, All of the inhabitants in the tank seem happy and healthy BUT i can not get my damn Nitrate below 30ppm. My Ammonia and Nitrite is steady at 0ppm. Salinity is steady at 1.025 an my temp stays between 79.9 and 80.1. I do 5g water changed once a week. I guess I should mention that my tank is a Red Sea Max Nano (20g). What can i do? Is 30ppm ok  for the longevity of my fish and eventually corals? I did 10g weekly changes for 2 weeks and even that didnt help, it literally never budges from 30ppm. I have NOPOX from redsea but i didnt know if I should use it or not. 

 

My next question is, Is it ok to start adding corals now?  This is my first saltwater/reef tank so for now I am only going to do LPS and softies. Is there a limit to how many corals can be added at a time (like there is for fish). 

 

And i guess my last question, for now, is : Should i start dosing for Alkalinity? I have a Hanna test for Alk and since the water change on Monday it has gone from 8.1 to 7.5. I feel like this is a dumb question and I really should dose, especially if i want coralline algae to grow but I just want to make sure. 

 

Seriously, thank you all for being so amazing helpful through this learning process. I always feel that i am being annoying by asking questions but you guys are amazing! 

Maybe take the water to a LFS to test...... your test could be wrong.  

 

Also, do not chase numbers.  Let the tank settle down. You are just coming out of what you described as a long delayed cycle.  

 

As as seabass mentioned you may want to test your source RO/DI for issues.  

 

You have had issues from the beginning so slow it down and don't add things to try and fix other issues. 

 

My 2¢.