my tank is really unbalanced, please help!

[embl05]

Hello!

my tank is really unblanced 

PH 8,6+

calcium 500

DKH 5,5-6

Po4 0,25ppm

No3 8ppm 

sallinity 1,025

what should i do to stabilze it?

[SaltyGallon]

You won't get a helpful answer based on the above, lots more info needed. Size... Stock... FIltration... Water change routine... Dosing... Feeding regimen...?

[embl05]

17 minutes ago, SaltyGallon said:

You won't get a helpful answer based on the above, lots more info needed. Size... Stock... FIltration... Water change routine... Dosing... Feeding regimen...?

its about 11g

i change 2,2 g weekly 

i have 6kg of live rock

i have no skimmer 

the thank have no fish and only 1 small pice of gsp

i dont feed anything right now

 

i hade a crash about 3 months ago where my corals slowly melted and dident open up. 

[Tamberav]

1 hour ago, embl05 said:

its about 11g

i change 2,2 g weekly 

i have 6kg of live rock

i have no skimmer 

the thank have no fish and only 1 small pice of gsp

i dont feed anything right now

 

i hade a crash about 3 months ago where my corals slowly melted and dident open up. 

Have you tested your salt? Maybe it's precipitating? High pH and low Alk is odd. Usually a low Alk causes a lower pH. 

 

What do you use to test salinity?  

 

I would test freshly mixed salt and see what it reads. Make sure salinity is correct...use a second source or calibrate your refractometer if you use one. If the salinity is actually off ..it will throw other readings off.

 

If the salt mix is the issue then I would dose alk up in it which should bring calcium down before doing a water change.

[seabass]

Do you use tap water?  Tap water can add minerals and nutrients (as well as unwanted metals).  Salt mixes assume use of distilled or RO/DI water.

 

Also, with alkalinity and calcium being off, I'd also want to know the magnesium level.  I assume that you don't dose anything, right?

[embl05]

51 minutes ago, seabass said:

Do you use tap water?  Tap water can add minerals and nutrients (as well as unwanted metals).  Salt mixes assume use of distilled or RO/DI water.

 

Also, with alkalinity and calcium being off, I'd also want to know the magnesium level.  I assume that you don't dose anything, right?

I use RO/DI water 

i dont have a magnesium test:(

[Thrassian Atoll]

Since the tank is so small and you don’t have anything in it besides gsp, I would just do a 100% water change with whatever salt has the numbers your looking for.  

[embl05]

3 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Have you tested your salt? Maybe it's precipitating? High pH and low Alk is odd. Usually a low Alk causes a lower pH. 

 

What do you use to test salinity?  

 

I would test freshly mixed salt and see what it reads. Make sure salinity is correct...use a second source or calibrate your refractometer if you use one. If the salinity is actually off ..it will throw other readings off.

 

If the salt mix is the issue then I would dose alk up in it which should bring calcium down before doing a water change.

i will test my salt mix now... 

for sallinity i use a plastic hydrometer but i just bought a glass one

2 minutes ago, Thrassian Atoll said:

Since the tank is so small and you don’t have anything in it besides gsp, I would just do a 100% water change with whatever salt has the numbers your looking for.  

will test the salt.... then i might consider that 

 

[Thrassian Atoll]

It would be the easiest way to get your tank parameters to where you want them.  Fresh start pretty much.  Get a refractometer and ditch the hydrometer.

[embl05]

4 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Have you tested your salt? Maybe it's precipitating? High pH and low Alk is odd. Usually a low Alk causes a lower pH. 

 

What do you use to test salinity?  

 

I would test freshly mixed salt and see what it reads. Make sure salinity is correct...use a second source or calibrate your refractometer if you use one. If the salinity is actually off ..it will throw other readings off.

 

If the salt mix is the issue then I would dose alk up in it which should bring calcium down before doing a water change.

i tested my plastic hydrometer and it sucks, i thought i made my water changes with 1.025 but its 1.032 and the salt is relly bad to:(

 

will probably just change all my water and use a new better salt....

[BeardPoseidon]

What’s your temperature at? (Temperature and lighting can affect PH)

What salt mix do you use?

What’s your ATO situation? Are you topping off with fresh water yourself?

You have no fish and you’re not feeding the tank. Is your tank even fully cycled? 
No fish and no feeding (unless you’re dosing the tank with ammonia) means very little ammonia and nitrites, meaning you’re not keeping a healthy bacterial population in there that would lead to an established tank. Therefore, when you add livestock, it’s gonna have a very hard time surviving in your tank. 

 

If your salinity is at 1.025 and parameters are still off then it could be the salt mix you’re using. In that case, get a better one.

Also, get a refractometer, it’s a lot more accurate.

You’re very far from needing a skimmer, but do you have any mechanical filtration of any kind? 
Do you have carbon in there that helps maintain PH?

 

Here’s what I think you should do.
Get a refractometer and keep your salinity at 1.025.

Keep a stable temperature of 77 Fahrenheit.

Get a better salt mix and do a 100% water change. Keep using RODI water. 
Get an ATO to ensure stability.

Dose the tank with ammonia and test for that along with nitrites and nitrates. Make sure it’s fully cycled. 
After you can confirm the tank is fully cycled, add one fish. Feed it every other day. Replace filter pad every other day. Get Chemipure Blue as well. 
Get a SMALL clean up crew. Two small hermit crabs, two algae eating snails, two Nassarius snails.
Do a 2.5 to 3 gallon water change same day every week. 
Have your lighting on a timer.

After all that is done and you can keep everything above stable, then slowly start introducing corals and anemones.  Feed them once a week and a couple of hours before you do your water change.

Do choose very little LPS corals, do mostly soft corals like Zoas and Mushrooms. 
 

And make sure you only keep ONE fish. 
 

Now these are my suggestions based on how I’ve been successful at keeping a 10 gallon Nano Reef stabilized. 
 

You can approach it however you see fit. 
 

But I’ll tell you this, my tank is established, has no skimmer, my clown is very healthy, and my corals and anemones are growing. I also haven’t had any algae blooms, cyano, or dino issues. 
 

Since the day my tank finished cycling, I haven’t tested the water for any other parameters. I only check the salinity between water changes to make sure the tank’s and the freshly mixed water match. 

[Clown79]

6 hours ago, BeardPoseidon said:

What’s your temperature at? (Temperature and lighting can affect PH)

What salt mix do you use?

What’s your ATO situation? Are you topping off with fresh water yourself?

You have no fish and you’re not feeding the tank. Is your tank even fully cycled? 
No fish and no feeding (unless you’re dosing the tank with ammonia) means very little ammonia and nitrites, meaning you’re not keeping a healthy bacterial population in there that would lead to an established tank. Therefore, when you add livestock, it’s gonna have a very hard time surviving in your tank. 

 

If your salinity is at 1.025 and parameters are still off then it could be the salt mix you’re using. In that case, get a better one.

Also, get a refractometer, it’s a lot more accurate.

You’re very far from needing a skimmer, but do you have any mechanical filtration of any kind? 
Do you have carbon in there that helps maintain PH?

 

Here’s what I think you should do.
Get a refractometer and keep your salinity at 1.025.

Keep a stable temperature of 77 Fahrenheit.

Get a better salt mix and do a 100% water change. Keep using RODI water. 
Get an ATO to ensure stability.

Dose the tank with ammonia and test for that along with nitrites and nitrates. Make sure it’s fully cycled. 
After you can confirm the tank is fully cycled, add one fish. Feed it every other day. Replace filter pad every other day. Get Chemipure Blue as well. 
Get a SMALL clean up crew. Two small hermit crabs, two algae eating snails, two Nassarius snails.
Do a 2.5 to 3 gallon water change same day every week. 
Have your lighting on a timer.

After all that is done and you can keep everything above stable, then slowly start introducing corals and anemones.  Feed them once a week and a couple of hours before you do your water change.

Do choose very little LPS corals, do mostly soft corals like Zoas and Mushrooms. 
 

And make sure you only keep ONE fish. 
 

Now these are my suggestions based on how I’ve been successful at keeping a 10 gallon Nano Reef stabilized. 
 

You can approach it however you see fit. 
 

But I’ll tell you this, my tank is established, has no skimmer, my clown is very healthy, and my corals and anemones are growing. I also haven’t had any algae blooms, cyano, or dino issues. 
 

Since the day my tank finished cycling, I haven’t tested the water for any other parameters. I only check the salinity between water changes to make sure the tank’s and the freshly mixed water match. 

There are corals in the tank, they shouldn't dose ammonia 

[Clown79]

A glass hydrometer is far more accurate than the plastic but refractometers are better.

 

What salt are you using and how do you mix it?

 

As others have suggested, the first thing would be test newly made saltwater because the salt might be why your params are off.

 

Also mix the dry salt around in the container before using it to make sure its all evenly distributed.

 

You only have gsp in there and no fish so this is the time to get things sorted out but its best to go 1 step at a time.

 

 

 

 

[mcarroll]

On 8/19/2020 at 4:03 AM, embl05 said:

Hello!

my tank is really unblanced 

PH 8,6+

calcium 500

DKH 5,5-6

Po4 0,25ppm

No3 8ppm 

sallinity 1,025

what should i do to stabilze it?

It would help if you could tell us why you think it unbalanced.

 

From the numbers, you could make a correction with some baking soda.  Other parameters look more or less OK.

 

Use this to calculate your baking soda dose:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

(follow any warning or guidelines it gives you as well)

[SaltyGallon]

What I found surprising from your numbers is that you have no fish in there but you have 8ppm nitrates and 0.25 phosphate - I keep a seven gallon with 1 fish and a couple corals and my nitrates rarely go above 5ppm.

 

I think good next steps for you would be to:

• get a refractometer off Amazon - be sure to calibrate it with RODI water before use
• do a 100% water change to correct the issues in one go - making sure your salt mix is okay, of course
• add a bottle of Fritz bacteria or similar for good measure
• and get another fish in there as a source of nutrients

 

 

[I'm Batman]

Calcium too high teeters dkh low. Did a bunch of research chasing parameters for a Nano. Keep your salinity in check too.