test result questions...

[vegas mma]

ok so my tank has been set up for 6 weeks.
it currently has 2 damsels, 10lbs of live rock, 20lbs of live sand.
it's a 20 gallon tank.

so about 10 days ago i tested my water and got
ammonia 0
nitRITE .8
nitRATE 10
ph 8.0
alk 3.5

so i asked about why my ammonia was 0 but my nitRITE went up from .4 to .8. i found out that the ammonia will drop to 0 then the nitRITE will rise/peak/fall


so now i just tested and i got
ammonia .2
nitRITE 0
nitRATE 5
ph 8.0
alk 3.5
this is what my last 2 tests have been. i did the first one about 5 days ago, then the second one today. both of them had this result.

any idea why my ammonia would go back up if every thing has been the same.
i had a fish die, not sure what happened but the hermit crabs started eating him, then i took him out. he was in there for a few hours.

today i'm doing a 4gal water change.
what can i do to get my ph up? and is there anything else i should do. right now i'm just waiting till everything is 0 so i can do a 10gal water change and put in the fish i want.
i'm trying really hard to be patient but after the test 5 days ago i expected everything to be 0 today.
:mad:
soon i guess...

[vegas mma]

oh and i'm using ro water. i've tested it and it's perfect.

[Reefscape]

the rise in ammonia could just be some of the carcass rottin away in the tank, it should go back down to zero again...you could try buying a pH buffer to raise the pH up a littleto between 8.2 - 8.4...

Its all about playing the waiting game am afraid with marine tanks...just keep with it, testing water every couple of days....your ammonia will fall again...

You cant be far off done at all with the cycle..

Niko

[Germanman]

update? hows it looking?

[vegas mma]

here's an update....
sorry it took so long, been really busy the last few weeks. my fiance and i just found out we were having a baby so we moved our wedding date up to this 4th of july 2007 we were going to have it the 4th of july 2008.
so there has been a lot of planning on wedding stuff and also getting new jobs for the baby that will be here in january.

so....
the tank is fully cycled, i have started a new 10 gallon tank that will have a couple inverts. the 20gallon tank now has 2 ocellaris clowns and one firefish.
i will be adding some live rock to the 20 gallon in a couple weeks. also might add another fish. i'm thinking of a goby or something that can handle the small space.

we've had a 40 gallon tank sitting around waiting for a snake, but decided against the snake and went and got some feeder goldfish for it. that's gonna go in the babys room. it needs a few more fake plants in it...

[Reefscape]

all sounding good thus far.....any chance of some picture updates?

Niko

[vegas mma]

here's my 3 babies with one of my crabs trying to get some attention. does my live rock look ok? in the past week it got kinda dull looking
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d175/jdmcivicman/fish%20tank/DSCN1017.jpg