Salt Water Testing Help

[FISHFAN93]

Hey Guys and gals
Thanks for all responses before .
Well I ahve the tank set up and have the rotted shrimp in for 3 weeks and out now .
NITRITE IS HIGH
NITRATE IS HIGH
HARDNESS IS HIGH
PH - IDEAL
ALKALINITY- IDEAL
I dont have my live rick as of yet and only have the sand bed @ 3" deep , no agramax .
Tank size 135 gallon , a skilter 400 , aquaclear 500 , a 180 gallon skimmer a powerhead and moonreef lighting on a 4' ballast .
Questions - how to get nitrite and nitrate buffered to the low end ?
And regular non bleached sand ok?
Selinity is good and the skimmers removed alot of dark red gunk , and are now not producing anything is that right?
Thanks again.

[Cearbhaill]

Questions - how to get nitrite and nitrate buffered to the low end ?
Your nitrites will zero out as cycling progresses.
The nitrates can be cut with a partial water change.

[FISHFAN93]

Thats all good , however the tank is new , a water change already?
Its been cycling for @ 2 months now .
What about the sand and the hardness ?
Thanks again , greatly appreciated.

[OrionGirl]

Don't do the water change until nitrites and ammonia both hit 0.

Sand should be fine--do you know if it's calcium based or silica?

What do you mean by hardness? In FW, GH is usually tested to determine hardness, but in SW, these kits are not accurate, and alkalinity is usually used instead. If you are testing GH with a FW kit, it's not accurate or meaningful.

[FISHFAN93]

Thanks Orion
Yes I have regular /playsand , not silica , not sure about calcium though??

[wayne]

2 months isn't new, and a water change at this point isn't unusual. A 3 inch sand bed isn't likely to be doing much nitrate reduction yet, and it won't disappear by magic. What is high anyway?
Nitrite isn't toxic in saltwater pH range, but it's a worry it's still there. What's ammonia at? What did it ever get to? Is nitrite going up, down, nowhere?

[mogurnda]

Nitrite isn't toxic in saltwater pH range, but it's a worry it's still there. That's a rather controversial statement. I understand that ammonium ( which predominates at high pH) is less toxic because it passes into the gills less readily, but I don't get why nitrite's toxicity will be affected by pH. It is ionized at any pH fish can live in, and enters through the path that carries chloride. The high concentration of chloride in seawater will reduce nitrite absorption to some extent, but I'd like to know more about the effect of pH.

[OrionGirl]

From RK Mag May edition, Randy Holmes-Farley article on reef tank water parameters:



Aquarists' concerns about nitrite are usually imported from the freshwater hobby. Nitrite is far less toxic in seawater than in freshwater. Fish are typically able to survive in seawater with more than 100 ppm nitrite!17 Until future experiments show substantial nitrite toxicity to reef aquarium inhabitants, nitrite is not an important parameter for reef aquarists to monitor. Tracking nitrite in a new reef aquarium can nevertheless be instructive by showing the biochemical processes that are taking place. In most cases, I do not recommend that aquarists bother to measure nitrite in established aquaria.

[mogurnda]

I shouldn't write before breakfast. I was more concerned with the link to pH.

When I was poking through databases looking for information on nitrite toxicity, I had one of those "aha" moments when I saw the link to chloride. Always wondered how a charged molecule got across the gills but never bothered to look.

[OrionGirl]

I don't think there is a relationship between the pH and nitrite...

[wayne]

I tihnk there is ... nitrite is typically more toxic in acid water in fresh. It's the action of the chloride ion that stymies it's toxicity in salt. My mistake. It's presence is still a bad sign though

[mogurnda]

Agreed. One possibility is that the pH is affecting the permeability of the gill, and not the ionization of the nitrite. Haven't found anything yet.