A little help please!!

[SLAYCHILD]

My Calcium level is at 440 ppm, my alkalinity level is 4.0 meg/L, ANd pH is at 8.2. Ammonia- 0, Nitrite- 0, Nitrate- 10

Is this good?

[Ross]

Alk is low, im not sure how to get that up without raising your calcium too. Someone will know...

[NaCl_H2O]

Nitrates at 10 could be a problem, depends on what is in your tank? If heavy SPS this could be a prob, but if mostly fish and/or softies, probably OK.

As far as Ca and Alk, if you are testing accurately, looks good. This is my favorite link for Ca/Alk chemistry questions:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

[NaCl_H2O]

Alk is low, im not sure how to get that up without raising your calcium too. Someone will know...

4.0 "meg/L", actually borderline on the high side!

[gjuarez]

Yup, it actually borderline high side. I know the conversion equals something like 1mg=3dkh, so it might be a little high or not too bad, but definately now low. nitrates are not bad all that much, but its better to have them undetected. WHat type of critters do you keep?

[GaryP]

Jeremy,

How old is your tank, and what kind of sand bed do you have in your main tank and fuge? The nitrates may simply die to having an inefficient anoxic layer in your sand bed. The macro in the fuge will certainly help. 10 ppm nitrates is borderline OK for a reef tank. Also make sure your skimmer is working as efficiently as possible. I am not familiar with Proclear skimmers, but skimmers sometimes require some fine tuning. When you are running calcium and alk. as high as you are, the pump and vacuum eductor may scale up and will require occasional cleaning.

Finally, 1 meq = 2.77 DKH, so your alkalinity is at 11.1 DKH, which is fine. Natural sea water is around 8-8.5 DKH. There are actually 3 seperate units that are sometimes used for alkalinity. DKH is the most common and people will sometimes have a problem using anything else. The other unit that you sometimes rarely see is ppm. 1 dKH = 17.9 ppm.
Here is a conversion chart:

http://ozreef.org/content/view/5/2

I'll see if I can get a conversion calculator added to the calculator page here. I want to work on adding some more stuff like that there.

[SLAYCHILD]

Ok what I have in the tank is a baby Mandrain, A baby lawnmower blenny, a very small clown gobi and a baby clown. Two peppermint shrimp and thats it. Nothing big at all. I have a fuge with macro. I have to pull some out every two weeks. It grows really fast. Im not running any calcium or alk. My skimmer skims pretty good, but I am going to upgrade, but I need to find one that will fit. I dont have that much space to work with. I run de-nitrate from SeaChem. My only option is to take my bio balls out and replace them with LR rubble. I could go higher on the sand bed in my tank. Its about 3 inchs deep. In my fuge its about 4 inches deep. It seems to me that my parameters look great except those nitrates.

[GaryP]

OK, you need at least 4 inches of sugar fine sand to establish an effective DSB. If you are using something like special grade you will need more. Removing the bio balls will not necessarily solve the nitrate problem. Yes, bioballs produce nitrates. They are supposed to. Your problem isn't the production of nitrates, its the processing of the nitrates into nitrogen gas (denitrification) which is the final step in the nitrogen cycle. If bioballs don't produce nitrates, the results are even worse, a buildup of ammonia and nitrite, which are both far more toxic then nitrates.

[SLAYCHILD]

So if I add more sand. What is the best way to do that? And I can get any kind of suger fine sand? Also does this mean I have to move all the LR. :(

[Thunderkat]

Sounds like you need to set up a plenum system. The only drawback to that though is the cost of the sand and fine tuning of powerheads you will need to do to avoid roving sand dunes.

[SLAYCHILD]

What is a plenum system? Or can I just slowly take out my bio balls and replace them with LR rubble? Also why would I need to go with a deep sand bed if people are using bare bottom reef tanks. How are they turning the nitrate into the nitrogen gas? O I know that was a good question, lol :D

[GaryP]

So if I add more sand. What is the best way to do that? And I can get any kind of suger fine sand? Also does this mean I have to move all the LR. :(
I use a piece of 3-4" PVC and the top cut off a milk jug as a funnel. Load the PVC with sand and then use some vertical movements to place the sand where you want it. It flows out of the PVC like molasses and allows you to place it exactly where you want it. If you set it back down on the sand bed the flow stops. You can move the PVC around and spread the sand without stirring everything up and getting a lot of dust suspended in the water. I'm not sure where you are located and what is available in your area but this is the type product I am referring to.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=CS0930

You don't necessarily have to move the LR, but it will mean that the base of the LR will be buried by the sand, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[SLAYCHILD]

If I dont want to add more sand is there another way?

[hobogato]

some people seem to be having good results with the hiatt method that Richard from CB pets presented a while back on his seahorse thread. you may be able to do a modified version added to your existing system. give Richard or Mark at CB pets a call.

[SLAYCHILD]

Also why would I need to go with a deep sand bed if people are using bare bottom reef tanks. How are they turning the nitrate into the nitrogen gas? O I know that was a good question, lol

[hobogato]

Also why would I need to go with a deep sand bed if people are using bare bottom reef tanks. How are they turning the nitrate into the nitrogen gas? O I know that was a good question, lol

a barebottom setup is completely devoid of sand to decrease bioload and those systyems have really big, efficient skimmers. many of them also have a low fish load and are very carefull not to overfeed, as well as very dilligent with their water changes and general maintenance - including siphoning out detritis.

[SLAYCHILD]

If I go with a bigger skimmer would that help?

[hobogato]

maybe a little, but the skimmer wont do it all. if i were you, i would add more sand in the fuge along with a better skimmer.

[SLAYCHILD]

Cool thanks Ace!!!

[SLAYCHILD]

Another thing is that I dont want to add sugar fine sand cause my powerheads will kick it up.

[hobogato]

use special grade reef sand. that is what i have in my display and on the top of my DSB in my fuge, and have no problems with sandstorms. BTW, i have a good amount of flow going across both of those sand beds. I think my tank is 25X or so per hour.

[SLAYCHILD]

Well I dont have any base LR. I just stacked what I had. If I put more sand Ill have less rock to work with. So should I move the rock?

[GaryP]

They are able to go bare bottom because they are using monster skimmers, with tons of flow, and lots of siphoning to prevent detritus buildup. Its a technology driven solution for removing nitrates. They are basically removing the waste before it degrades to form nitrate. If that is what you are interested in doing I will let one of the BB guys takes it from there.

A deep sand bed (DSB) replicates what happens in the ocean where denitrifying bacteria process the nitrates in the ocean floor. Also in the ocean you have a huge dilution factor that is not present in an aquarium, not to mention a few tons of algae to use up any nitrogen wastes.

To answer your earlier question, a plenum is a cavity you create under the sand bed to allow a place for the low oxygen denitrifying bacteria to grow. You use egg crate and screen cloth to create a barrier to the sand so that it doesn't fill in the plenum. The water percolates down to the plenum and the nitrates in it are processed into nitrogen gas.