[pthornton]

Morning all ... we have been setting up a 75 gallon tank - live rock & sand, etc. And once the tank cycled (Ammonia @ 0, Nitrites @ 0, Ph @ 8.2, Alkalinity - Normal, etc., we added our clean up crew (snails, crabs, some shrimp, a lawnmower blenny and two orange spotted gobies) on Tuesday morning. Since then, the Ph has gone to 8.4 (as high as the test will read), Alkalinity has dropped to a low reading, amonia has started to rise and the Nitrite reading has gone from 0 to 2.

Any idea what's going on? What I can do to curb the readings before something really bad starts to happen and we have to start all over?

Thanks in advance for everyone's help and input!

[rlcline76]

How long has your tank been up and running?

[jvharding]

What test kit is being used? The Nitrite level can possibly be explained by the fact that you have added new live stock and the BIO load has increased so it has to adjust and it will stabilize. PH and or ALK-DKH This is not making sense. Could be bad test. No need to start over just take a look at the reading again and a water change may be needed to reduce the Amonia and Nitrite to a safer level. The fish may adjust to these levels but it is good idea to do a water change to be safe. Have any chemicals been used in the system?