Quick water question...

[Shenlung]

ok, so I've been logging my water tests for a while to watch the tank stabilize entirely, and watch for issues (good idea). I just finished testing and had to re-test, then re-test again to make sure I wasn't screwing up the test for my nitrates....

My numbers 03-28-2009 vs. 04-02-2009

PH : 8.2 / 8.0
Amm : n/d / n/d
Calc : 335 / 395
dKH : 6 / 9
Phos : 2 / 2
Trite : .25/.25
Trate: n/d / 80

Any ideas? I'm assuming the spike is from the engineer goby digging out a burrow under a rock, then me unburying the corals the goby buried in the process. I was getting bubbles from the sand as I did it, but is that the issue? I lost 2 mollies day before yesterday, but removed them immediately after them passing (they were salt-water acclimated and I dripped them prior to tanking, but they found the overflow apparently, fishing them out of a filter sock is "stressful")

Also, looking for a good overflow with a built-in cover.....

 

[stingythingy45]

Chances are if they ended up in the the filter sock they were most likely on their way out anyways.Dirty filter socks can introduce a lot of nitrates into a system.Is this sock cleaned often?Also,your phosphate number is freaking me out.This should be like below .1,
Like .07 and lower.Where's all the phosphate coming from?Do you use ro/di,are you having an algae issue?

 

[afboundguy]

I'm hoping you meant .2 for phosphates but that's still high. I'm sure the nitrate spike could be from the sand stiring up but from 0-80 is a big jump for stirring up sand. I stir up sand in my tank all the time to flatten out the hills the goby makes...

 

[wrassefan]

I'd be concerned with the fact that you have nitrites. I would get another test to confirm because that would mean something is ammonia being converted. Nitrates could always come from heavy feeding....other than the mentioned sock. Also crud in the rocks can cause nitrates.

 

[Shenlung]

Sock is cleaned once every 2 weeks or so, I feed one nickle sized piece of rod's food every day and watch to see that it's all eaten. Test kit I'm using could be bad as well, it's read .25 trites faithfully since the initial cycle completed. There's nothing in there that's dead, my algae is starting to go away, nothing is showing signs of stress from bad parameters...... I'm seriously at a loss. Think I'll take a water sample in somewhere to have it tested, I'm thinking my test kits are screwed.