water chemistry

[GoinSalt]

Not sure where to put this question...

My tank crashed over the last couple of weeks and I'm in the process of restarting it.

I took out all the bodies and dead stuff, did a 25% water change (on top of two other 20% water changes 2 weeks ago.)

I took my water parameters and the ammonia and nitrites are still off the charts -- just like they were when I knew the tank was in trouble. What can I do to bring the numbers down? The only thing in the tank is live rock. I still have my wet-dry filter running, power head in the tank pushing about 500 gph and heater. I plan to start up my new skimmer in a couple of days. My nitrates are in the 20s.

Will the numbers gradually go down with time? Is the tank basically cycling again?


Nate

[GoinSalt]

Actually, Ammonia is off the charts while trites are approximately 1.

[Reefland]

GoinSalt,

It sounds like your tank is cycling again. You can keep doing water changes to see if that will help speed the process a bit. You might also consider adding a couple of pounds of new liverock to help rejuvenate some of the life.

[GoinSalt]

If i dont' do the water changes, will it just take longer for the numbers to come down?

Nate

[Reefland]

That is correct, you can do it either way.