Rtn wtf???

[tynman]

also dont get your water tested from a LFS first off they check with real useless test kits and also they usually just check for nitrates,nitrites,ammonia..im telling you if you are doing SPS you really need to get your own kits and a good refractometer.

Oh I do have my own. I have the hanna alk, cal, and phosphate checkers and i also have the refractometer also. I ran out of the mag and nitrate test kits a few weeks ago.
My LFS is a friend of mine and he will check my water with salifert test kits for what ever test he has in the store so he is good to me with that.

 

[duke62]

i think your main problem is your alk swings.thats the most important parameter to keep stable. i can almost guarantee with your alk going way high back to low is whats causing your RTN

 

[tynman]

well you said you are dosing something to raise PH and it caused your alk to do crazy things is a start..SPS cant handle large swings in alk.also if your po4 is high which is not good for any sps there will be no way your nitrates can be 0.if i were you i would get a GOOD set of kits for alk,po4 and no3 and check it everyday until po4 is zero or as close it can be and stop with the ph stuff you are using.ph is important and 7.9 isnt that bad compared to what you are doing to your alk

The dosing of the PH stuff has stopped about a year ago and I have learn to live with PH 7.8 or 7.9. My phosphates are normally 0.03 but something is going on and they are now 0.13 to 0.08. But I have started last week the zeovit bio mate to try to get it back down to 0.
Since herrican Irene I have had problems with my phospates. And I also got that red slime algae since then that I am still trying to get rid of. I started last week for that the zeovit coral snow and zeo bak to try to win back my rocks for the red slime....

 

[tynman]

i think your main problem is your alk swings.thats the most important parameter to keep stable. i can almost guarantee with your alk going way high back to low is whats causing your RTN

I have a profilux doser hooked up to my LED lights that is controlled by a profilux controler. The doser doses alk every hour and cal every half hour and mag 2 times a week. So the swings where over a year ago. My alk the last 2 times I haved checked where 3/8/2012 9.57 then 3/14/2012 9.18. And that is alot for me and the reason for those swings was cause of the rtn and coral dying so I had to fine tune the doser and add more MLs an hour.

 

[tynman]

This is what my tank looked like healthy. And if you go to the first page you will see what it look like when I started with LEDs.


http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/wingo-led/77879-new-wingo-leds-tank-6.html

 

[duke62]

i was just going by that post where you said you dosed something to raise your ph and it made your alk do crazy things.if you have red slime your phosphates may be higher then .13.red slime can hide the true reading of po4.ive been using this supplement called red sea po4 no3 x that has reduced my po4 and nitrates to almost 0.also the few red slime spots i had have disappeared.so if its not alk swings your next culprit will be you PO4

 

[tynman]

i was just going by that post where you said you dosed something to raise your ph and it made your alk do crazy things.if you have red slime your phosphates may be higher then .13.red slime can hide the true reading of po4.ive been using this supplement called red sea po4 no3 x that has reduced my po4 and nitrates to almost 0.also the few red slime spots i had have disappeared.so if its not alk swings your next culprit will be you PO4

Im thinking the same thing so that is why I use BRS high gfo and that didnt bring it down to 0 yet so thats why I went to the bio mate to bring it down. But the 0.13 was the highest I have had but again your right if I have red slime then they can be masking it also. But that is why im working on that.
Also where did you get it?

How does the red sea work? How do you dose and how offen? I have to keep that in mind so once I run out of the other stuff (and if it dont work) that might be my next thing to try.

 

[motortrendz]

i can atest to andy dilema bc we go back and forth with our woes... lol he has a meticulous tank and is insane abt keeping things stable as can be.. he uses a 3 part doser controlled by a profilux.. also the corals definitly were not touching and it was very odd how it happened.. one over here then one over there then part of this one or that.. its been going on for abt 2 months now.. hes been battling a littel red slime here and there and his po4 is usually not higher than 0.04 or 5..

when he has a LFS test the water for a confirmation he uses good test kits not api.. just to show that they are good readings.. i have a feeling that its a bacterial issue and hope it ends soon, andy is a collector of the wild and diverse acros you dont usually see in one place.. its rough to see all these pieces disapear!!

also it was mentioned earlier about pollyp extension earlier, he has always had good PE, even on the colonies that start to RTN..

 

[duke62]

if you think its a bacterial infection the corals need to be QTed and dipped every couple days.

 

[motortrendz]

it seems the only logical thing.. bc ive gotten many frags from him over the years, and ive dipped and never got 1 aefw, the turoki he fragged up bc it started crapping out, i took half and he took half and hot rid of the rest that was rtning.. within a day it in my tank it just disolved right off the skeleton.. and the piece he had did the same..

 

[tynman]

Yeah your right mike.... The turaki frag I kept might have held on for a few days longer making me think I was going to save it but then it went....:tired:

Maybe its just the sps way of telling me get diffrent frags we didnt like them anyway or they have been in my tank long enough....LOL

I am going to do my normal thing on the tank today(clean the skimmer cup, change all my pre filters, change my carbon) and then do some water tests. I will post them once I have them. Then Thursday I will take them to the LFS and see what he comes up with, and maybe to a second store just to get 3 diffrent tests.

Its funny cause I did a water change (which I use the ESV salt) and my phospates read 0.13 a day after I did the wc. My phosphates never went over 0.11 ever. But I did check the rodi water coming out and it was 0 and then I even checked the new saltwater and that was 0. So I dont know but I am going to try to get to the bottom of it.....

 

[motortrendz]

andy bring some water by later... and well test it

 

[prattreef]

Gremlins. Why won't people believe me? :argue:

 

[isgon26]

+1

i think your main problem is your alk swings.thats the most important parameter to keep stable. I can almost guarantee with your alk going way high back to low is whats causing your rtn

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Gremlins. Why won't people believe me? :argue:

I am a believer!

Viral and bacterial infection seems more logical whenever weather changes, I have something going on with my super under maintained tank as well since 2 months ago.

I know Andy is kind of super keen in keeping his tank stable.

 

[tynman]

Thanks guys for the support... I am trying before I give up... I dont want too... One thing I did notice after using the bio mate just 3 or 4 times some of that junk in the sand that you cant get rid of is looking like its going away...

Now for the test results that I just took
Salt 34 ppm
Alk 9.68 hanna meter
Calcium 485 hanna meter
phospates 0.10 hanna meter
That is all the tests I have at home and Im going by Mikes house tonight and we will see what other tests he has we will check it all.
OK I found a Mag test and an API nitrate test kit so this is what I got from it.
MAG around 1200 salifert
Nitrates was in between 10 and 20 API

Last time I tested on 3/14/12 the
salt was 34 ppm
alk 9.18
Calcium 461
phospates were 0.14

I am thinking the numbers are creeping up today cause I am dosing everyday to hold it, but the things rtning on me the alk and the cal is building up. So I will turn it down a few MLs on both tonight...

 

[Widdy]

When was the last time you calibrated your Profilux doser? I have the same doser and after 12-14 months, it was off almost by 6mL. Spend a little time and recalibrate it if you haven't recently.

 

[tynman]

When was the last time you calibrated your Profilux doser? I have the same doser and after 12-14 months, it was off almost by 6mL. Spend a little time and recalibrate it if you haven't recently.

I m not having a problem with the dosing. Aleast i dont think so. Why would u think i would have to recal it?
I think i did it when i put it in and set it and havnt had a problem with it. My problem with my peramaters are that i put coral in and as they grow i forget to check the water. But i caught it after a few days cause i test once a week or once every two weeks.

 

[tynman]

Gremlins. Why won't people believe me? :argue:

Lol im starting to...

 

[Widdy]

I m not having a problem with the dosing. Aleast i dont think so. Why would u think i would have to recal it?
I think i did it when i put it in and set it and havnt had a problem with it. My problem with my peramaters are that i put coral in and as they grow i forget to check the water. But i caught it after a few days cause i test once a week or once every two weeks.

It was just a suggestion. Take it for what it is... all the prior suggestion are all good, but if you're in the process of elimination, I'm just offering another possibility.