ok guys I dont mean to whine, but I dunno what my problem is. My torch coral has just kicked for UNKNOWN reasons. I constantly kill stuff and cant figure out HOW they are dying. Ive kept saltwater fish for many years with no difficulties even with difficult species. But for some reason I keep killing coral. Ive only been trying reefs for about a year. Its driving me bonkers. I tested my water twice with two different test kits just 5 minutes ago when I noticed the dead torch and they were exactly the same. Phosphates 0 Nitrates 0 Nitrites 0 ammonia 0 I recently took my PH down to 8.2 instead of 8.4 (which Ive always kept fish at for many years with no difficulties.) and recently cranked down my SG to 1.023 unstead if 1.026. I did this to try to get my mushroom coral to spread out like they are supposed to instead of being shriveled like they are. I CANT figure it out. But through all this, Ive had a maxima clam who has had NO PROBLEMS. none. WHAT THE @#)$! IS GOING ON? I think that Im the only person in the world who has managed to kill a colony polyp...a colony polyp for gods sake. What is everyone doing different then me. I change my activated carbon, I change my water, Ive even resorted to using distilled water from wal-mart because the phosphate levels in my tap are through the friggin roof. I have a massive filter (a Tidepool biowheel) each tray loaded with aragonite and the bottom tray loaded with biostars. The sump is loaded with bioballs. I have over 200 watts of lights, one all glass powercompact at 110 watts and one Sattelite at 96 watts. The sattellite is running 50/50 bulbs and the all-glass is running two 55 watt 9600K. I have a 500gph magdrive for sump return a big sea clone skimmer and a huge overflow mounted on the side. Two 300gph powerheads. about 45 pounds of reefbones. a HOT magnum canister for the activated carbon. And im getting a fluidized bed filter this weekend for it and ANOTHER pump to run it (a aquaclear 802) and a UV sterilizer. If you want to see pictures of my setup just check out the thread "Pics of my Tank" I posted a few before the Torch kicked over. I also add calcium (though I havent checked the levels) Iodine, and magnesium suppliments. (using dowflake and epsom slats according to the advanced aquarist magazine articles) Coral trace element suppliments and Kalk to top it all off. WHAT is going on? Someone please explain to me. Why does everything keep dying when my water seems to be perfect other than a little algae on the rocks. (which hopefully the UV sterilizer will remedy.) HELP I dont want to get another coral and kill it too. My fish (two firefish, a purple firefish, a yellow tang, and a yellow watchman goby) and my maxima clam are doing great along with the twenty dwarf bluelegs, two mexican turbos, and a tiger pistol shrimp. PLEASE HELP BEFORE I LOOSE MY FRIGGIN MIND!
ARGH what am I doing wrong?
- Thread starter Tackett
- Start date
just wanted to clarify, you said you use dowflakes and epsom salt.. you're adding dowflakes and baking soda on a daily or frequent basis and the epson salt once in a while, like 1-2 months right? what is your alkalinity level? so you add dowflakes and then kalk as well? don't know if that is needed. hard to tell withouth calcium test kit. how big an aquarium do you have? you said you have around 200 watts of power, just wanted to see how much watts per gallon that equates to.. i have about 5 watts per gallon over mine, power compacts too. but i assume your lighting is good since you have a clam already.... sometimes, it can also be fish aggrevating the corals as i've experienced... where did you place the corals? near the top? in high current area? just throwing things out...
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what causes a recession
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what causes a recession
oh, whoops said everything but my tank size didnt I. It is a 29 gallon tank. My alkalinity test says that it is high but doesnt give me a number for Kh. And yes the epsoms salts get used about everymonth sometimes a little sooner, I add about 2 and a half cups of Mag sulf everytime I get through a gallon of NaCo3 and CaCL. I time it out so I run through a gallon every month. That was the way I interpreted the article. I add Kalk mainly to keep my alkalinity up because the article solution alone wont keep my alkalinity on the high side not so much for the calcium level. I need a Ca test kit but I dont think wacked calcium levels would kill stuff in under a week would it? I always start out with corals near the top just incase they need the light. I have the clam at the topmost right near the top of the water and the torch coral was right below it. Ill post that pic again on this thread check it.
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Don't mean to kick you when your down, but your Maxima doesn't seem to be doing to well either. A healthy Maxima would extend over the shell when looking from above and there doesn't seem to be new white-shell growth on yours. At that size, there should always be new white-shell growth.
Your phosphates will read 0 because of the hair algae.
Your phosphates will read 0 because of the hair algae.
nice, real nice. Ive had TONS of hair algae before, this is nothing. Well if my clam is screwed then I dont know what to do other than sell it all and put the money on my car. ARGH. Why no white shell growth? not enough calcium I would assume. I really need a test kit in a bad way. Thanks for letting me know all the same though.
I could be wrong on this, but I'm not sure a test kit (depending on what kind) would help you. Hair algae is indicative of something off balance (at least from a reef standard). If you tested for nitrates, and got "0", and phosphates and got "0", it would make sense because your hair algae is eating your problem to "0".
...just a thought.. HTH,
~wings~
...just a thought.. HTH,
~wings~
No. FWIW, you don't necessarily want to kill everything small in your tank. Some stuff is very good, like little bits of plankton (the ocean's soup). I would check out what kind of water you are placing in the tank. Are you using RO/DI water? For some people, this is the ticket.
If you don't have good circulation and/or have dead spots, or you have plenty of fish waste hanging around, etc, then this is all "food" for your hair algae.
I strongly recommend skimming, and if you are, make sure you are taking good "gunk" (for lack of a better term) out of your water. When you look through your tank, is it yellow, or clear? For me, that's a good indication that you're skimming good or you could skim even more.
On a weekly basis, I usualy do "storms" in my tank with a turkey baster. I know that in my tank, there are some spots that stuff just collects. By doing this on a weekly basis, it prevents buildups.
By making sure you have plenty of volume in water movement, you add O2 your tank, which also will prevent your hair algae from growing.
Lastly, before you spend all kinds of money on testing equipment (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), pick up a good book on how to correctly set up your tank. The less you treat your tank like a science project, the better, in my opinion.
Hope this helps,
All the best,
~wings~
If you don't have good circulation and/or have dead spots, or you have plenty of fish waste hanging around, etc, then this is all "food" for your hair algae.
I strongly recommend skimming, and if you are, make sure you are taking good "gunk" (for lack of a better term) out of your water. When you look through your tank, is it yellow, or clear? For me, that's a good indication that you're skimming good or you could skim even more.
On a weekly basis, I usualy do "storms" in my tank with a turkey baster. I know that in my tank, there are some spots that stuff just collects. By doing this on a weekly basis, it prevents buildups.
By making sure you have plenty of volume in water movement, you add O2 your tank, which also will prevent your hair algae from growing.
Lastly, before you spend all kinds of money on testing equipment (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), pick up a good book on how to correctly set up your tank. The less you treat your tank like a science project, the better, in my opinion.
Hope this helps,
All the best,
~wings~
Save your money for an RO/DI unit. Don't buy that fluidized bed filter or UV unit.
That hair algae IS a problem. You won't get a phosphate reading as long as you've got that growing, and it could be causing PH swings at night. Clean it off the rocks.
Quit adding ANY supplements and up your water change frequency.
Monitor your calcium level.
How long are you going between carbon changes? The carbon could be releasing phosphates back into the water after a few days.
Make sure your light bulbs are less than 1 year old.
No skimmer? Get one.
Basically, simplify your set-up. Clean live rock, clean salt water, good circulation and turnover. Quality lighting. That's pretty much all you need. :wink:
Mitch
That hair algae IS a problem. You won't get a phosphate reading as long as you've got that growing, and it could be causing PH swings at night. Clean it off the rocks.
Quit adding ANY supplements and up your water change frequency.
Monitor your calcium level.
How long are you going between carbon changes? The carbon could be releasing phosphates back into the water after a few days.
Make sure your light bulbs are less than 1 year old.
No skimmer? Get one.
Basically, simplify your set-up. Clean live rock, clean salt water, good circulation and turnover. Quality lighting. That's pretty much all you need. :wink:
Mitch
ok guys sorry no post for a while but a man has to sleep. OK first off, I'm not new to to saltwater tanks, Ive had saltwater tanks since I was 10 years old (Im 24 now.) Im just new to reefing. I know I need a protien skimmer and I have one of the sea clone 150's which is like way big for a 29 gallon. I change my carbon once every two weeks. (which is hard on the wallet btw.) My water is not yellow at all it is crystal clear except for this wacky white haze that builds up on the glass that is a pain in the rear to scrape off. Im assuiming its chalk buildup from the dowflake. I change water religiously at the first of the month every month with Instant ocean reef crystals again I didn't just grab some random product and say "that looks purdy good." I read up on the salts and read some reviews and decided on the reef crystals. I had also used instant ocean in my fish only tanks for years too with no difficulties. The water that I use to mix water changes and to replace evaporated water I buy at wal-mart. and I make sure it says "sodium-free filtered by reverse osmosis and deionization." before I buy it. This is also getting hard on the wallet but theres not much I can do about it until I get an R/O unit. But I just dont have 200 bucks to drop on one and I dont want to buy a used one becuase then Ill just have to drop more money to replace the membrane. But eventually when I am not poor I will buy one. Lastly Im not a moron, although Im not the most intelligent person on earth. Im going to school to be a nurse and hopefully Ill be accepted to med school in the next year (I want to be a Pediatrician) So, I know a fairly decent amount about bio-chemistry and acid base balance in the body. As far as I can tell the body and the ocean both work exactly, and i do mean exactly, the same as far as acid base balance goes. Scrubbing the rocks is probably a good idea and the Turkey baster thing is also something that im going to start doing (ive been using my hand) I think I am also going to start changing a smaller amount of water every two weeks when I change my activated carbon and see if that helps anything. And im also going to change my bulbs this weekend too (so there goes my payday...yay.) I went ahead and bought that fluidized filter (hell it was only 20 bucks didnt figure it could hurt anything.) And dont misunderstand me Im not being defensive or suggesting that your information is less than mine (because I guaruntee that you guys and girls are all alot smarter than me.) Im just trying to give yall some more information. And I do appreciate the help from everyone. 
Heres a pic of my setup as well.
Heres a pic of my setup as well.Attachments
No one's calling you a moron.
You're asking some experienced reefkeepers questions and we're giving you answers.
I think that your priorities are just a bit skewed...which is a temporary thing... :wink: We all want a successful reeftank!
The 20 bucks for the fluidized bed filter would have been better spent towards a calcium test kit. Get the Seaclone going....it'll skim plus help with aeration.
Additives are expensive. Salt mix has most everything you need.
Mitch
You're asking some experienced reefkeepers questions and we're giving you answers.
I think that your priorities are just a bit skewed...which is a temporary thing... :wink: We all want a successful reeftank!
The 20 bucks for the fluidized bed filter would have been better spent towards a calcium test kit. Get the Seaclone going....it'll skim plus help with aeration.
Additives are expensive. Salt mix has most everything you need.
Mitch
The sea clone has been up and running for the duration of the tanks life (8 months). I know that no one was calling me a moron I just tend to overstate things a little to make a point. It wasnt meant to be condescending in any manner whatsoever. And i totally agree with more water changes and im going to do that. So monthly water changes of 25% arent enough for reefs? Its just what ive always done for my fish only tanks and never thought about making them more frequent. Should I still change 25% but every two weeks? or 10 percent every two weeks? What do you usualy do?
I used to do about 20% every two weeks.. been doing that for freshwater for decades.. i'm still a newbie when it comes to saltwater, but recently switched to 10% every two weeks for saltwater tanks so i keep replacing the depleted elements.. but i'm a sucker and add additional elements like iron, magnesium and what not on top of water changes. changing more often alos reduces nitrates if you have any, which you don't. mine ranges from 0 to 5ppm so changing more frequently helps it keep it closer to 0. how's your seaclone? i'm about ready to junk mine... been giving me problems lately.. keeps leaking near the bottom of the connecting tubes.
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Honda Element
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Honda Element
What I do now is by no means what a new reefkeeper should be doing.
I've got a bigger system (about 400 gallons), which allows for a larger margin of error on my part, but I try to change about 10% of the water weekly. It usually works out to about half that, sometimes more, sometimes less. The thing that I like about doing weekly or bi-weekly changes is that it keeps me involved and on top of the activities and changes in the aquarium. I've got a calcium reactor that is hooked up to a ph monitor with a magnetic switch that keeps calcium in a high enough quantity, and I'll test for it every now and then, but I've learned to observe the coral health and growth for an indication of levels out of whack.
It's a good idea to test for the basics - calcium, ph and nitrate from day one, but you soon learn how these things affect your corals, and you'll be able to predict the readings based on coral appearance.
You'll get to know your system well enough that you will know what affects it positively, and what affects it negatively.
You'll also learn what to spend your money on, and what is unnecessary.
(hint....lighting is super important) :wink:
quality food, good books, ...etc.
I've owned the fluidized filters, gone down the additive road, become frustrated with cheap test kits, had a Rio pump fry in my tank, bought corals that I didn't know enough about first.... :roll:
Keep it simple, a reef tank will look after itself for the most part, as long as we don't overload it with junk it will have to work extra hard to process.
(and keep asking questions!)
Mitch
I've got a bigger system (about 400 gallons), which allows for a larger margin of error on my part, but I try to change about 10% of the water weekly. It usually works out to about half that, sometimes more, sometimes less. The thing that I like about doing weekly or bi-weekly changes is that it keeps me involved and on top of the activities and changes in the aquarium. I've got a calcium reactor that is hooked up to a ph monitor with a magnetic switch that keeps calcium in a high enough quantity, and I'll test for it every now and then, but I've learned to observe the coral health and growth for an indication of levels out of whack.
It's a good idea to test for the basics - calcium, ph and nitrate from day one, but you soon learn how these things affect your corals, and you'll be able to predict the readings based on coral appearance.
You'll get to know your system well enough that you will know what affects it positively, and what affects it negatively.
You'll also learn what to spend your money on, and what is unnecessary.
(hint....lighting is super important) :wink:
quality food, good books, ...etc.
I've owned the fluidized filters, gone down the additive road, become frustrated with cheap test kits, had a Rio pump fry in my tank, bought corals that I didn't know enough about first.... :roll:
Keep it simple, a reef tank will look after itself for the most part, as long as we don't overload it with junk it will have to work extra hard to process.
(and keep asking questions!)
Mitch
FWIW, for that size tank and considering you do not have much in the tank, I don't think you should be adding any supplements right now. Your water changes will easily replace what has been used up. When you have added more corals and you know your cal/alk demand has gone up, you can start adding kalk or a 2 part additive.
I also agree that your hair algae is masking your true phosphate/nitrate readings. You will need to remove this by hand and maybe add a phosphate remover.
Like someone suggested earlier, keep things simple.
I also agree that your hair algae is masking your true phosphate/nitrate readings. You will need to remove this by hand and maybe add a phosphate remover.
Like someone suggested earlier, keep things simple.
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