water chemistry

I'm in need of some advice on improving my water chemistry based on a recent ICP test. My tank is 3.5 years old and is app/ 200 gallons total volume. It's stocked with mostly soft corals & BTAs but also has a candy cane coral. For the first 2 years or so all of my corals were doing well and...

Hey everyone, I’m looking for recommendations on an automatic water chemistry testing system for my reef tank. I previously ran a Neptune Trident, but unfortunately I wasn’t very happy with the overall experience. It worked for a while, but eventually I started having reliability issues and...

Hey fellow reefers, I have a 20-gallon long tank that’s been running since 2021, and I’ve been having trouble getting any phosphate readings lately. I’ve been tracking my parameters daily for a week now and dosing nitrate, magnesium, and phosphate (all Brightwell Aquatics products). That’s...

I’m just wondering if this is too much GSP it’s a 7 gallon tideline cube. My nitrates have been around 25 for the past week and it’s been looking great I’m just wondering if this GSP might die off and start polluting the water Also, I don’t really like how tall it is you can see there’s a...

Hi all, I have 2 mixed reef systems, which have been running since November 2025 and March 2025 respectively. Up to this point, I have been using RODI and saltwater purchased from my LFS, which sources natural sea water as live in a coastal city in Florida. I purchased both RODI and saltwater...

Hello, I am a pretty new reefer, moved tanks in March and this system was thriving with the cycled rock and water, and now my tank crashed and has been withering away over the last week. All zoa polyps closed, xenia died back and shedding, kenya trees dying, birdsnest and monti dead, mushrooms...

Hey Reefers, I finished cycling my tank a few weeks back and I added 2 clowns and 3 nassarius snails post cycle. I waited nearly 3 weeks and the ugly phase was in full effect. I then added a lawnmower blenny, 3 astraea snails and 2 sand shifting starfish. All was going well and tank is looking...

Need to start dosing and not sure what would be more beneficial to begin with. LFS says I'm lacking nutrients in my tank and suggested NeoPhos and NeoNitro. Purchased 4 pump doser and need help with what to dose. Corals are not opening to their full potential. I do not like the water test...

Over the past two months I have added another tank. My first tank was my biocube 32 which I fell in love with the hobby. Tank is doing great and decided to get another tank. Ended up with a reefer 300xl and have been having a blast setting it up! New to the sump world which I’m enjoying the...

Hey all, I have a 10 year old BRS DELUXE 6 stage RODI system. I added a second membrane for saving water a few years ago. Recently, I moved to a house with amazing water pressure and got 2xmembranes 100GPD. so now I have 200GPD. My TDS incoming from the city is 38. the water coming out of the...

The tank is a reefer 350, been up and running for 14 months, first corals added about 3 months ago. So recently I’ve changed salt from Red Sea blue to Red Sea coral pro(red). And just realized that the dhk of that salt is around 11.5-12. I plan on doing frequent water changes to bring my...

I am writing to you all because I would like to discuss what I believe algaecide has done to my tank and figuring what to do now. Let me first begin by explaining my hypothesis as to the reason that drove me to use API Algaecide in the first place. The Algae Bloom 1. I introduced ~15 Mexican...

I mixed some SW to QT an incoming fish but turns out I won't be able to get it until next week. I know I could just let the water sit there until then but I was just about to start a phytoplankton culture soon so I'm curious if I could boil the water (to kill any live contaminants) to use for...

40 gal dis. reef w 20 gal sump 2/27 Ph 8.2 DKH 11 3/4 PH 8.3 DKH 10 3/10 PH 8.3 DKH 10 3/14 Ph 8.3 DKH 10 3/14 Added G Bubble tip anemone and small drag of GSP 3/15 Ph 8.6 DKH 10 ( 10 gal water change after 8.6 reading) 3/16 Ph 8.6 DKH 10 Calc has stayed at abt 490 ppm Haven’t done anything...

I have an AIO mixed reef with fish by Waterbox. 50.3g. I turned the filter off last night at about 8:00 p.m. to feed and dose phyto. ...woke up this morning to a cloudy tank... Only then to realize that the filter had been left off all night! 12+ hours. Somehow temperature is still reading 78...

1st test - 13th oct was 1.1ppm (hanna nitrate HR) 2nd test - 27th oct was 0.1ppm (hanna nitrate HR) I haven't done any water changes, no carbon in sock, skimmer has not been running. I even added 5 new fish after reading 1.1ppm. Have also been heavy feeding and using reef energy plus. Any...

getting the Salifert Reef Testing Kit for now, but if there is one that just makes life much easier I would like to get it.

Hi All, I’m having big issues with my Trachy all of a sudden. I’ve had this coral for about 4 months now and up until about a month ago it has always been blown up and inflated and happy. I first noticed what I thought were eggs, fluorescent mucous like deposits. (Found out this was just the...

A few weeks ago, I dosed ESV B-Ionic alkalinity and calcium. I used half the recommended starter dose and my alk went from 8 to 20+ on both the Hannah and Red Sea titration test. I did water changes to try and rectify the spike, but only made it worse using different than normal salt. Alk...

So I have a 32 Gal Fluval Flex that has been running for about 9 months now. Recently, I had a couple Zoas and a GSP that have been closed up for a few days so I decided to test my water. The results were: Ammonia: 0.0 Nitrite: 0.0 Nitrate 0.0 (checked twice w Hanna checker) Phosphate:0.37...

So I have not dosed any Mg in the last month and a half, all the products I use to maintain the tank does not contain Mg. Anyone experience something similar before? Kh is being consumed at around 0.5 every 4-5 days. Corals are medium load 95% softies 38 gallon. APR Mg 2 3 1350ppm 5...

What's the longest anyone had to wait after Triton received your sample for the results?

I know that there are multiple write ups on using old tank water but I would very much appreciate situation specific advice if you folks don’t mind. I’m moving my 2’ tessalata eel from his current 55 long holding tank to a 90 gal 4’ x 2’ x 18” (L x W x H) with sump (sump is about 25 gallons)...

Hi guys, I have been scouring the threads for awhile now, in search for potential solutions. This is my first post and I have finally decided to ask for some help. I have a 180 gallon reef aquarium I bought second hand. I have owned the tank for about 2 years or so now. I started with wet rock...

Hello, I have 2 clowns currently in my new reef tank (3 days old right now). I am using the ATm coloney method for cycling the tank. I have done a water test today that shows 1.2 ammonia, no nitrites but 0.2 ntrates. Is this right? As I am concerned the amonia is going to cause harm? Any help...