$400+ Invert losses; what am I doing wrong?

[EMeyer]

Prime doesnt remove the copper thats in tapwater. Almost all houses have copper pipes (I know newer construction uses PEX. I've literally never seen it in any house. Most peoples water runs through copper)

Ignore pH completely, and certainly don't add any buffers for it. Alkalinity (kh) is what you want to watch -- keep it at 7 or so.

My money's on the tapwater/copper.

 

[saturn13]

I agree with everyone on needing Rodi. For the immediate time you might be able to get it from your LFS. If you are planning on staying with those small tanks then a Aquatic Life RO buddy 4 stage 50 gallon per day ($60 Amazon) might be enough, you can use it off a sink and then disconnect it when not needed - just have to use it.often enough, I think every 10-15 days so the membrane does not have issues. Also you Can get a inline TDS that will give you a reading for tge water going into your RODI unit and after it been filtered, or you can get a portable unit which will allow you test multiple sources.

 

[j.falk]

That $400 in losses could've bought a nice RODI unit. Usually going the cheap route in the beginning ends up costing more in the long run. I know that from experience.

 

[fishface NJ]

I agree with what has been said about not using tap water and getting a RODI unit. Your tank is too new and too small for all those critters. Can I ask, what are you using to measure your salinity?

 

[Jib]

I'm a new reef tank owner as well. It sounds like you are a little under studied. There is a ton of great content out there that you should take advanatge of. One thing that was really helpful for me was to watch Bulk Reef Supply's (BRS) 52 weeks of reefing series on YouTube. It was a lot of great information, that gave me a foundation to work off of.

Lots of great info on these forums as well. Spend some time reading the "stickied" thread in the different forum sections. Look at the articles too.

It's hard to go slow when you're excited, but I'd put a hard stop on adding anything else to your tanks until water figured out. There are a lot of good comments in this thread that are probably correct.

 

[xiaoxiy]

I use my tap water (tap has 0 nitrates and 0 ammonia) to do water changes. The tap’s hardness and KH is great but the ph is too low for saltwater. To keep my ph at an 8.2, I use seachem’s Reef Buffer.

Out of curiosity, do you measure the PH before or after you mix it up? Instant ocean should get you to an adequate KH and PH without any additional supplements. That being said, if you already have high KH in your tapwater and you add I/O, your alkalinity could shoot through the roof. Moreso if you're also adding additional PH buffer.

Also, consider getting RO water from your grocery store if you don't have an RODI unit. That'll will be a cleaner water source than the tap water you use, and it won't be that much more expensive!

 

[DIAZ REEF]

I’m not expert, but I have a 20 g and was told by many that I can’t have star fish due to size. And I would reccomend getting the RODI buddy.
if I’m not mistaken from previous threads our tanks have been up around the same time. And I was recommended not to get most of the livestock you have.
I got a Harley Quinn serpent starfish as I was told I couldn’t get any other.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Yes, I use Seachem Prime and I also add in a little API Marine Stress Coat.

Maybe don't add the stress coat