Almost Everything in Tank Dying/declining

[HB AL]

If the water coming from the ac30 into the tank is flowing through air then into the tank water, along with the power head pointed at the surface and both are breaking the surface of the water creating some air bubbles then that should be enough. If neither breaks the surface of the water creating air bubbles then oxygenation is very minimal and animals would suffer and die. Hope that made sense.

 

[SPR1968]

As far as the corals go, I'm just like the others.

You need to bring up your phosphates and nitrates.

You don't have enough corals to bring down the alk, but I'd cut back on the water changes and bring up your nutrients.

Might want to look into the Red Sea blue bucket down the road.
It comes in at about 7.8 dkh.

JMO...
For phosphates, get the Hanna ULR checker
For nitrates, get the Salifert.

Here's a "cheat sheet" for the Hanna ULR Checker

+1 to all of this.

You have zero nutrients and still doing 30-40% water changes is not necessary and unless the water is exactly the same, which it’s unlikely to be, you are constantly upsetting the water parameters. Hence the general recommendation of 10% unless for a good reason.

Some corals just don’t like the higher alkalinity levels, I ran Red Sea Accelerated growth at around 12.6dKH for over 12 months, so just lower it slowly as suggested.

And zero nutrients just starves the corals

 

[Druinz]

How could I reasonably lower my Kh? Would raising nutrient levels be an alternative instead of lowering kH? IO naturally mixes to 11-12 kH, so I'd have to switch salts unless there's another method to lowering kH.

 

[HB AL]

I don't do water changes in my 92g but I do ocassionly mix a gallon up to keep my salinity around 35. I use Red Sea Pro for this. If your IO mixes at 11-12 how is your kh going up to 13? You might want to switch to the Red Sea blue bucket as it mixes around 8. Hope you find your problems with your corals and fish dying.

 

[lapin]

I copied this off a thread and this is something you would do to your water change water.
I would still check my PH and try to figure out whats killing the fish. You can switch salt to the blue bucket. I just tested a fresh batch mixed and it was 8.5
You can knock it down using Muriatic Acid if its still not in your range.
adding 1/11,000 of the water volume as this acid will drop alkalinity by 1 meq/l (2.8 dKH).

You want a drop of 13-7 = 6 dKH, or 2.1 times that amount, so you'd add 1/5,100th of the water volume.

13 gallons ~ 49 L

1/5100 of 49 L = 9.6 mL

So I'd add 5 ml and stir well for a few minutes and see what alkalinity you get. Then dose again assuming it seems on the right track.

You'll need to aerate well after adding the acid to blow off the excess CO2 and bring up the pH.
"Randy Farley-Holmes"
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-lower-alk.164436/

 

[HB AL]

I would keep it simple since it seems no corals or fish are alive. Go get some salt mix that mixes around 8kh, I prefer the red sea blue bucket, mix up a batch, drain all the water from your tank and refill it with the new water. Your water volume is little so this would be the simplest way to move forward. You can probably do this in less than an hour. Then in a couple days maybe add a fish and a couple frags of coral and see how they do for a month. Keep it simple and be patient. If after a month the fish and corals are alive you should be good to go and add a few different type of frags and keep an eye on things. About the water changes, I wouldn't change any for that 1st month then going forward maybe change a few gallons every couple weeks. If you lived in my area I would give you some frags to start back up.

 

[Druinz]

Initially I was using RC which is what got my alk to 13, and have slowly started to transition to IO since I noticed the alk was so ridiculously high, but IO is still fairly high. I'm almost out of both though, so I'll probably go with the red sea blue bucket from now on since it is a simple method which is more maintainable long-term. Currently in my tank, I've an emerald crab and scarlet hermit. One of my GSPs seems to be alright. If I happen to have muriatic acid on hand, I'll give it a try with a batch that I have mixed as a temporary thing. I really appreciate all the answers I've gotten, thank all of you.

 

[O'l Salty]

Do you have adequate water flow? It looks like the sand bed on the left isn't getting much. I try to maintain 90 to 100 x tank volume.

 

[Druinz]

Do you have adequate water flow? It looks like the sand bed on the left isn't getting much. I try to maintain 90 to 100 x tank volume.

Should be, there's an AC 30 and Koralia 240. AC more or less pushes to the front of the left side and the powerhead pushes to the right side

 

[4blackfish]

I'd do a water change. I'd also double check my temp with a second method and the salinity. What methods are you using to check parameters. Make sure they aren't expired...good luck..I've been there.

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[mikes686]

Imo, low or non existent nitrates and phosphates in conjunction with the rather high alk led to to die off of the corals. Some are toxic and perhaps that is what led to the demise of the rest of your livestock. In such a small system, the parameters fluctuate quickly...microcosm, or in this case nanocosm (I just made that word). If everything is dead, I'd start over, new sand and a full cycle for a new tank. Good luck.

 

[Garbonzobean]

I mix the water in a 5g bucket with a powerhead, I don't always let it sit overnight though. In a few cases I've used it a few hours after.

I use reef crystals and mix the same way. I've used mixed water within an hour (once the temp was correct) and I haven't had any problems.

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[SeaCreature]

I use reef crystals and mix the same way. I've used mixed water within an hour (once the temp was correct) and I haven't had any problems.

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Hi I am new to the hobby with very little experience. But I would put in a poly filter to see if any metals or chemicals are some how leeching into the water.

 

[Druinz]

Update: Stopped by LFS and picked up high-range pH test along with a Red Sea blue bucket.
Mixed up a new batch using this salt and tested: 8.5 alk with ~8.4 pH. I also tested my tank before I did a water change and only had 7.9-8 pH which does lead me to think there wasn't enough oxygen in the tank. Low oxygen levels = low pH, correct? Or does that only apply to fresh-water?

Anyway I changed almost all the water using the new salt, and along with that I'll be feeding reef-roids slightly more frequently to see if anything budges. I've heard of trumpet corals "reviving" from a seemingly fully dead skeleton, but maybe that's too optimistic for this case.
I'll give it a few weeks to months and if nothing improves I'll most likely go with a full reset on the tank.

 

[HB AL]

I wouldn't worry about ph, I haven't tested it in probably a few years. I just test alk, cal, mag, nitrate, I would just concentrate on those and keeping them stable and within proper levels.

 

[Druinz]

I'm at my wit's end. So the last little piece of struggling hammer coral I had left ended up dying. At this point all that is left is to do a complete reset. But more than anything I'm extremely frustrated because I don't know exactly what caused it, especially since things did not change in the slightest after lowering my kH. I really want to know what went wrong so I don't do it again after the reset. Anyway, I had a few questions.

1. What should I do with the rock? Do I bleach it for a few days and rinse it in clean water every day for the next week or what? Not sure how I'd go about re-using rock without introducing any possible pests.
2. I should have mentioned but coraline never grew in my tank. I'm sure that must be a symptom of whatever affected everything else..

:L

 

[jabberwock]

I can't remember, did anyone mention the possibility of stray current in your tank? Maybe the heater or pump was shocking the water.

 

[Druinz]

Yeah I've checked for stray current, several times, none at all.