Coral not doing great?

[Shirak]

Hey guys I just wanted to add in I’ve noticed the tank being fairly cloudy for the last couple weeks and still is. Could this be a result of precipitate from having low Magnesium??

nope not likely. Can get calcium to precipitate if pH goes way up or Alk or if Mg is low but you wouldn't see it as a cloud unless it was majorly severe overdose of Kalk or 2part. What will happen is the calcium will make your sand bed solid. I think if that were happening your ca would be less than 415. I still think your numbers are low because the salinity is low. They are in balance to what the salt manufacture says you should be reading at around 1.022 sg.

 

[Dierker2003]

nope not likely. Can get calcium to precipitate if pH goes way up or Alk or if Mg is low but you wouldn't see it as a cloud unless it was majorly severe overdose of Kalk or 2part. What will happen is the calcium will make your sand bed solid. I think if that were happening your ca would be less than 415. I still think your numbers are low because the salinity is low. They are in balance to what the salt manufacture says you should be reading at around 1.022 sg.

Ok ill double check my salinity tonight. With extra precautions to make sure no bubbles are on the swing arm awsell as no salt restricting it.

 

[Dierker2003]

So your test readings should be pretty good. I would mix up a batch as suggested and test the newly mixed saltwater so you can rule out bad salt. If you are doing 30% water change every week there is no reason your numbers shouldn't be pretty much exactly what the salt mix is.

As far as your light. Sorry I can't help there. There are so many lights and so many factors determining light levels the corals receive. Best always to err on the side of caution and start with lower power and work your way up or put new corals in a less bright area and slowly move them over a few weeks into brighter light.

Your nitrates are 0 you said? So feeding is a question.. Have you tried feeding the candy cane directly at night?

When I first added the candy cane the feeding polyps would extend at night but now that it isn’t doing as well I haven’t noticed them coming out so I haven’t fed it.

 

[Dierker2003]

When I first added the candy cane the feeding polyps would extend at night but now that it isn’t doing as well I haven’t noticed them coming out so I haven’t fed it.

Aswell i am confused how it could be salinity as a have another coral. A Kenya tree that is doing great?

 

[Shirak]

Aswell i am confused how it could be salinity as a have another coral. A Kenya tree that is doing great?

I don't keep many softies but I think they are less fussy about minerals required for stony corals. Salinity in itself is just one aspect that could be the issue but it's also tied to concentration of other minerals required by lps and sps.

I dunno.. maybe I am way off base here but based on the numbers you are giving and the questionable results of a hydrometer, it's where I would start. First thing I would do is mix up some new salt to 1.025sg. Test for Ca,Mg,Alk See how those numbers compare to your last tank numbers. Meanwhile find some way to verify the accuracy of the hydrometer. Without knowing if it's correct or if it's incorrect and by how much and which direction there isn't much you can do on salinity.

The other thing I would cut down on water changes. You shouldn't need to do 120% water change every month if your biological filtration is working.. although I am concerned about your statement that the tank has been cloudy the past couple weeks. I think there are some other issues with nutrients/bacteria going on.. or you have a skimmer dumping a lot of microbubbles into the tank?

 

[Dierker2003]

I don't keep many softies but I think they are less fussy about minerals required for stony corals. Salinity in itself is just one aspect that could be the issue but it's also tied to concentration of other minerals required by lps and sps.

I dunno.. maybe I am way off base here but based on the numbers you are giving and the questionable results of a hydrometer, it's where I would start. First thing I would do is mix up some new salt to 1.025sg. Test for Ca,Mg,Alk See how those numbers compare to your last tank numbers. Meanwhile find some way to verify the accuracy of the hydrometer. Without knowing if it's correct or if it's incorrect and by how much and which direction there isn't much you can do on salinity.

The other thing I would cut down on water changes. You shouldn't need to do 120% water change every month if your biological filtration is working.. although I am concerned about your statement that the tank has been cloudy the past couple weeks. I think there are some other issues with nutrients/bacteria going on.. or you have a skimmer dumping a lot of microbubbles into the tank?

The tank has been clearing up quite noticeable. I am fairly sure it was due to me over feeding and I started a bacteria bloom. I’m Testing the salinity and making sure to take multiple tests to try to get the best results out of my hydrometer. Then once salinity is up I’ll do a magnesium test and see where that stands. Also I’ll test the fresh saltwater.

 

[Dierker2003]

So I added some saltwater and salinity has risen to 1.025 but I tested magnesium again and it is lower! At 1040ppm I even tested twice. When yesterday it was at 1100ppm. Maybe I messed up yesterday’s test? At this point I’m stumped.

 

[Shirak]

There is always a little wiggle room when doing color changing titration tests. The Mg pro test kit according to red sea has a 10 ppm error range so 1100 could be 1090 or 1110. 1040 could be 1030 or 1050. Then there is the discrepancy between one test and another to hit the same color shift since it's usually not an instantaneous transformation. I wouldn't be so worried between 1040-1100. I would be more concerned that both are significantly less than the usual 1300 ppm recommendation. Many reefers use that as the minimum and look for 1350-1400 even. Once you are in the 1300-1350 range though.. the test kit is more for keeping things stable and making small adjustments as necessary within a certain range.

I am still not convinced you are at 1.025 salinity and reading 1050ish Mg. The salt manufacturers are usually pretty good about hitting the parameters they list at the respective salinity level. Is it possible it's the salt that's off? Yes. Did you test it at 1.024/1.025 salinity? Is it possible your hydrometer is off? Yes very possible. Is it possible however you are doing the testing your technique is causing a slightly low value? Yes possible. (lots of things can affect the test results)

I would relax and look to get a salinity refractometer. They are available online and pretty inexpensive and work so much better than the swing arm hydrometer. Meanwhile, if your able to get your water tested at a LFS for salinity and alk/Ca/Mg that would be great. Not easy to do though with the restrictions and social difficulties currently.

I know you asked about dosing. Yes you could do a little Mg dosing using epsom salt. I would be careful about doing that though considering the questions regarding the test results and salinity levels you are currently able to measure.

 

[Dierker2003]

There is always a little wiggle room when doing color changing titration tests. The Mg pro test kit according to red sea has a 10 ppm error range so 1100 could be 1090 or 1110. 1040 could be 1030 or 1050. Then there is the discrepancy between one test and another to hit the same color shift since it's usually not an instantaneous transformation. I wouldn't be so worried between 1040-1100. I would be more concerned that both are significantly less than the usual 1300 ppm recommendation. Many reefers use that as the minimum and look for 1350-1400 even. Once you are in the 1300-1350 range though.. the test kit is more for keeping things stable and making small adjustments as necessary within a certain range.

I am still not convinced you are at 1.025 salinity and reading 1050ish Mg. The salt manufacturers are usually pretty good about hitting the parameters they list at the respective salinity level. Is it possible it's the salt that's off? Yes. Did you test it at 1.024/1.025 salinity? Is it possible your hydrometer is off? Yes very possible. Is it possible however you are doing the testing your technique is causing a slightly low value? Yes possible. (lots of things can affect the test results)

I would relax and look to get a salinity refractometer. They are available online and pretty inexpensive and work so much better than the swing arm hydrometer. Meanwhile, if your able to get your water tested at a LFS for salinity and alk/Ca/Mg that would be great. Not easy to do though with the restrictions and social difficulties currently.

I know you asked about dosing. Yes you could do a little Mg dosing using epsom salt. I would be careful about doing that though considering the questions regarding the test results and salinity levels you are currently able to measure.

Thanks you! I ended up doing a little to see if I noticed the increase on my test kit and it was. So I will double check salinity and go from there.