One thing you can do, if have not done so already is to switch salt to IO and do water change 50% once or twice. I would not do anything more than that until you have more information.
Good luck.
Good luck.
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IMO, you should not do this. Cyano and hair algae is not what cause your problem. Rather it is the result of your problem. Wait until you solve your problem then try to take care of them.Liquid Vibrant will end that hair algae and cyano.
Hydrogen peroxide should work also. Dose peroxide at night. Should clear in 3 weeks.
1ml per 10gals
Thank you for the suggestionsCrab -
I scanned through this whole thread, hopefully I didn't miss anything critical. Here are a few observations:
1) From the picture, it doesn't look like your Salifert titration for alkalinity is correct. The color should be pinkish, not lavender (orange is over-titrated). Based on the color from your picture, and realizing that room lighting, color balance in cameras, and monitor calibration all can shift color, I'd guess that your alkalinity is about 10 dKH. The best way for you to cross-check this is to take a water sample to a competent LFS. If you don't have one of those, a fellow hobbyist would be a good alternative. Take your water sample to him/her, and ask them to test the alkalinity without making any comments about the proper end-point (so you don't bias his/her's procedure). Compare your results - if they're within 0.5 dKH, then that's probably not the issue. But I suspect you're going to get substantially different numbers.
2) The smell of "cat pee" from your RODI system is highly suspicious, and definitely sounds like your DI resin is breaking down (you might notice that fresh DI resin does have a bit of a "cat pee" smell). Alternatively, it's possible your water softener resin is breaking down, which is overwhelming your carbon cartridges in your RODI system in short order, with the result that some of that material is making it out of your system into your product water. Fresh RODI should have no detectable smell whatsoever. If it does, something is wrong - period.
3) Make absolutely, positively certain that whatever way you control your Hydras hasn't gone hay-wire and you're unintentionally pushing way more intensity than you have in the past. I've read more than one troubleshooting thread where this has been the case. Personally, and if it were my tank, I'd cut the intensity from the LEDs in half for the meantime until you get the issues corrected. High lighting intensity, low nutrients, and unexpectedly high alkalinity is a classic set of conditions that would cause the symptoms that you've noted.
4) Speaking of which, 8 ppb phosphorus is gigantically too low for SPS, particularly if there was a sudden change for about 40 or 50 ppb phosphorus. Though typically, the symptoms of a nutrient crash for SPS is gradual loss of color, followed by overnight RTN/bleaching.
5) From the standpoint of really nailing down your specific gravity, I would again suggest taking a sample of your water to a LFS or other hobbyist. Refractometry standards can definitely be "off", even new-in-the-bottle. Moreover, the ATC bi-metal strip in an inexpensive manual refractometer can be substantially off, and refractive index changes rather strongly with changes in temperature. There's multiple ways to back-check this in addition to getting someone else's opinion with their instrument. One way is to get an inexpensive conductivity meter and standards made for measuring seawater and compare to your refractometer. The absolutely bullet-proof, no ifs-ands-buts-or-maybes is to do a density measurement with an accurate scale and a class-A volumetric flask.
Would high ph cause any of this? It can sometimes get as high as 8.51
But it normally sits around 8.2 to 8.4
If it helps, when I got the Apex i used the single calibration packets that came with it. I haven't calibrated in a while, but I need to clean the probe before I recalibrate. Any tips on PH probe cleaning? Can you soak them in vinegar?@Crabs McJones , btw. Recalibrate the probe with single use calibration fluids! The readings you have look suspicous to me ;-)
And then find the lowest PH in the morning without use of Kalkwasser or limewater !!!
unless there is something 'calcerous' on it - I would just use salt - and a wet cloth. Vinegar is a strong acid - I guess I dont know if it could hurt the probe or notIf it helps, when I got the Apex i used the single calibration packets that came with it. I haven't calibrated in a while, but I need to clean the probe before I recalibrate. Any tips on PH probe cleaning? Can you soak them in vinegar?
Don't worry about the cat pee smell. I have that exact same smell in my mixing container, and I've seen it reported elsewhere. It's not ammonia (otherwise our pee would smell the same) Cat pee smell comes from a pheromone that's a breakdown of an amino acid (it also shows up in some wines). The smell is most likely from some bacteria. Freshwater containers typically have a more musty smell, also probably from a different bacteria. Both are totally normal and reported by a lot of people with no ill effects.
YES!! No giving up allowed, sir!!Thanks for your comment. Wasnt really needed. I'm not going to give up. The ICP test will go out tomorrow and when the results come back I'll take the appropriate course of action. Not touching the tank until then. Worse case scenario my fish go in a holding tank in the basement and the 75 upstairs gets a re-boot. I have a source to replace all my coral if need be. I really hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does I have a source to replace what I've lost.
Thanks
Crabs
Crab -
I scanned through this whole thread, hopefully I didn't miss anything critical. Here are a few observations:
1) From the picture, it doesn't look like your Salifert titration for alkalinity is correct. The color should be pinkish, not lavender (orange is over-titrated).