Everything going wrong with my tank…. I have a few questions

[Karen00]

When did you do the water changes? It's possible the drastic reduction in nitrates has caused problems because everything would've stabilized at that higher level assuming it was a fairly slow increase and not a sudden jump. It's also possible your corals are ticked off from the cloud of debris. That shouldn't kill them but it might take a few days for them to open back up (which is why I asked when you did the water changes). What will also cause a decline in corals (from my experience) is when algae gets on them. I lost two corals to this. If you see algae getting on them then get it off. If your parameters are still in a state of flux that might also tick off some of your corals but if this change in them (closing up) just happened I think it's the sudden drop in nitrates that might be the issue. Now you need to get your parameters stable again.

Something else that was mentioned is flow... Do you have powerheads in there? I don't see any. If there aren't you need to get some of those to increase flow in the tank. I also killed my first two corals early on from having no powerheads. They survived for a little while but when they started to decline it was a rapid demise. I couldn't believe the difference when I added powerheads and bought two new corals that were the same as the ones I lost.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

When did you do the water changes? It's possible the drastic reduction in nitrates has caused problems because everything would've stabilized at that higher level assuming it was a fairly slow increase and not a sudden jump. It's also possible your corals are ticked off from the cloud of debris. That shouldn't kill them but it might take a few days for them to open back up (which is why I asked when you did the water changes). What will also cause a decline in corals (from my experience) is when algae gets on them. I lost two corals to this. If you see algae getting on them then get it off. If your parameters are still in a state of flux that might also tick off some of your corals but if this change in them (closing up) just happened I think it's the sudden drop in nitrates that might be the issue. Now you need to get your parameters stable again.

Something else that was mentioned is flow... Do you have powerheads in there? I don't see any. If there aren't you need to get some of those to increase flow in the tank. I also killed my first two corals early on from having no powerheads. They survived for a little while but when they started to decline it was a rapid demise. I couldn't believe the difference when I added powerheads and bought two new corals that were the same as the ones I lost.

I did 2 20% water changes with 2 days apart. I tested and the nitrates are 12 ppm? That might be the problem. I got the nitrates down but at what cost XD?

 

[Andreas' Reef]

When did you do the water changes? It's possible the drastic reduction in nitrates has caused problems because everything would've stabilized at that higher level assuming it was a fairly slow increase and not a sudden jump. It's also possible your corals are ticked off from the cloud of debris. That shouldn't kill them but it might take a few days for them to open back up (which is why I asked when you did the water changes). What will also cause a decline in corals (from my experience) is when algae gets on them. I lost two corals to this. If you see algae getting on them then get it off. If your parameters are still in a state of flux that might also tick off some of your corals but if this change in them (closing up) just happened I think it's the sudden drop in nitrates that might be the issue. Now you need to get your parameters stable again.

Something else that was mentioned is flow... Do you have powerheads in there? I don't see any. If there aren't you need to get some of those to increase flow in the tank. I also killed my first two corals early on from having no powerheads. They survived for a little while but when they started to decline it was a rapid demise. I couldn't believe the difference when I added powerheads and bought two new corals that were the same as the ones I lost.

I have a sicce pump in there

 

[Karen00]

I did 2 20% water changes with 2 days apart. I tested and the nitrates are 12 ppm? That might be the problem. I got the nitrates down but at what cost XD?

It could be due to the rapid change in nitrates. I think all you can do is let the water stabilize and hope for the best. They should recover. I will keep my fingers crossed. Others might have some more ideas for you.

 

[52728299]

Well if you are looking to add a little flow I find these little wavemakers are nice and they are low profile with an affordable price

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B083LP42WZ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b

 

[HankstankXXL750]

I did 2 20% water changes with 2 days apart. I tested and the nitrates are 12 ppm? That might be the problem. I got the nitrates down but at what cost XD?

If you did 2 20% water changes, you should have only dropped your nitrates to about 40 ppm. 64 to 51 to 40. Now maybe you pulled a lot out somehow not sure. But as has been said, try moving slower I. The future.
When doing water changes, vacuum the sand, but not all of it every time. You can really disrupt the bio in a tank. I have done this.
Also if you get a really high reading suddenly, test again before making big changes. I tested nitrates at 42 ppm just 6 days after a 15 ppm test. I panicked and prepared a huge water change. Before I did the water change I retested at 18 ppm. Not sure how that far off with my Hanna checker, possibly a contaminated test vial.
Hopefully they pull out. With the tank only being 7 months old, go slow adding new corals as you allow it to mature.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

It could be due to the rapid change in nitrates. I think all you can do is let the water stabilize and hope for the best. They should recover. I will keep my fingers crossed. Others might have some more ideas for you.

My gsp and my most expensive coral, watermelon zoa, are opened back up this morning. My ricordea detached and I can’t find it but it was 1 centimetre across and I bought it for 10 bucks

 

[Andreas' Reef]

If you did 2 20% water changes, you should have only dropped your nitrates to about 40 ppm. 64 to 51 to 40. Now maybe you pulled a lot out somehow not sure. But as has been said, try moving slower I. The future.
When doing water changes, vacuum the sand, but not all of it every time. You can really disrupt the bio in a tank. I have done this.
Also if you get a really high reading suddenly, test again before making big changes. I tested nitrates at 42 ppm just 6 days after a 15 ppm test. I panicked and prepared a huge water change. Before I did the water change I retested at 18 ppm. Not sure how that far off with my Hanna checker, possibly a contaminated test vial.
Hopefully they pull out. With the tank only being 7 months old, go slow adding new corals as you allow it to mature.

Some of my corals are opening this morning. I’m hopeful

 

[Andreas' Reef]

If you did 2 20% water changes, you should have only dropped your nitrates to about 40 ppm. 64 to 51 to 40. Now maybe you pulled a lot out somehow not sure. But as has been said, try moving slower I. The future.
When doing water changes, vacuum the sand, but not all of it every time. You can really disrupt the bio in a tank. I have done this.
Also if you get a really high reading suddenly, test again before making big changes. I tested nitrates at 42 ppm just 6 days after a 15 ppm test. I panicked and prepared a huge water change. Before I did the water change I retested at 18 ppm. Not sure how that far off with my Hanna checker, possibly a contaminated test vial.
Hopefully they pull out. With the tank only being 7 months old, go slow adding new corals as you allow it to mature.

I think its because I cleaned all my filter media and sucked all the detritus out of the back chamber.

 

[Karen00]

My gsp and my most expensive coral, watermelon zoa, are opened back up this morning. My ricordea detached and I can’t find it but it was 1 centimetre across and I bought it for 10 bucks

Excellent! That sounds like things are moving in the right direction!

 

[Uncle99]

I tested twice it’s 0.02

What test brand
I see hair algae.
It needs light and phosphate.
Something not adding up IMM.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

What test brand
I see hair algae.
It needs light and phosphate.
Something not adding up IMM

red sea algae control pro

 

[Uncle99]

red sea algae control pro

The only test that ever gave me an accurate result on phosphate is the Hanna UL Phosphorus Checker.
I see a window, (I think) if your tank is getting outside light, that would be a big contributor until your DT is fully stable.
Kill the light, manage nutrients in the normal bands.
Scrub and suck out that crap.
Polish up those rocks.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

The only test that ever gave me an accurate result on phosphate is the Hanna UL Phosphorus Checker.
I see a window, (I think) if your tank is getting outside light, that would be a big contributor until your DT is fully stable.

The window has a blind that I keep on all times. for 15-30 minutes of the day the light is so strong that it bleeds through the blind but other than that it gets no sunlight.

 

[Uncle99]

The window has a blind that I keep on all times. for 15-30 minutes of the day the light is so strong that it bleeds through the blind but other than that it gets no sunlight.

Ok, rule that out.
So remind me, how long has your system been running?

 

[Andreas' Reef]

Ok, rule that out.
So remind me, how long has your system been running?

7 months. I sort of passed the ugly stage a little while ago. It was looking good. Then I got excited and started feeding a little too much. I think the high nitrates come from that. But from my experience, when I feed heavily the effects dont usually last this long. I think all this stems from me forgeting to vacuum sand bed and back chamber.

 

[Rmckoy]

Kenya tree isn’t dead . But it’s not happy either .
something is off …

how old is the system ?
Have you tried testing and recording trends to see is there is a stability issue ?

looks almost like new tank ugly stage but also looks like perhaps there was a large temp or Alk swing

 

[Andreas' Reef]

Kenya tree isn’t dead . But it’s not happy either .
something is off …

how old is the system ?
Have you tried testing and recording trends to see is there is a stability issue ?

looks almost like new tank ugly stage but also looks like perhaps there was a large temp or Alk swing

Nothing wrong with temp or alk. Alk stays at 11 all the time, tested weekly. system is 7 months .

 

[machliwala]

Was your alkalinity always 12 or did it spike there for some reason. Most of my coral loss has happened due to alkalinity spikes. I do believe that 12 is a high number and leaves little room for error. Having said that if you decide to lower it do so very gradually.

 

[machliwala]

Was your alkalinity always 12 or did it spike there for some reason. Most of my coral loss has happened due to alkalinity spikes. I do believe that 12 is a high number and leaves little room for error. Having said that if you decide to lower it do so very gradually.

i forgot to add GSP are sensitive to alkalinity spikes. They dont die but the polyps dont come out. that's usually an indicator of change in alkalinity. the polyps eventually come out again when either the alkalinity drops or the GSP adjusts to the new level.