I think I'm in over my head, I need some expert opinions!!

[ellismac]

Did you have black precipitation in the test tube?

Is your PO4 really 1.98ppm?

Sincerely Lasse

Yes it looked like really dark bits in the test tube. And I tested po4 twice and came out 1.98

 

[ellismac]

Have you tested the RO water you're getting from the store? What kind of store? If it's one of those vending machines outside the grocery, I'd be suspicious. But even LFS water can be suspect. RO is ok, but RODI is best. Also, how accurate is that swing arm? As high as ur calcium is, it may be bc that swing arm is not accurate. Can you get a refractometer or hydrometer? Or have the LFS test it?

Also, the sand bed looks pretty grimy. That can be a big nitrate and phosphate sink. When was the last time it was vacuumed? You don't have to do it all at once, but every water change just vacuum a small area. People might say don't disturb the sand bed, and they're right if they're meaning the entire sand bed all at once. But small areas you'll be fine.

Good luck.

It’s from city market, vending machine style where you put your container in it and it fills it. Says it’s RO. To test it do I just run through the gambit like I would in my tank? And if it shows levels.. what should I do? Cant really afford to get water shipped to my house

 

[cngh]

It’s from city market, vending machine style where you put your container in it and it fills it. Says it’s RO. To test it do I just run through the gambit like I would in my tank? And if it shows levels.. what should I do? Cant really afford to get water shipped to my house

yea, test it before you mix it AND after you mix it, just like you would with tank water. also, if you don't have a tds meter, you should get one. those can be had for less than $15. ideally you want your fresh mixing water to be 0 tds. who knows when they change the filters on those vending machines. if it shows levels of Nitrates and/or phosphates, stop using it. find a water store for the short term that can show you the water is RODI with 0 tds. or, if you can trust your LFS, buy from them (but again, just for the short term).

if you can afford a couple buckets of salt, then you can afford your own RODI unit. it'll save you more in the long run just because of peace of mind and the convenience of being able to do it from home. depending how big your tank is, you can get a 50-75gpd RODI for less than $100 and then you know your mixing water is 0 tds. this cost will be a drop in the bucket over the life of this hobby. search the market place for used RODI units with low usage, or buy a used unit and replace the filters. I think you can even find a entry level one on amazon (RODI buddy, i think?).

good luck. keep us posted.

 

[Lancelogan1217]

I used the store r.o one time from Walmart and it killed 3 out of my 4 colonies of acans. I almost lost all my torches, frogspawns, and my hammer is still struggling. Everything but my duncans and mushrooms, go figure, where in trouble. My war coral bleached overnight, and my dragon soul looked much similar to yours. My n03 where about 5ppm and p04 .01 everything else was spot on. Only thing I could figure was the r.o unit they used was no serviced and chlorine or something else in the water got through. My fish where showing signs of distress too however. I'll never use store water again. Just my two cents.

 

[Lasse]

Nothing you do is going to matter as long as all that light is coming in those windows. The fact the algae is growing on the side of your sand bed tells you where it is getting it's light from.

But first of all, the algae ‘under the sand’ is from the sunlight from the window(s) visible in several of your pics. If it’s really bothering you then buy curtains or shades, otherwise I wouldn’t worry too much, just expect that due to the extra light you will have to clean the glass more often, etc.

If you've been dosing a tbsp of reef roids that's your issue for the nitrates and phosphates.

Can you get a refractometer or hydrometer? Or have the LFS test it?

I agree with this above plus do a serie of WC during a week or two - 10 - 20 % each

The Hanna nitrate test - if you want to know how high it is when it is out of Hannas chart -(and it is definitely that when you get the black precipitation - IME - you are above 8 - 9 ppm when you get this) you can do as I do
I mix new saltwater - take a test of it as described for Hanna low nitrate checker. Read the result. After this I mix 1 part of my tank water with 9 part of the newly mixed saltwater. Shake well and take out a 7 ml sample and continue with the described test procedure (in the manual) When I get a result of the 1:10 diluted sample - I take this result and subtract the value I got on the brand new water. The result I get after subtraction I multiply with 10. This result give me an idea which landscape I´m are ind. This method goes from 0 - 50 ppm NO3.

The green on the window - just scrape - The hairy algae - rinse

Your coral problem.

I´m not sure that this is a water chemistry problem. If I see on the pictures - you hairy algae seems to only thrive on the top of the rocks. If it is the coral on the bottom that give you a problem I would probably suspect that your light is to weak.

I would also try to check my salinity with another method too - the wipe arms can be tricky.



Sincerely Lasse