New coral dying in a matter of hours.

[Mjrenz]

But isnt it true that that only helps keep CA in solution - it doesnt affect anything - if the Mg its low Ca will precipitate.

My understanding of it is that the higher the magnesium level is the more calcium can be held in solution. I'm definitely not a chemist so there is a possibility I'm not understanding it correctly

 

[vetteguy53081]

Also the closest LFS is about an hour and a half away so it will be a while before I can get over there to test it.

One thing I forgot to ask and of high importance- did you acclimate and how did you acclimate, if you did. Sps mainly should be by drip OR water added to bucket over a 1-2 hr time span

 

[Mjrenz]

Are the stock biocube lights strong enough to bother the zoanthids?

I have zoanthids growing high and low in my biocube. The ones higher up took a little time to adjust to the light but they have done just fine

 

[Aidanwolf]

One thing I forgot to ask and of high importance- did you acclimate and how did you acclimate, if you did. Sps mainly should be by drip OR water added to bucket over a 1-2 hr time span

I did a temp acclimate but I should have done a drip but I just added some water to the bag every few minutes.

 

[Aidanwolf]

I have zoanthids growing high and low in my biocube. The ones higher up took a little time to adjust to the light but they have done just fine

The zoanthids are towards the bottom so I don't believe it is just the light that is effecting them.

 

[Mjrenz]

The zoanthids are towards the bottom so I don't believe it is just the light that is effecting them.

It's probably a drastic change in water parameters that has them upset

 

[Aidanwolf]

It's probably a drastic change in water parameters that has them upset

Hopefully the zoanthids make it I don't have much hope for the other one. I will order some calibration fluid for the refractometer. If it still shows that it is 1.025 how should I lower the calcium and magnesium?

 

[Mjrenz]

Hopefully the zoanthids make it I don't have much hope for the other one. I will order some calibration fluid for the refractometer. If it still shows that it is 1.025 how should I lower the calcium and magnesium?

It will be consumed by the tank inhabitants and drop, in your case probably very slowly since you don't have much in there to use it right now. A very important thing to keep in mind is patience, if you try to make rapid changes to your water chemistry you'll likely kill everybody in your tank. Even when everything is far from ideal your tank needs stability so make small, slow changes. Now that you have your new test kits definitely test a fresh batch of saltwater to see what you're actually putting in your tank, you may find that a change in brands of salt will help a lot. I use Tropic Marin pro reef salt and have had very good luck with it. It's not likely that your refractometer is off by a huge amount but the calibration solution is the most accurate way to set it.

 

[Hemmdog]

Hopefully the zoanthids make it I don't have much hope for the other one. I will order some calibration fluid for the refractometer. If it still shows that it is 1.025 how should I lower the calcium and magnesium?

50% water change would be all I could think of.

 

[Mjrenz]

50% water change would be all I could think of.

Since his tank is only two months old and he hasn't been dosing anything I'm thinking the salt mix is to blame for the high numbers. The only other thing I can think of is if his refractometer is way off for some reason and the salinity is crazy high then he'd need to slowly dilute the water with fresh water to bring things in line

 

[Aidanwolf]

Since his tank is only two months old and he hasn't been dosing anything I'm thinking the salt mix is to blame for the high numbers. The only other thing I can think of is if his refractometer is way off for some reason and the salinity is crazy high then he'd need to slowly dilute the water with fresh water to bring things in line

If the refractometer is off and the salinity is really high wouldn't kill the hermit crabs and snails?

 

[Mjrenz]

If the refractometer is off and the salinity is really high wouldn't kill the hermit crabs and snails?

Probably, that's why I'm really leaning towards your salt being the culprit

 

[Hemmdog]

If the refractometer is off and the salinity is really high wouldn't kill the hermit crabs and snails?

My inverts and coral have survived some accidental 1.031 times. They weren’t happy, but they survived.

 

[Mjrenz]

You'll get 100 different opinions here on this subject but I really would recommend the Tropic Marin salt, it uses pharmaceutical grade ingredients and I've never had any inconsistencies from one bucket to the next. If you do change brands I'd personally change out 2 to 3 gallons of water a day until things are within normal ranges so it's a slow change and doesn't crash your tank

 

[Mjrenz]

My inverts and coral have survived some accidental 1.031 times. They weren’t happy, but they survived.

You must have accidentally bought dead sea salt instead of red sea salt

 

[Hemmdog]

You must have accidentally bought dead sea salt instead of red sea salt

Hahahah! lol that was funny!

 

[Mjrenz]

Hahahah! lol that was funny!

Thanks! Lol

 

[Aidanwolf]

You'll get 100 different opinions here on this subject but I really would recommend the Tropic Marin salt, it uses pharmaceutical grade ingredients and I've never had any inconsistencies from one bucket to the next. If you do change brands I'd personally change out 2 to 3 gallons of water a day until things are within normal ranges so it's a slow change and doesn't crash your tank

Wow Tropic Marin is double the price of the coralife salt lol.

 

[Hemmdog]

Wow Tropic Marin is double the price of the coralife salt lol.

Twice as much, twice as good.

 

[Mjrenz]

Wow Tropic Marin is double the price of the coralife salt lol.

I buy it because coral costs a lot more