Parameter help!!?!

Rockeye · May 7, 2021

Hello.

my wife and I have started a reef tank. The tank itself has been up since September of last year. Last weekend we picked up two long tentacle anemones. After drip acclimating them for about 2 hours we plopped them into the tank. 2 days ago one of them looked inside out. So I had the water tested and this is the results.
Any suggestions on a way to move forward?

Billdogg · May 7, 2021

Your Alkalinity is high, but IME, the best way to bring it down is to use a salt that mixes to a lower number so you might have to just wait that one out.

Way more concerning is the Ammonia and Nitrite, but both of those could have been caused by the anemone beginning to die.

You Phosphate is much higher than I would prefer as well - most shoot for something in the range of 0.03 or so - just barely detectable on most test kits. IMHO, your best bet for that is to use GFO in a reactor to bring it down over a couple weeks. Too fast can harm things more than the high PO4 level itself. You need to determine the source. It is usually one of two things - over feeding or leeching from the rocks.

A good size water change will help everything get back in line, so I'd start there. You didn't say how big the tank is or what other livestock you have, but a 30-40% change never hurt a thing IME. (larger if you have the water)

hth!

Rockeye · May 25, 2021

Billdogg said:
Your Alkalinity is high, but IME, the best way to bring it down is to use a salt that mixes to a lower number so you might have to just wait that one out.

Way more concerning is the Ammonia and Nitrite, but both of those could have been caused by the anemone beginning to die.

You Phosphate is much higher than I would prefer as well - most shoot for something in the range of 0.03 or so - just barely detectable on most test kits. IMHO, your best bet for that is to use GFO in a reactor to bring it down over a couple weeks. Too fast can harm things more than the high PO4 level itself. You need to determine the source. It is usually one of two things - over feeding or leeching from the rocks.

A good size water change will help everything get back in line, so I'd start there. You didn't say how big the tank is or what other livestock you have, but a 30-40% change never hurt a thing IME. (larger if you have the water)

hth!

Sorry for the late response.

So after a couple water changes and adding some more live rock, my parameters have settled down to where they should be. Alk was just a touch high but coming down gradually.

I have a test kit for checking to make sure things haven't spiked, but go to the LFS to get a more accurate check.

Jekyl · May 25, 2021

Something wasn't right about the readings. There is no salt that mixes to that high of an alk. Especially since you're salinity is below 1.026. It would mix even lower. What tests are you using? Using RoDi?

Rockeye · May 25, 2021

Jekyl said:
Something wasn't right about the readings. There is no salt that mixes to that high of an alk. Especially since you're salinity is below 1.026. It would mix even lower. What tests are you using? Using RoDi?

I took it to my LFS for the numbers. I use the crappy little test kits to mainly check for spikes in my parameters. I head to the LFS about once a pay period or so.

As for salt, Im using instant ocean purple bag.

davidcalgary29 · May 26, 2021

The first thing in which I'd invest is a decent refractometer with which you can check your salinity levels. Everything starts with decent water, and if that's off nothing will thrive. I screwed up a recent build myself by not following this advice.

MaxTremors · May 26, 2021

Rockeye said:
I took it to my LFS for the numbers. I use the crappy little test kits to mainly check for spikes in my parameters. I head to the LFS about once a pay period or so.

As for salt, Im using instant ocean purple bag.

What he’s asking is are you adding any additives (like calcium or alkalinity)?