OP
OP
Davy Jones
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- Oct 28, 2015
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Things were looking a little off on closer inspection last night so i did some testing (been putting a floor in downstairs, tank has been kind of neglected 
) and Things are wayyyy off.
Salinity 1.027
Cal ~500
Alk 7.9dkh (this is fine)
Mag 1600
Nitrates 25-30ppm
Phosphates 0
All tests are done using Red Sea test kits.
This brings up a few questions,
1. I use no phosphate removal media what so ever, no carbon dosing, no gfo, no biopellets, no GAC nothing. So having it at 0 makes me wonder.
2. I have been dosing 2 part for the last 6-8 months at very low doses, not sure why my cal and mag are sooo high.
3. Trates are high, but i skipped 3 weeks of waterchanges due to life. Neglected to change filter socks and havent sucked up detritus, as well my skimmer has been running kind of funny for the last month or so.
So, i switched from dosing 2 part to red sea reef foundation products (A-Alk B-Cal C-Mag) and have the calcium dosing turned off so it will drop slowly. As for mag i plan on dosing that by hand once every month or so if it needs it. By doing each one seperate im hoping i can control the levels a little better.
I played with the skimmer last night and got a good foam head going again, gonna run it a little wet for a few weeks to pull nitrates down, Added 1L of matrix (wanted to do this for a while anyways) and dosed some n03po4x i had sitting around. Trying to lower it slowly as to not damage anything by a sudden shock, however i think my corals are being negatively affected by this as i have almost 0 PE on my sps. As well, any time a coral gets damaged in any way (stung, tissue loss, my fault, whatever) They ALWAYS die. No matter what. It will just slowly continue losing tissue till its gone. New corals always look great and slowly go down hill. Most live, but hardly ever grow or color up very nice.
I have between 10-15 gallons of water made up for a waterchange im doing tonight (use a tote for storage, not sure on exact volume of water made) And i use HW Marine Mix reefer salt, I am thinking of switching to Aquaforest salt however as it is closer to what i keep my tank at for parameters. Might even switch to the whole program and go probiotic.
Ultimately i think the main issue was my fault in the end. I have a vertex omega 150 on a 65 gallon system. I am pretty sure it stripped the water clean a while ago, causing some tissue loss in a couple already sick sps. Things were getting pale as well, so i started feeding heavy to increase nutrients. I might trade my skimmer for a deltec sc1350. It is more appropriately sized and has amazing reviews.
) and Things are wayyyy off. Salinity 1.027
Cal ~500
Alk 7.9dkh (this is fine)
Mag 1600
Nitrates 25-30ppm
Phosphates 0
All tests are done using Red Sea test kits.
This brings up a few questions,
1. I use no phosphate removal media what so ever, no carbon dosing, no gfo, no biopellets, no GAC nothing. So having it at 0 makes me wonder.
2. I have been dosing 2 part for the last 6-8 months at very low doses, not sure why my cal and mag are sooo high.
3. Trates are high, but i skipped 3 weeks of waterchanges due to life. Neglected to change filter socks and havent sucked up detritus, as well my skimmer has been running kind of funny for the last month or so.
So, i switched from dosing 2 part to red sea reef foundation products (A-Alk B-Cal C-Mag) and have the calcium dosing turned off so it will drop slowly. As for mag i plan on dosing that by hand once every month or so if it needs it. By doing each one seperate im hoping i can control the levels a little better.
I played with the skimmer last night and got a good foam head going again, gonna run it a little wet for a few weeks to pull nitrates down, Added 1L of matrix (wanted to do this for a while anyways) and dosed some n03po4x i had sitting around. Trying to lower it slowly as to not damage anything by a sudden shock, however i think my corals are being negatively affected by this as i have almost 0 PE on my sps. As well, any time a coral gets damaged in any way (stung, tissue loss, my fault, whatever) They ALWAYS die. No matter what. It will just slowly continue losing tissue till its gone. New corals always look great and slowly go down hill. Most live, but hardly ever grow or color up very nice.
I have between 10-15 gallons of water made up for a waterchange im doing tonight (use a tote for storage, not sure on exact volume of water made) And i use HW Marine Mix reefer salt, I am thinking of switching to Aquaforest salt however as it is closer to what i keep my tank at for parameters. Might even switch to the whole program and go probiotic.
Ultimately i think the main issue was my fault in the end. I have a vertex omega 150 on a 65 gallon system. I am pretty sure it stripped the water clean a while ago, causing some tissue loss in a couple already sick sps. Things were getting pale as well, so i started feeding heavy to increase nutrients. I might trade my skimmer for a deltec sc1350. It is more appropriately sized and has amazing reviews.
