Started to Feel Defeated

[fishyman19]

So I had a bad Alk problem at the beginning of the year in my 90 gallon. I noticed that some of my SPS were starting to bleach and lose color and such. Some were bleaching from the tips down and others were bleaching from the bottoms up. I tested everything and it all seemed good, well not good, my calcium and mag were off the charts, so I was way confused. Then I thought to myself hey maybe my test is bad. Bought a new ALK test kit and turned out instead of 11 dkh i was sitting at around 13-14.

I stopped dosing everything and let them fall gradually to good levels. My problem now though is I just can't seem to keep on top of it and get it to a normal range. I tested last night and my ALK is at 10. I'd like to get it around 9 if I could. Buy my calcium and mag never seem happy, I dose probably twice a week and they are still low at water change day on Sunday. So I started 3 times a week and still low. Well for the first time since January they seem ok. I tested Sunday night and levels were Cal 450, Mag was still a bit low at 1350 and Alk was at 11. I've been testing Alk every day and yesterday like I said above it dropped down to 10. I just can't seem to be on top of it like it was for almost 2 years before this problem happened.

I'm starting to feel like it's a lost cause because on a daily basis now I'm seeing a new colony starting to STN/RTN and nothing I'm doing seems to help. My 3 healthiest colonies(Walt Disney, Last Dragon, and Strawberry Shortcake) are doing great. I even dropped Ap X on my Shortcake and it is recovering and regrowing the area that bleached. They are also my most expensive so hopefully they don't start haha.

I just don't know if there is something that I'm missing. Some of my LPS are struggling as well, but most are doing great. I did lose a purple tipped torch coral but most others are doing great. And my softies are rocking the tank. I've got a MP-10 in the middle of my tank running on reef crest mode and one other mode at half power and I've got a Jebao Wp-40 on the other side at the top on Eclipse mode at half speed. I've been curious if that isn't enough flow, but when I put my other Wp-40 on the other side of the tank stuff blows around like crazy so I don't know. I've got Kessil 360 lights on the tank and I took the top off in March so instead of the lights being 4 inches off the water they are probably around 10, don't know if that would effect anything. Sorry for the long post, I'm just at a loss right now, I hate going home and seeing new things dying on me.

Thanks for letting me vent a bit and thanks for any tips as well!

 

[Ocelaris]

What's your nutrients at? Nitrate/phosphate specifically. 10 dkh is fine if you have 5ppm Nitrates and some phosphates. If you're bouncing off zero with nutrients it may not be the alk/ca. What about dosers? A couple of used BRS pumps on a timer go a long way for stability.

 

[fishyman19]

I'll have to check the other parameters when I get home, I usually do them monthly but I might of forgot this month. I''ve got the Alk on a BRS doser and it does great! My problem at the beginning of the year though was that my Calcium and Mag weren't being consumed for some reason so my daily dosing with the pump was just increasing instead of staying stable. So it's been turned off until I can get back on track.

 

[Scott.h]

The fact that your lps are struggling may suggest your po4 undetectable. I'd leave cal and mg alone and start dosing a few times every day of alk. If your p04 is zero and alk high, combined with swings that could explain. Also you could just be seeing the after effects of your swing because of the bad test kit

 

[fishyman19]

I never thought that phosphates could be the issue. My test for them is probably bad too. Will have to grab a new one. What range should my phosphates be in?

 

[Scott.h]

It needs to be in balance within your nitrates. over .01 to about .03 is good. Higher can be ok also if you have elevated nitrates. I suspect this isn't the case. LPS will pinch if its less then .01 typically

 

[fishyman19]

So I got home last night around 11pm and tested everything I could with the tests that I had that were still good.

Calcium-440-450
Mag-1450
Alk-I tested with my salifert test and my API test that I have and got different results. The salifert test is only months old so I wonder if something is up with it. Salifert-9 API 11

Then I've got my phosphates and Nitrates above. Phosphates seem ok, but alarmingly my nitrates seem through the roof. I'm not sure how this happened, I do a 5 gallon weekly water change, I run a 200g rated skimmer on a 90. I might have a few more over the limit fish than I should have but they are all pretty small so I didn't think it mattered. And I only feed enough to get consumed in a few minutes by the fish. Could my nitrates be causing an issue and if so how do I get them to go down?

 

[Scott.h]

90 gal right? I'm not sure the bio load, but it appears 5 gal a week water change isn't sufficient. Do some large water changes but more importantly get out the junk. Meaning blow off the rocks, siphon the sand and suck out any garbage you can find. Is it possible something died? Or maybe your filtration isn't enough. Maybe you need more live rock, its hard to say. Po4 is easy to get rid of. Something else is going on. API kits suck. I started out with those and I was always orange and light green no matter what. Heck I probably could have did 2 100% water changes and still had orange and green, but that red is disturbing and you need to get to the root cause of that. cal and mg are irrelevant, and are fine.

Post a pic of your layout, display and fuge so we can see whats going on.

 

[fishyman19]

Yeah the tank is a 90 and I can say my bio load is probably too high. I'm at 15 fish, but they are all healthy, I've got a tang I would like to pull but he's a hard one to catch. Either way I could stand to lose a few fish. So you think I should up the water change to 10 a week for a while and see what that does? I do blow off the rocks every now and then, I will start doing it more. I've never cleaned the sand, I figured with the wrasses sleeping in it and the dozen or so Nassarius Snails I've got cruising through the sand I wouldn't need to. I've got close to 180 pounds of live rock in the tank. I see on here that people clean out the sump as well? how do you siphon that out when the tube thing needs a dip to work properly? Also I just ordered a new Salifert Nitrate and Phosphate test that will be here in a couple days. When they get here I'll test them both again to see where they are at with those tests. I'll try to get some pictures of the tank and sump when I get home today. I'm also hoping to pick up a 150 this weekend but that probably won't be set up till later this year. So Just starting almost fresh is an option as well lol.

 

[Scott.h]

Yeah the tank is a 90 and I can say my bio load is probably too high. I'm at 15 fish, but they are all healthy, I've got a tang I would like to pull but he's a hard one to catch. Either way I could stand to lose a few fish. So you think I should up the water change to 10 a week for a while and see what that does? I do blow off the rocks every now and then, I will start doing it more. I've never cleaned the sand, I figured with the wrasses sleeping in it and the dozen or so Nassarius Snails I've got cruising through the sand I wouldn't need to. I've got close to 180 pounds of live rock in the tank. I see on here that people clean out the sump as well? how do you siphon that out when the tube thing needs a dip to work properly? Also I just ordered a new Salifert Nitrate and Phosphate test that will be here in a couple days. When they get here I'll test them both again to see where they are at with those tests. I'll try to get some pictures of the tank and sump when I get home today. I'm also hoping to pick up a 150 this weekend but that probably won't be set up till later this year. So Just starting almost fresh is an option as well lol.

My first system has kind of become the island of misfit toys. When we all start out we compulsive buy and have no idea the long term consequences for some things. Since then I've set up two more systems and fortunately between the 3 I can move things around as needed. But that original system, 85 gallons total water volume, I've came a long way. I had a wet dry under the tank, ended up drilling holes to the basement so I could build a sump I could feasibly work on. The tank now, healthy with a few good size fish and a 20 inch eel, runs nitrate at 38 and phosphate .18 with no issues. But I won't lie, its work. I change filter socks 2x a week, stir up the sand bed 2x a week, blow of the rocks thoroughly with powerhead once a week, and do a 10 or 15 gallon a week water change every week. I have done bigger changes as needed. I suck the corners of the sump and vacuum the sand weekly. I say this just to show there can be a balance, but you just have to get creative and be diligent on whatever is causing the issues. As for your question about vacuum and sump height with siphon, many use a home depot bucket vac

 

[leahfiish]

Definitely clean out your sand but do it slowly in small sections at a time. To reduce your nitrates by doing water changes you will need to do a series of big water changes in a row. 10% a week won't make a dent, although it might be okay to keep them down once you get them lower. You could also look into something like red sea's nopox.

 

[fishyman19]

I got a hold of a Salifert Nitrate test since mine won't be here till next week and it's testing at 100 or more. So I'm guessing that's my problem of why I'm losing corals. Is that a fair judgment? I'll be doing a 15 gallon water change this week and probably do that as a regular now. Also try to clean out the sand bed.

Also this is my tank for those who asked. Dump area is a bit of a mess. Don't judge to harshly haha.

 

[Rakie]

I see in your sump pic your skimmer isn't skimming. Did you take this JUST afte cleaning? If not -- the skimmate should be constantly near the tip of the skimmer cups tube.

 

[Donovan Joannes]

I see in your sump pic your skimmer isn't skimming. Did you take this JUST afte cleaning? If not -- the skimmate should be constantly near the tip of the skimmer cups tube.

Could be due to low water level don't you think?. Seems like one to me.

 

[USMC 4 LIFE]

That skimmer should be running 24/7 with a bio load that heavy. Looks like a Curve 7. Turn it on and leave it on

Do a 30 gal water change. Doing anything less isn't going to bring those nitrates down. I personally would do three 30 gallon water changes each week and then CONSISTENTLY do at least 10 gallon weekly water changes. What's your water source by the way? Make your own / fish store? TDS checked?

Phosphates are also high. Do you have a refugium / cheato? This can def help out.

How often do you feed and how much?

Don't take this harshly. Just trying to get as much info from you to give the best corrective action.

 

[fishyman19]

The skimmer does run 24/7. The cup was cleaned on Sunday and Donovan is right the picture was taken right before I filled the water back up. I just checked it and it's running smoothly to the top like it should be.

So 3 30 gallon water changes a week? For how long should I do that? Ok I can do that I think. I get my water from a local store from a guy who is constantly making sure his filters are good and TDS is in check. I know I can do at least 2 a week. Probably Friday and Sunday. And maybe Saturday. His store is only open Monday, Friday and Saturday. So he's his pretty hard for saltwater on the weekend. The other store near by has crap water. There's a store about 30 minutes away. Should I mix the different store waters?

I don't have a five, I'm not sure where I'd put it since I'd need a light on it. I guess I could stick it in the sumo and get a cheap light.

I feed once a day, pellets and frozen. And it's gone within a few minutes. And don't worry I'm not taking it harsh at all. I really want to figure this out and get my tank back on point. It was looking really good till the beginning of this year when it all went to crap.

I'm hopefully picking up a 150 this weekend and this tank will have enough room to do like a fuge and such. The tank I have now is nice but the stand and sump area don't really have much room. So I've had to make do with what I have. But it looks like I need to up water changes and clean rocks off and such.

 

[Donovan Joannes]

IME, calcium and magnesium has to be in proper ratio as it will affect alkalinity. I think the ratio should be 1 : 3.5 calcium vs magnesium. Sometime dosing ALK and CA can be tricky if magnesium level is out of range. I will ensure magnesium is within range of what calcium level I am keeping before bringing up my CA & ALK via dosing.

Somebody please confirm, as my chemistry knowledge is limited to remembering 20 atomic number from the periodic table.

 

[Tautog]

Following

 

[USMC 4 LIFE]

The skimmer does run 24/7. The cup was cleaned on Sunday and Donovan is right the picture was taken right before I filled the water back up. I just checked it and it's running smoothly to the top like it should be.

So 3 30 gallon water changes a week? For how long should I do that? Ok I can do that I think. I get my water from a local store from a guy who is constantly making sure his filters are good and TDS is in check. I know I can do at least 2 a week. Probably Friday and Sunday. And maybe Saturday. His store is only open Monday, Friday and Saturday. So he's his pretty hard for saltwater on the weekend. The other store near by has crap water. There's a store about 30 minutes away. Should I mix the different store waters?

I don't have a five, I'm not sure where I'd put it since I'd need a light on it. I guess I could stick it in the sumo and get a cheap light.

I feed once a day, pellets and frozen. And it's gone within a few minutes. And don't worry I'm not taking it harsh at all. I really want to figure this out and get my tank back on point. It was looking really good till the beginning of this year when it all went to crap.

I'm hopefully picking up a 150 this weekend and this tank will have enough room to do like a fuge and such. The tank I have now is nice but the stand and sump area don't really have much room. So I've had to make do with what I have. But it looks like I need to up water changes and clean rocks off and such.

Do a 30 gallon water change every Friday for the next 3 weeks. Your goal is to get your nitrates down below 20ppm. Once this is accomplished, do weekly water changes of at least 10 gallons. Do more if your nitrates start to climb up. Always check your water parameters the following day as well.

If you don't have room for a refugium / Cheto then don't worry about it. But it's great way to keep nitrates and phosphates down.

If you plan on upgrading to a 150 gallon tank I would highly advise you to invest in a RODI unit. It's well worth it!!!! You pay $200 up front for it which can deter you from investing in it but man it will quickly pay itself off and the benefits of having it are endless.

 

[DMan]

It's a long read but pretty much goes through every possible problem with dosing alk cal and mag.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry