Test Results are In

[Trouble1375]

A little back history - 2 year old system - might be all over the place but I will try to include all the necessary details. Started out as FOWLR but switched to mixed reef when we lost all the fish due to ICH and/or velvet and had to fallow the system for 90 days.

Tank is 125 gallons running dual 30 gallon sumps
ATS - harvesting weekly
ROX .08 Carbon
Filter Socks - changing every 2 days
Lights are Qmaven ii LEDS set to BRS recommended settings
Return pumps are flowing 1200GPH each
2 Gyre 330's running on OGC 50/50
Tank is in the main living area of the house - the only window that is in the room has thermal and UV blocking curtains

Testing is performed weekly using almost exclusively Hanna checkers except for the Magnesium (Red Sea), Strontium & Iodine (Salifert)

Gradually switching to HWMarine Reefer Salt from Reef Crystals - have completed 2 - 25 gallon water changes with the new salt approximately 3 weeks apart

Started dosing ATI Essentials PRO 5 weeks ago via auto doser - was manually dosing every 3 days to try to maintain levels. Doses for Part 1 and Part 2 are 1 hour apart into the return pump area of the sump. Dosing is completed on a 24 hour cycle so there should be little to no variances.

ATO using RO/DI water about 2 gallons per day for evaporation. RO/DI tests @ 0 TDS and the ATI/ICP test shows nothing for the RO/DI water test

Corals survive but until recently have not been thriving and growing. Unable to keep Xenia, leathers, anemones or shrimp alive for more than a month at a time. We have SPS surviving and LPS that have visible growth since switching salts and starting dosing. We have very minimal coralline algae but have attributed that to that 3 rock boring urchins that are part of our clean up crew.

As a freak out - changed out all the hardware on our stand and hood recently due to rusting on the hinges

ATI/ICP results came in this morning and are attached

Our testing performed 4/4/2021 is attached

Our alkalinity has always been on the higher side and we have been gradually lowering it by water changes and switching salts.

Tank has about 100 lbs of rock - started as dry rock but that would seem to be old news and 50% of the rock has been in the tank for 2 years and the rest was cycled separately and added 4 months ago. Tank has about 80lbs of live sand that is 2 years old.

We have around 20 fish, 2 different starfish (one brittle and one linicka), various snails, some hermit crabs and the previously mentioned urchins.

Feeding 5 cubes frozen daily spread out over 3 feeding times and about 1/4 sheet of Nori. We are using the Ocean Nutrition Formula Variety Pack

ReefRoids (once a week), Reef Energy AB+ 8mls twice a week, phytoplankton and zooplankton twice a week.

We have added pods multiple times but don't see evidence of any in the sumps or tank but also have 3 wrasse (Melanurus, 6-line and cleaner) plus a boxfish and angel that are always picking at the rocks.

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[T-J]

You salinity is really low. (27 and 35 recommended)
Alk is pretty high. (11 and 7-9 recommended)
Calcium is high. (578 and usually 400-420 recommended)
There is copper and chrome in your tank. Copper isn't good...I have no idea about the chrome, but both are pretty elevated. (Copper will kill inverts)
Nitrates are crazy high (57!)

You need to get a good, calibrated, testing device for your water. Make sure you're calibrating it to 35ppt. I'd also check your tank for any metals or rusting metals. Check your gyres, pumps, etc.

 

[guylaga]

Not quite sure what your seeking help on.

Is it the slow growth / sub-optimal health of corals?

Anyways as suggested above your Salinity, Copper and Nitrate levels are way off from what they should be.

Test your salinity, and get a Nitrate test other than Hanna since that tester really is only usable for less than 5ppm.

Any copper in your system will kill inverts pretty quickly, suggest you test for that to confirm ICP is correct and start running Cuprisorb. Worst case is that the copper has bound in the rock.

 

[mdb_talon]

It sounds like your livestock is doing well so i think it is worth using the test results to make some changes, but I would not freak out or do anything drastic.

The salinity and nitrate stand out to me because so different from your tested parameters. Some double checking test kits seems to be first thing to do.

Copper and some other metals are high, but keep in mind the threshold set on that test is extremely low(ideal). It my math is right that is around .009 ppm which is not that out of line with what many have in an aquarium(though much higher than NSW).

I would use some medium to remove metals but again not panic.

Alkalinity at 11 is just fine and lowering it by switching salt is fine if you want lower but a level of 11 is no issue at all unless you running a ULN and you are not.

I would feed less trying to get those nitrates down.

 

[threebuoys]

Sg of 1.026 = 35ppt your salinity is fine based on the verizon image

 

[mdb_talon]

Sg of 1.026 = 35ppt your salinity is fine based on the verizon image

The concern is his ICP test came in at 27 so about 1.020

 

[threebuoys]

The concern is his ICP test came in at 27 so about 1.020

Oops, my bad, I assumed the image on the screen was the ICP, I didn't open the attachment, thought it was the same thing.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Sounds like the drop in alk is whats causing the stunted growth. If done too quickly it can wipe out the tank but if done slowly nothing will grow until the alk is stabilized again. And if the icp salt level is correct that could explain the shrimp and softies dying.

 

[Trouble1375]

Oops, my bad, I assumed the image on the screen was the ICP, I didn't open the attachment, thought it was the same thing.

The screenshot is the app on my phone I use to track my weekly testing. The results were in PDF on my computer and I could not for the life of me figure out how to get them to display - only attach.

The concern is his ICP test came in at 27 so about 1.020

I will calibrate the refractometer later today when I get out of work. I had my LFS check all the usual stuff about 2 months ago before I bought another shrimp that lasted an entire 27 days. They got the same reading on their refractometer that I have at 1.026. I trust this LFS - their stock is always in amazing health and the store and tanks very cleanly and organized. It's owned by a local reefer that used to work at another LFS and finally opened his own store about 20 years ago.

It sounds like your livestock is doing well so i think it is worth using the test results to make some changes, but I would not freak out or do anything drastic.

The salinity and nitrate stand out to me because so different from your tested parameters. Some double checking test kits seems to be first thing to do.

Copper and some other metals are high, but keep in mind the threshold set on that test is extremely low(ideal). It my math is right that is around .009 ppm which is not that out of line with what many have in an aquarium(though much higher than NSW).

I would use some medium to remove metals but again not panic.

Alkalinity at 11 is just fine and lowering it by switching salt is fine if you want lower but a level of 11 is no issue at all unless you running a ULN and you are not.

I would feed less trying to get those nitrates down.

Nitrates and phosphates were higher at one point. I started dosing NO-POX about 3 weeks ago at 3ml/day and it is coming down. I just started using a Hanna nitrate checker instead of API and found that I was definitely misreading the API colors.

The livestock has been fine with the ALK at 11 - we just want to bring it around 10. The hammers and frogspawns got super happy when we bumped magnesium above 1400 so we try to keep that elevated - it's all a balancing game based on how the stock is responding.

What type of medium would be best to remove the metals?

All of my pumps, heaters, gyres are less than a year old and get taken out, disassembled and cleaned every 8 weeks.

The only thing that caught my attention recently was the hinges on the stand and hood that had gotten rusty which is why they were all changed out 2 weeks ago.

I'm somewhat OCD about cleaning - my sumps look nearly new even though one is 2 years old and the other one about 6 months old. I wipe everything down every Sunday when I do my weekly testing.

 

[T-J]

You might want to get one of these. I have it and love it! I bought a box of the calibration packets for it, and calibrate it every 2-3 weeks.

HI98319 Marine Salinity Tester

Designed for Simple Aquarium Salinity Testing Hanna Instruments HI98319 Marine Salinity Tester measures electrical conductivity (EC) to determine the salinity of natural and artificial seawater. Within seconds, the salinity and temperature are measured, and then using the temperature reading...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[twwety]

LFS here store did some icp reports on fresh mixed salts and reef crystals can back with copper can't remember the amount and it could have just been that batch effected but it could build up over time even at very small amounts.

 

[Trouble1375]

Not quite sure what your seeking help on.

Is it the slow growth / sub-optimal health of corals?

Anyways as suggested above your Salinity, Copper and Nitrate levels are way off from what they should be.

Test your salinity, and get a Nitrate test other than Hanna since that tester really is only usable for less than 5ppm.

Any copper in your system will kill inverts pretty quickly, suggest you test for that to confirm ICP is correct and start running Cuprisorb. Worst case is that the copper has bound in the rock.

Just looking for thoughts that others might have. I am new to reefing (this tank so 2 years experience). My boyfriend has prior experience but has not had a tank in 20+ years.

Planning to calibrate the refractometer after work today and verify the salinity. Nitrate levels are coming down - using NO-POX dosed at 3ml daily.

Will test the tank for copper. I have done this in the past when we had issues with shrimp to no avail but will try it again now that we have other test results that show otherwise. We have never used copper in this tank and the rock was never used dry rock when we bought it. We QT our fish in a QT with copper before they go into the DT. They are pulled from the QT and rinsed in a separate container of DT water before final transfer to the DT and we don't cross use any of the equipment from the QT to the DT. I even have separate copper test kits and refractometers for the 2 tanks.

 

[Trouble1375]

LFS here store did some icp reports on fresh mixed salts and reef crystals can back with copper can't remember the amount and it could have just been that batch effected but it could build up over time even at very small amounts.

Well that is disheartening. I'll find out this evening what my copper test says.

 

[Trouble1375]

LFS here store did some icp reports on fresh mixed salts and reef crystals can back with copper can't remember the amount and it could have just been that batch effected but it could build up over time even at very small amounts.

 

[Trouble1375]

Thank you everyone for the tips and ideas

Added Cuprisorb

Calibrated refractometer - it was a little off but not too much - with the refractometer calibrated the tank tested at 1.022 not the 1.026 that we thought it was at

Changed ATO from RO/DI to saltwater that is slightly higher so it will gradually raise the tank

Added a Poly Filter

No further changes for now as I know too much all at once can be worse

Will complete a 25% WC with correct salinity water in a week

 

[Trouble1375]

Well all of this became a mute point late Sunday/early Monday when my dosing pump for NOPOX decided to flip out resulting in one lost fish, a bunch of ticked off corals and an 85% water change on Monday which lead us to redoing all our aqua-scape. We are very happy with the end results of the "new" rockwork but boy was that a mess. Reworked how the dosing pumps are set-up to avoid future issues - they are now lower than the sump that they dose into.

Nitrates are now 5, Phosphates are 0, Alk is 9.5, Calcium 446, Magnesium 1320. I just hope the corals survive. We think we only lost one favia and have some angry SPS and Cyphestreas.

Also concluded that it's not water quality causing shrimp deaths - it's the 4 wrasses. We thought we only had 3. We have a Male Melanurus, a cleaner and a 6-line. We bought the 6-line after our female Melanurus went missing (now 49 days ago). She turned up during the tank re-do and is acting like she was always there. We think she had become a night-hawk due to incessant chasing by the male but they are living in peace now. We have 2 peppermints living quite happily in the sump even through this mess. I had put them there to monitor them before placing them in the DT but since they are doing so well there I think they can take up permanent residence there. They have been there for over a month now so we feel like it was definitely the wrasses eating them once they shed because they would disappear shortly after shedding. We would find the shed but never see the shrimp again and we examined each shed to ensure it was a shed not a shrimp.

 

[anthonygf]

I see a problem with the ICP test results from ATI which has not been mentioned. They say your magnesium level is high. 1395 is just fine, or am I reading this wrong. They say ideal value is 933.4 mg/l. Ideal value is 1300-1500 per Triton. Is that a typo by ATI?

 

[Trouble1375]

I see a problem with the ICP test results from ATI which has not been mentioned. They say your magnesium level is high. 1395 is just fine, or am I reading this wrong. They say ideal value is 933.4 mg/l. Ideal value is 1300-1500 per Triton. Is that a typo by ATI?

Our mag is always around 1400 - I believe ATIs reference value is wrong. At this point though, those results won't matter since there was an 85% water change done this week due to dosing issue with the NOPOX on the auto doser.

 

[anthonygf]

Our mag is always around 1400 - I believe ATIs reference value is wrong. At this point though, those results won't matter since there was an 85% water change done this week due to dosing issue with the NOPOX on the auto doser.

Yeah sorry about that. I am sorry to say this but how can you trust all the other results when they make these kinds of mistakes. I would have another test done by a different vendor but too late now. I won't be using ATI after seeing this.

 

[DMG Reef]

I see a problem with the ICP test results from ATI which has not been mentioned. They say your magnesium level is high. 1395 is just fine, or am I reading this wrong. They say ideal value is 933.4 mg/l. Ideal value is 1300-1500 per Triton. Is that a typo by ATI?

The recommended levels are based on the tank's salinity. Since the SG was so low, the recommendations will be low as well. Which means that the elements that were high would be even higher with the SG corrected.