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Yes they do. I’ll ask what brand it isIs the LFS making the water? If so, I’d ask them what brand they’re using. Some salt mixes are geared more towards fish only.
Actually very nice for a softies tank.I think a lot of the invasive corals got out of control. This is a whole picture if it helps
Thanks for the advice. I’ll follow this plan. I have 3 buckets but I’ll pick up a couple more. I’m taking some water too so they can test it too. Should I take new water after the water change or the original water?I will be honest, maybe blunt, opinionated, I’m a problem solver / troubleshooter by nature, it’s not personal. It’s advice you are free to take it or skip over it.
Ok. So. In my opinion some of your key parameters are drastically off. Alkalinity is super low, and I don’t believe you have the coral load to consume all that alk. Same for calcium, on the low side but not terrible. But out of the suggested range esp for lps
Phosphate .5
This is a controversial area, people are successful with both low and high phosphate. That said, this is 25 times higher than what I keep my phosphate at.
My suggestion/ plan if this was my tank
1) I would take a few cups of this water to the LFS and have them check alk, calcium, and phosphate - and verify your at home test results. Your test kits might be inaccurate, and then we are gonna go down the wrong path. So yea. I would have them test your water and confirm your numbers.
2) if these numbers are correct, I would buy 20 gallons of saltwater. I have a ton of 5g buckets and bottles, so I can do that. They might sell these for a few bucks a piece. I would buy 20 gallons of premade water from them. I would have them test it and give you the values. I would bring my kit and test it and confirm it. If your tests are wrong then you need new kits unfortunately.
3) I would change out 10g on day 1, 5g on day 3 and 5 g on day 5
4) on day 7 I would retrst my tank and see what everything’s new level is.
It should be much better by then! But might need a second round of steps 2, 3 and 4
Further advise: if I have test kits that I know are accurate I would suggest making your own saltwater. For me I use instant ocean reef crystals, and I know, 1/2 cup per gallon, brings me right around 1.024-1.025. I take a 5g bucket and fill with water, add in 2.5 cups of saltwater, a power head, put the lid on and come back every few hours to move the power head around to get rid of any dead spots where undissolved salt builds up in a mound. By end of the day, it’s ready. Or you could just leave the power head on overnight and it’s ready next day
Making your own salt puts you in control. What if LFS water (or prepackaged water) had a parasite or sickness or what if they have a test kit that’s expired ? I don’t trust anyone making my water tbh. But I get it, it’s convenient.
Anyway that is how I would handle it. Confirm test kits are accurate. Come home with lots of water. Real quick I would do a large water change. Followed by some smaller ones over the next few days
I’ll do this. I’ll be scrapping it off the glassXenia is consuming all your nitrates and starving out the other corals. I would scrape all that off the glass, throw it out, before the massive water change plan
Some people use Xenia in place of macro algae for nitrate control.
Also, you don’t want to fix your parameters instantaneously or you’ll just further stress your corals. Especially given the size of the tank, small water changes with the properly balanced water is best. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby.
I don’t entirely disagree. I just tend to be more conservative. Her tank is 13g so it would be harder to change slowly. I have done any calculations but a 15-20% water change with a proper reef balanced water might even do it. Unfortunately I fear her water source is off so doing water changes with it would only propagate the issue.I understand your perspective but i disagree here. Her parameters could be killing her coral and fixing them 75% over night would be stressful but less stressful fixing them 5% a day for the next 7-14 days, and taking risk of creating new problems.
Again, my opinion only. I’m not some coral reef dictator lol. Just offering advice and perspective. Look at my tank thread if you want my credentials. I don’t know everything, but I’ve been doing this over 23 years, successfully. Add on some more years if you want to include the time I was learning and making the same mistakes that many new people post about here every day. I would get ALL numbers in healthy ranges ASAP
If she wasnt drastically off for some things my advice would be different.
I don’t entirely disagree. I just tend to be more conservative. Her tank is 13g so it would be harder to change slowly. I have done any calculations but a 15-20% water change with a proper reef balanced water might even do it. Unfortunately I fear her water source is off so doing water changes with it would only propagate the issue.
Agree. Excellent point.Not sure where this issue is stemming from…incorrect test kits, poor quality water from LFS, who knows. Step 1 before panic mode should be confirm the OP’s test results. And test the store bought water. And if their water is correct parameters, bring a bunch home and decide a plan to replace / dilute as much bad water with good water
I imagine scraping off all the Xenia from the walls will cause small pieces of it, and chemicals to be released into the water, further increasing chances of spikes, so a very large water change after the Xenia removal would further be justified in this situation
So they said my water parameters were good. There is another LFS that I could bring my water for a test too.Did they test your water to check if the numbers you get at home are accurate?
Wooooooooow! How old is the tank to have that much "invasive" growth!?I think a lot of the invasive corals got out of control. This is a whole picture if it helps