Where coral goes to die....

Clinton

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Do you have an immense amount of salt creep? Do you have an ATO and a leak?
 

SuncrestReef

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I know this thread is a few weeks old, but thought I'd chime in.

I'm surprised more people didn't mention an ATO problem causing your low salinity. The only way salinity can decrease in an aquarium is by adding fresh water, or adding lower salinity water than what's currently in the tank. As water evaporates from your tank, only fresh water escapes into the air, leaving behind the salt. Over time this increases the salinity of your tank water. To combat this problem, an ATO (Automatic Top Off) pumps fresh water back into the tank until the water level reaches a sensor and then stops the pump. If the ATO malfunctions and continues to add excessive amounts of fresh water, your tank salinity will fall.

Do you have an ATO system, or have you been manually adding any fresh water to your tank when the water level drops?
 

vetteguy53081

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This is how I think of my tank. I'm so frustrated right now. I don't know what I'm missing. I have a IM Nuvo 20. In a week it will be 6 months old since start of cycle. Parameters have been solid for a long time. Ammonia - 0 , Nitrates - 20ppm, Nitrites - 0 ppm, PH - 8.4. Been that way for 2 months. The only thing I have problems with is keeping my salinity up, haven't figured that out yet, it's generally 1.014 or so. I have a clown and an oyster crested goby as well as snails and blue tip crabs that have been in there for up to 3 months, no problem. Any time I introduce a Soft coral, it goes belly up within days. I run a Aquagadget Reactor with Charcoal, filter floss as well as purigen in the media racks.

I went to the LFS the other day and spent time with a knowledgable person, talked a lot about my challenges and got some suggestions from him on placement, flow, etc. 5 days later they are all demonstrably dead or appear to be dying. What gives? What am I missing?
While at LFS, did you take a water sample along and have them test and confirm Low salinity? could be a false reading . Im surprised this wasn’t suggested. Are you using RO Water? Tank temp is -?
 
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chefunk

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I know this thread is a few weeks old, but thought I'd chime in.

I'm surprised more people didn't mention an ATO problem causing your low salinity. The only way salinity can decrease in an aquarium is by adding fresh water, or adding lower salinity water than what's currently in the tank. As water evaporates from your tank, only fresh water escapes into the air, leaving behind the salt. Over time this increases the salinity of your tank water. To combat this problem, an ATO (Automatic Top Off) pumps fresh water back into the tank until the water level reaches a sensor and then stops the pump. If the ATO malfunctions and continues to add excessive amounts of fresh water, your tank salinity will fall.

Do you have an ATO system, or have you been manually adding any fresh water to your tank when the water level drops?
Thanks for the input. I do have an ATO but really I think the problem was that I was mixing the salinity too low. In my ignorance who I got a reading of 1.014 as opposed to 1.024 I was like "Hell, that's a tiny amount, can't make a difference, right?" Now I know better. I have the salinity where it should be now and a few rocks of experimental zoa that seem to be doing great. If they thrive for a month I'll slowly add more stuff. Thanks again for chiming in!
 

EMeyer

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Thanks for the input. I do have an ATO but really I think the problem was that I was mixing the salinity too low. In my ignorance who I got a reading of 1.014 as opposed to 1.024 I was like "Hell, that's a tiny amount, can't make a difference, right?" Now I know better. I have the salinity where it should be now and a few rocks of experimental zoa that seem to be doing great. If they thrive for a month I'll slowly add more stuff. Thanks again for chiming in!
For what its worth, this is one of the reasons I argue people should use the same units as biologists (ppt) instead of specific gravity. Your mistake was understandable given those numbers.

1.014 vs 1.025 sounds like a tiny difference.

18 vs 33 ppt sounds like a big difference, which it is :)
 

Jekyl

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How long are you letting your salt mix before adding it to the tank? Generally I add what I think is needed, let mix for 4 hours. Check again and add what is needed to get to almost 35ppm. Let mix for a few hours and check again. Once my level is right I let mix overnight. Next day I add my heater and once it is up to temp I do my water change. Always keep a powerhead in there and don't start heating until the solution is well mixed. I usually have a total mix time of around 24 hours before heating.
 

vetteguy53081

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For what its worth, this is one of the reasons I argue people should use the same units as biologists (ppt) instead of specific gravity. Your mistake was understandable given those numbers.

1.014 vs 1.025 sounds like a tiny difference.

18 vs 33 ppt sounds like a big difference, which it is :)
That's what I thought when I mentioned re-check. Was I right about 2nd opinion? Did take sample to LFS?
 
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