unhappy corals...

[disaster999]

use a test tube brush.. oh and Ph looks like 8.2 like prop said. What happened to the rest of the solution..lol. It helps if you look at the cards near a window.. natural sunlight.

 

like i said, i didnt use the api test tube, i used salifert test tube which had a wider diameter so it appears like i poured out some of the solution and left 1/3 of it in the test tube, but that is not the case, there is 5lm of tank water + 5 drops of the high ph reagent.

 

Not what I meant.

I meant unless you mixed the solution up in the tube real good before you drained it down to the mark you took the photo at then its probably not a good example to ask some one to compare against a color chart they may have of the same kit.

Reason being is the reagent used "could" be more concentrated in whats left versus the state is was in before you drained it out.

Like concentrated OJ versus freshly squeezed. Know what I mean?

 

Try it again only leave it all in the tube and place a white piece of paper behind it.

For nothing else other then to make sure it still comes out the same color.

 

i dont really understand by what you mean "before you drained it down to the mark you took the photo at then is probably not a good example to ask....." like i said before, i didnt drain it down or anything. what you see in that picture is 5ml of tank water + 5 drops of high ph reagent in a salifert test tube which is larger than the api test tube.

 

if you are talking about me not mixing the reagent enough, i did shake it up a little before i tested it even though the instructions did not call for that.

 

Hey-

 

I read about 2/3 of this thread- what you're going thru IMO is normal for a tank at that age (3 months). Just keep vacuuming/stirring the sand (it's easiest to remove the cyano after it forms a mat) and keep doing the water changes, the cyano phase will pass. My 30 started in March or so and I fought cyano all summer. In Sept it was down to little wisps that would stick to my gorgs, and now it's all gone and my tank is pristine. It's an unfortunate "ugly" phase- you'll notice other people with tanks in the same age range (3-6 months) on here having problems with it too.

 

Something I did was to gradually lengthen out the photoperiod with my lights- I noticed the cyano was the worst when I had them on all day, so I started just putting them on for 3 hours or so and lengthening it out. I didn't have corals that were real light-dependent then, however. I found raising my heat a little bit (82 degrees) helped too.

 

Having some sand-sifting organisms helps keep it down as well- like someone else here suggested, nassarius snails are good sand-sifters that will eat the leftovers from feeding your sun coral. You can also try taking your sun out to a separate container to feed it to cut down on pollution.

 

Don't add chemicals or try to mess with things other than to do water changes, it will all balance itself out in the end.

 

i dont dose in this tank. only thing i did was change water. sand sifting critters is hard to come by, i really want to get nassarius snails, but i have no idea where to find them in hong kong.

 

i know my tank is still young, and a lot could happen at this time. but just different from what ive experienced from the past. this is my 3rd tank and to day the hardest to keep at the moment. i have corals dying and looking really pissed off. it could be my first tank in a different country and lots of different factor could contribute to this. RO/DI water seem to help as the red algae is slowly declining. ive also removed all the fish and they are in Q tank right now so that greatly cut down the bio load on the system and giving it a more clean environment for the corals to grow.

 

 

Do you have any media that can support bacteria to convert the ammonia to nitrites and then nitrates? Ammonia and nitrites are toxic, nitrates less so.

 

I think it is important to deal with that one way or another as that can't be good for anything you are trying to keep alive. If this is a QT tank, I suggest a foam filter to do this (as outlined in http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/...ure/index.php.) You might also consider an in-tank fuge with some chaeto as that will probably host bacteria as well as remove nutrients from the water.

 

-hank

 

BTW, most bacteria are beneficial. Life on earth would not continue to exist if all bacteria were removed.

 

sorry for the confusion, i didnt mean to say bacteria, but i mean parasites or any harmful organism living in the life rock and in turn investing my main tank when i take the Q tank down.

 

i do have a in tank filter with a sponge that could support bacterial growth. the Q tank is going through its cycle since i took down the tank everytime i was done using it and never kept the sponge "alive" by putting it in my main tank in fear of unwanted parasites living in the sponge and investing my whole tank. hence changing most of the water out everyday to keep the ammonia level in the tank as low as possible. the fish dont seem to mind it and is swimming happily and is eating.

[HankB]

i do have a in tank filter with a sponge that could support bacterial growth. the Q tank is going through its cycle since i took down the tank everytime i was done using it and never kept the sponge "alive" by putting it in my main tank in fear of unwanted parasites living in the sponge and investing my whole tank. hence changing most of the water out everyday to keep the ammonia level in the tank as low as possible. the fish dont seem to mind it and is swimming happily and is eating.

 

Guess I should read the whole thread 'cause I saw something about corals dieing - perhaps that is not in the tank with detectable ammonia.

 

But back to the ammonia, it sounds like you are aware of the issue and doing what you can to deal with it. Perhaps the next time you take down your QT, you could wash the sponge thoroughly and then put it in your regular tank to colonize organisms. That way you won't transport anything from the QT to DT and hopefully when you need a QT it will be ready.

 

best,

hank

[disaster999]

yeah, i really should. thanks for the tip.

[The Propagator]

OH.... Then that clear sit up.. I thought you were using API not salifert...

[disaster999]

i can see how that picture could be deceiving

 

so right now my corals arent really getting worse...but its not getting any better either. kind of staying the same. been wanting to burn more money and get more corals (i would like come cloves, more colorful zoas, and some brain or acan) wonder if i should add more corals or wait.

[The Propagator]

WAIT IT OUT.

 

If you haven't already I would definitely switch salts.

Give some thing else a try for a while. The salt your using now may be the culprit.

I would try Seachem reef salt, or Tropic marin, or even reef crystals.

[disaster999]

tested my water again...calc and alk is lower than normal, mag is way high

 

calc - 380ppm

alk - 7.6dkh

mag - 1560ppm

 

gonna get some 2 part solution just to get the levels up to close to NSW...definitely gonna change salt

 

on my last bag of salt, using it up at lighting speed since im doing 3gal water change EVERYDAY on the Q tank. 2 weeks past and ammonia still present everyday.

[The Propagator]

It would be cheaper for you to buy it in buckets versus bags no mater what brand you buy

[disaster999]

nono...the bucket of salt i bought has 3 bags of salt. i guess to keep most of the salt still fresh.

 

did some water test of a newly mixed batch of salt.

 

cal =400

alk - 7.6dkh

mag - 1590ppm

 

bought C-balance to keep my levels up.

 

also got red slim remover to get ride of that red algae i have..hope that works.

[disaster999]

red slime all gone, tested a freshly made batch of water....ammonia is through the roof. that explains a lot .

 

gonna get new salt this weekend

[The Propagator]

What was the salt brand that had all the nasties in it ?

[disaster999]

see post 35

 

its called marinium salt i got here locally. lemme dig up the chem compo for you

 

MAIN COMPOSITION: (units in part per million or ppm)

 

Chloride............................................ 1.90 x 10^4

Sodium..............................................1.05 x 10^4

Magnesium....................................... 1.41 x 10^3

Sulfur................................................ 8.85 x 10^2

Calcium............................................. 4.20 x 10^2

Potassium......................................... 3.80 x 10^2

Bromine............................................ 6.50 x 10^1

Boron................................................ 8.10 x 10^0

Strontium...........................................4.60 x 10^0

Fluorine............................................1.30 x 10^0

Lithium..............................................1.80 x 10^-1

Rubidium...........................................1.30 x 10^-1

Iodine................................................6.02 x 10^-2

Barium...............................................3.30 x 10^-2

Aluminium..........................................1.03 x 10^-2

Iron....................................................1.10 x 10^-2

Molybdenum......................................1.05 x 10^-2

Zinc....................................................1.00 x 10^-2

Manganese........................................2.10 x 10^-3

Vanadium...........................................2.75 x 10^-3

Cobalt.................................................4.65 x 10^-4

And other trace elements....

 

i doubt its available in the states since i cant seem to find more information on the salt besides a few websites that sells it.

 

bought a bucket if reef crystals (love the lid design btw) for 38 bucks. tested the water again and i cant really tell i the test shows yellow or green. but its definitely not the same color as my display tank right now

 

the right is my display water, the left is freshly made reef crystal water

 

this is the one comparing tank water and freshly made marinium salt

[non-photosynt]

What you may try:

- if the new salt will still give some ammonia readings, test newly prepared water next day, it may be lower. No explanations, just option to try.

- If ammonia is above 0.25 (test liquid is not yellow anymore), you can always use tap water conditioner like Prime, EraseCl or Amquel+, even for RO/DI water. Check the label, though. It should convert ammonia in less toxic form, still available for bacterial processing.

- Use bacterial cultures, like Seachem Stability or Big Al's Multi Purpose Bio Support (you can check manufacture website for details). They will process ammonia. Even the smallest bottle should help.

- Make sure, that you have enough LR or biomedia for bacteria to colonize, the cheapest and most compact version, known to me, is Seachem Matrix biomedia, ceramic stones. They should be in a good flow area, like filter.

- Red slime with bubbles potentially could be dinoflagellates (dynos), if this is thick cover with bubbles. This is a special problem, you can read more about identification and treatment on the web.

- Red slime produces something, that depresses many invertebrates. You may use red slime remover. I tried ChemiClean (oxidizing action), it was safe for clams, sps, LPS, softies, NPS, condy anemone, Christmas tree worms, crabs, snails. UltraLife Red Slime Remover (could be erithromicine based) will color water in bright yellow, later this passes. Was safe for a fish, sps, LPS, softies, tube anemone, Christmas tree worms, shrimps, crabs, snails. Carbon helps too for reducing effect of the red slime on invertebrates, but you will need a lot of carbon and change it frequently.

 

My 2 cents (pennies)

Good luck!

[disaster999]

Thanks for the help. Ill mix and let the salt sit overnight and see if that makes a difference.

 

i dont need bacteria culture or anything since my tank is already established and my Q tank is cycled. i guess ill use the water conditioners since theres no way to bring down the nitrate if i cant get ride of the ammonia in the fresh mixed water

 

red slime is totally gone in my tank since i used chemiclean.

 

corals are still pretty pissed off in my tank. not all the zoas are open and if they are they look like ######. frogspawn is healing. my Goniopora is really piseed off. havent extended its polyp in a long time. the Alveopora isnt doing so good too. it was fully opened, polyp extended fully when i first got it..but over time i guess got used to my crappy water and its half extended now.

 

sun coral and clam is the only 2 corals thats doing good