Sadies Biocube 16

[banasophia]

1 hour ago, sadie said:

well my YCG has been missing for about 2 days, I am going to assume he died and got eaten.  He was eating good and looked good.  I know they hide well, but I have looked everywhere, even all the back chambers.  😪  He was so cute. 

Hopefully he will turn up. 🤞

[sadie]

Udate:

Sadly my YCG never did show up, and my clown died.   It is getting very frustrating loosing fish and coral.  My Frog spawn didn't make it, I tried different parts of the tank with flow and lighting, but he just slowly closed up and died. 

 

I also lost one of my very first corals, my green toadstool.  It had jumped off the rock, I tied him back on and he was doing great.  The other day he was closed up, looking like he was shedding.  I use a turkey baster to "blow" off debris and when I blew it at him, he just poofed and kinda exploded.  Never saw anything like it before.

 

I always seemed to be fighting  algae.  My tank is kinda by a window so I shut the blind all the time now and notice a big difference.  I will be moving my tank soon to a better spot.

 

Everything was looking good, so I went to Petco to see what they had for coral and they had clowns on sale...and regretfully I bought one. It took her way too long to catch the fish, chasing him all over the tank, by the time I got him home (20 min) he was already swimming kinda funny.  Within 4 hrs he was dead.😪  

 

I AM SO DONE BUYING FISH AT THIS PETCO.  i have had good luck with others in the past, but this one-nope.  I filled out a survey and the manager called me and actually gave me a refund, which I was happy for.  So today I went and bought a nice looking green toadstool.  I will get a picture when it opens.

 

I am going to wait a while and put an order in for a fish and some coral on line.  I am so frustrated and feel like giving up at times.  But I just keep remembering what it was like to have a beautiful tank.  I know I can do it, I did for years.  I just don't know why I am having such a hard time now.  My husband says it's because we don't have a good LFS.  In MA  I had 2 really nice stores, and now I have none.

 

 

[banasophia]

Sounds like a lot of losses... want to check your parameters and post a current pic so we can try to help figure out what’s going on?

[sadie]

yes, too many losses, sadly.  I usually test my water in the morning, I will post it then, but honestly, I have been trying to figure this out for almost 2 yrs.  My actual tank (12 gal JBJ DX) was old and needed to be replaced so I got a JBJ 12 gal with LED and thought my tank would be so awesome with the LEDs and no.  I lost so many coral.  I found out the stock lighting was not good enough, so around Dec, 2017 I think I upgraded to the 16 gal Biocube, all excited thinking NOW my tank will be awesome, and nope.  So I have no idea.  I had better luck when I was a noobie 19 yrs ago.  I had such a nice tank, coral were getting so big I had to trade them in, having babies, growing new heads, and now...

 

I'm beginning to think I'm cursed.

[sadie]

I can post a picture now.  My new toadstool is starting to open up.  But in looking back over my old post, I just noticed my white toadstool is getting so small.  He looks terrible compared to when I got him.  I just don't know.

[banasophia]

I think it’s probably an issue with your water. Next time you check your parameters, maybe post them. Tell us about your water source and what you have for filtration. What were your light settings? Did you change them to match mine? 

[sadie]

I just tested my water and my KH is really high-14.1. I normally test at 9:00 am and this morning I tested at 7:00 am.  Not sure if that would make so much of a difference.  I looked at my journal and the highest it had been was 10.9 back in Sept.  I always used RO water, but switched to distilled water around that time.  I was curious what the KH was right out of the jug so I tested it.  I used 1 drop and the solution went from blue to pink.  Is that normal?

 

Oh- the rest of my info:

I use Salifert test kit I bought last summer.

I use a hydrometer clibrated with the solution, not H2o.  I calibrate it every tie i use it

My thermometer is suction cupped to the outside of my tank, but has the probe in my last chamber

I use Instant Ocean sea salt (not reef crystals)

I have Steves tower thing in my middle chamber.  I use filter floss on the top shelf (change it normally 2x a week, but sometimes it might go longer) I have purigen on the 2nd shelf)

I have a submersible auto heater in my fist chamber (I think it is preset at 79)

I do 3 gal WC most every Friday (sometimes  when life gets crazy I might skip a week)

My lighting schedule is: LC1 on: 8:00am off 8:00PM     LC2 on 8:00am off 1:00am   LC3 on 7:00AM off 11:00 PM

I did a 3 gal WC yesterday

 

Water test results from this morning:

Temp- 78.1

salinity- 1.026

KH 14.1

MG 1470

Ca 490

 

I was thinking of doing another 3 gal WC to get my KH down.  First I'm going to mix up a gal with the distilled and test the KH.  I might switch back to RO

 

[sadie]

FALSE ALARM!!!  My KH is not 14.1 it is 10.9.  And this is why I check my water at 9:00 am (after all my chores are done) and not 7:00 am 😆  I added 5 ML of my tank water instead of 4.

 

So now I am still at a loss as to why my tank is so crappy.

 

Maybe my light schedule?

[sadie]

Oh, I also forgot to mention my feeding schedule.  I do have a couple hermits, snails and a cleaner shrimp.  I feed sinking pellets 1-2 x a week.  Only as many as they can eat in a minute or so.  Maybe 1x a month I feed frozen mysis shrimp to my cleaner shrimp with a pipette.  I also feed my filter feeders PhytoPlex.  I do a couple drops in the middle of the week.

[banasophia]

4 hours ago, sadie said:

I just tested my water and my KH is really high-14.1. I normally test at 9:00 am and this morning I tested at 7:00 am.  Not sure if that would make so much of a difference.  I looked at my journal and the highest it had been was 10.9 back in Sept.  I always used RO water, but switched to distilled water around that time.  I was curious what the KH was right out of the jug so I tested it.  I used 1 drop and the solution went from blue to pink.  Is that normal?

 

Oh- the rest of my info:

I use Salifert test kit I bought last summer.

I use a hydrometer clibrated with the solution, not H2o.  I calibrate it every tie i use it

My thermometer is suction cupped to the outside of my tank, but has the probe in my last chamber

I use Instant Ocean sea salt (not reef crystals)

I have Steves tower thing in my middle chamber.  I use filter floss on the top shelf (change it normally 2x a week, but sometimes it might go longer) I have purigen on the 2nd shelf)

I have a submersible auto heater in my fist chamber (I think it is preset at 79)

I do 3 gal WC most every Friday (sometimes  when life gets crazy I might skip a week)

My lighting schedule is: LC1 on: 8:00am off 8:00PM     LC2 on 8:00am off 1:00am   LC3 on 7:00AM off 11:00 PM

I did a 3 gal WC yesterday

 

Water test results from this morning:

Temp- 78.1

salinity- 1.026

KH 14.1

MG 1470

Ca 490

 

I was thinking of doing another 3 gal WC to get my KH down.  First I'm going to mix up a gal with the distilled and test the KH.  I might switch back to RO

 

What are your ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and phosphate?

 

Also, you mentioned a hydrometer... did you mean that? Or refractometer? 

[sadie]

LOL, yes a refractometer (gonna blame that on not being fully awake yet 😜)

I will go test my others, but they always come back as 0

[banasophia]

11 minutes ago, sadie said:

LOL, yes a refractometer (gonna blame that on not being fully awake yet 😜)

I will go test my others, but they always come back as 0

Haha, good call... I’m still on my first cup of coffee myself ☕️☕️☕️

 

I would test those parameters carefully... I think we wanna make sure the tank is actually fully cycled and your nitrates and phosphates aren’t crazy high. 

 

What do you use for your distilled? 

[sadie]

yup, all 0. (for ammonia, trite and trates I use API, not my favorite, but it's what my LFS had and since it always comes back as 0 I don't feel the need to order on line a more expensive one) I don't have a phosphate kit.  I had it tested over the summer at 2 different LFS and it came back 0, or whatever is normal or good.  I ran phosban in one of m y chambers for a bit in the summer just to be sure.

 

But I also use bottled water (distilled).

 

I feel like I should post a picture of all  my test results.  I have been doing this for a long time and I am baffled,  Honestly, If I were reading my posts, I would be thinking - she's not telling us everything, or leaving something out, or faking the test results.  It just doesn't make sense to me.

[sadie]

10 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Haha, good call... I’m still on my first cup of coffee myself ☕️☕️☕️

 

I would test those parameters carefully... I think we wanna make sure the tank is actually fully cycled and your nitrates and phosphates aren’t crazy high. 

 

What do you use for your distilled? 

I buy the gallon jugs at Walmart.  Like I said, when I started my tank (19 yrs ago) I bought the RO water.  But everyone seems to say distilled now.   I was nervous that switching tanks might cause a spike and recycle my tank, but all my readings stayed at 0.  Didn't even go through a mini cycle.  I'll post some pics of my old tank and all the coral I had...then you'll see why I'm so baffled and frustrated.

[sadie]

This was my Aquapod in 2000.  (the blueberry gorgonian didn't make it) But my sun coral did!!

 

My toadstool got so big I had to trade it in (my fish hosted in it and was so mad at me.)

[sadie]

I had so much coraline algae, I had to scrape it off the glass.  I don't have any on my back wall. Though I realized this morning my new tank is not a year old , I only got it in June or July.  But still, it seems like I should start to see some coraline on my back wall.  All those rocks in this tank are in my new tank and do have nice coraline on them.  All different colors.

[banasophia]

Yeah your old tank was awesome. 😍

 

I’m baffled too. What do you have going on with your flow? I have my return and powerhead pointed up toward the surface for oxygenation...

 

 

I can’t grow coralline in my tank btw... 

[sadie]

I take the stock nozzle off the output and put a wavemaker on it.  You can see it in the top photo on the right hand side.  It breaks the top of the water and circles around blowing over all the coral.

 

I did add a power head for a nano (something I never had in my old tank)  I was thinking maybe the two together might be a problem, but when I turkey baster my rocks, I can tell I have a good flow all over.  In my new tank the output is on the upper left side so I put the power head on my right side blowing to my left side.  I was getting algae on the back wall and thought it needed more flow.

 

Thanks for your interest and help.  I am hoping when I move my tank it will help, but I don't know.  I moved my white toadstool down a little.  Hoping it will do better.

[banasophia]

29 minutes ago, sadie said:

I take the stock nozzle off the output and put a wavemaker on it.  You can see it in the top photo on the right hand side.  It breaks the top of the water and circles around blowing over all the coral.

 

I did add a power head for a nano (something I never had in my old tank)  I was thinking maybe the two together might be a problem, but when I turkey baster my rocks, I can tell I have a good flow all over.  In my new tank the output is on the upper left side so I put the power head on my right side blowing to my left side.  I was getting algae on the back wall and thought it needed more flow.

 

Thanks for your interest and help.  I am hoping when I move my tank it will help, but I don't know.  I moved my white toadstool down a little.  Hoping it will do better.

Are you saying you have a wavemaker attachment in the Biocube, or was that in your old tank? I think those can really restrict the flow through the filtration system... I had one in my Nuvo 10 and had to remove it. 

 

Your parameters all seem good... not sure what’s going on. I did have an issue in the beginning with my refractometer being incorrect, but it sounds like you are using a calibration solution... are you shaking it to mix it up? I ended up getting a Milwaukee digital refractometer cuz I was having so many issues with mine. 

 

I guess if it was me I’d add a sack of matrix media to the back, remove that wavemaker, and use Nutri-Seawater for the next water change or two, or some BioSpira, to enhance the beneficial bacteria in the system. And maybe try a different salt?? (I use Reef Crystals mixed to 1.025.) BTW... my nitrates and phosphates are super high... I wonder if yours could be too low? 

[sadie]

yes, an attachment.  It goes over the out put nozzle.  and tuns in a circular motion.  I was thinking it might not be strong enough for the 16 gal (12 gal obviously not as deep) which is another reason I kept the power head.  I will get a photo of both.

 

I do shake the solution before using it, but not crazy shake.  I also picked up a new refractometer this summer.  The one I had was about 15 yrs old.  😆

 

I will look into all those things you mention.  I did switch to a reef crystal once, but switched back.  I forget why.  I have heard of some ppl that dose nitrates to their tank, though I don't know why.  i know when I was having a problem keeping zoos alive, someone told me they like a dirtier tank and I might have to add nitrates, which scared me so I just stayed away from zoos.  😬

[sadie]

You can see here the wavemaker on the top left and my power head on the right.  I got the picture as it rotated to the top, you can see how it breaks the water top. 

[banasophia]

27 minutes ago, sadie said:

You can see here the wavemaker on the top left and my power head on the right.  I got the picture as it rotated to the top, you can see how it breaks the water top. 

Well the good thing is that your tank isn’t full of algae, your scape looks great, so at least you can stock it really nice once you figure out what’s going on. 

[sadie]

The Matrix Media seems the same as the Purigen I have in there.  The BioSpira says to check the weather as it cannot freeze or go above 90.  I live in New England and we're expecting -10 for the lows next week. 😬  But that also seems more for new tanks, but it did mention about adding it with new additions to a tank.  Doesn't seem like it would hurt.

 

The Nutri-seawater seems cool.  They carry it at Petco, maybe I will see if they have it at mine and pick some up tomorrow and try it for a couple changes,see if it makes a difference

 

[sadie]

1 minute ago, banasophia said:

Well the good thing is that your tank isn’t full of algae, your scape looks great, so at least you can stock it really nice once you figure out what’s going on. 

Thanks, that is true, no algae.  But that's IF I can figure out what's gong on!  🤔  I guess I'm not ready to give up yet, but it is sooooo frustrating!!  

 

Thanks again for all the help and advice.  

[banasophia]

7 hours ago, sadie said:

The Matrix Media seems the same as the Purigen I have in there.  The BioSpira says to check the weather as it cannot freeze or go above 90.  I live in New England and we're expecting -10 for the lows next week. 😬  But that also seems more for new tanks, but it did mention about adding it with new additions to a tank.  Doesn't seem like it would hurt.

 

The Nutri-seawater seems cool.  They carry it at Petco, maybe I will see if they have it at mine and pick some up tomorrow and try it for a couple changes,see if it makes a difference

 

Matrix Media is like little rocks that are very porous and add surface area for your beneficial bacteria to grow. You would use it in addition to Purigen. I use filter floss, Chemipure Elite, Purigen, and matrix media.