Need help with water parameters. Been having some problems lately.

[Kontactk]

I have not been having an easy time lately with my tank. One of my trochus snails died recently, and the other snails are looking more lethargic than normal. They haven't been grazing over the rocks as much recently, and I am going through an algae bloom. The algae looks green and fuzzy in some areas, and black and fuzzy in other areas. Corals are looking okay, besides a ricordea that has dwindled to the size of a dime. I was trying to feed the corals more to revive them, which probably led to the algae bloom.

 

I am pretty on top of my weekly WC's, but have slipped a few times before. Store-bought RO/DI mixed with Fritz RPM Pro. My tank has been set up since November, and I'll admit that I have not been on top of my testing.

 

Alk = 4.5

Mg = 1270

Ca = 370/380

pH = 8.2

 

Does it seem like my issues are coming from the low Alk and Ca? If so, what can I do to raise them to safer levels? I don't want to constantly chase parameters, just something simple that I can include in my weekly routine.  

[Clown79]

There can be many issues going on.

 

Your corals being unhappy is because your alk is VERY low. 7 is nsw level, anything lower than 6.5 and you will start to see the effects.

 

Ca is just at the threshold of low. 370 is the lowest it should be.

 

Your magnesium is ok but ideally 1300 would be better.

 

What is your salinity?

 

There is no simple cure to this issue. 

 

Alk is a very important parameter and new hobbyist are best to test weekly for ca, alk, phos, and nitrate. Ph is the one parameter we advise not chasing but alk, that one is a given to be tested regularly.

 

Do you pre stir or roll the bucket of salt before use? 

 

Have you ever tested a freshly made batch of saltwater? 

 

Do you make salt water and then store it before use?

 

 your first step is testing newly mixed sw because if the salt mixes low, the best thing is to get a salt that doesn't.

 

It's too hard dosing the tank for coral consumption and needing to  dose the newly mixed water every week to maintain stable numbers- the easy solution is salt change.

 

dosing is not meant to be used to raise your parameters, it's meant to be used to replenish daily consumption of the parameters.

 

The algae sounds like gha. Its caused from high nutrients. Nitrates and phos. Can be caused from poor water quality, lacking in a maintenance routine like not vacuuming sand, not basting rocks, not changing filter media as often as it should, using the wrong media, not cleaning filters or back chambers, over feeding, over stocking, poor water quality .... you got to figure out the cause to fix the problem.

 

So the first step

 

Test your newly mixed salt water at the proper salinity(should be 1.025 or 1.026)

 

Next step

 

Test your rodi water for tds, nitrates, and phos

 

 

 

 

[Kontactk]

I think I should have been more descriptive in my first post. Thank you for the very informative reply tho.

 

Let me clarify a little bit:

Quote

What is your salinity?

Usually 1.26. I have an ATO that I have, filled with RODI. I have refractometer calibration fluid and I test the salinity religiously.

 

Quote

Do you pre stir or roll the bucket of salt before use? 

I actually don't do this. I bought the salt in a bag, not bucket, but I will try my best to shake it up a little before mixing.

 

Quote

Have you ever tested a freshly made batch of saltwater? 

Only for salinity. I will test it tomorrow though.

 

Quote

The algae sounds like gha. Its caused from high nutrients. Nitrates and phos. Can be caused from poor water quality, lacking in a maintenance routine like not vacuuming sand, not basting rocks, not changing filter media as often as it should, using the wrong media, not cleaning filters or back chambers, over feeding, over stocking, poor water quality .... you got to figure out the cause to fix the problem.

Yeah I did not clarify this enough. During cleaning day, I will blast the rocks, vacuum sand, and scrape the glass of any algae. I run an aquaclear 20 with Chemi-pure blue. I have not been changing it very often. I target feed corals and my clownfish about 3 times a week. I almost thought that my tank was LACKING nutrients, which was why I upped the feeding recently. 

I have good coralline growth, would that take up too much Alk/Ca? Again, until recently, I barely had any algae other than the occasional hair algae that the snails would quickly munch on. 

 

Again, thanks for your input! I will test my pre-mixed salt water tomorrow. I have a TDS meter coming in, so I will test the RODI. I never register any nitrates/phosphates, but I heard its probably because the algae is consuming it so quickly.

[A Little Blue]

Raise your Mg slowly to 1450. Most algae don’t like high level of Mg. 

[specore]

4.5 seems awful low for alk.  Like almost too low to be true if you do regular water changes and don't have a lot of stony corals.  I would maybe suggest get your test results verified by another hobbyist or LFS before you do anything else.  

[paneubert]

5 hours ago, A Little Blue said:

Raise your Mg slowly to 1450. Most algae don’t like high level of Mg. 

True that. I have carpet bombed really intense algae with high mag before.  Worked well and nobody else even noticed.  You can even go higher. I think I was in the 1600s. A lot of mag....

 

Not that you should avoid finding the root of your larger issue. 

[Clown79]

6 hours ago, Kontactk said:

I think I should have been more descriptive in my first post. Thank you for the very informative reply tho.

 

Let me clarify a little bit:

Usually 1.26. I have an ATO that I have, filled with RODI. I have refractometer calibration fluid and I test the salinity religiously.

 

I actually don't do this. I bought the salt in a bag, not bucket, but I will try my best to shake it up a little before mixing.

 

Only for salinity. I will test it tomorrow though.

 

Yeah I did not clarify this enough. During cleaning day, I will blast the rocks, vacuum sand, and scrape the glass of any algae. I run an aquaclear 20 with Chemi-pure blue. I have not been changing it very often. I target feed corals and my clownfish about 3 times a week. I almost thought that my tank was LACKING nutrients, which was why I upped the feeding recently. 

I have good coralline growth, would that take up too much Alk/Ca? Again, until recently, I barely had any algae other than the occasional hair algae that the snails would quickly munch on. 

 

Again, thanks for your input! I will test my pre-mixed salt water tomorrow. I have a TDS meter coming in, so I will test the RODI. I never register any nitrates/phosphates, but I heard its probably because the algae is consuming it so quickly.

Sounds good.

 

Ensuring the salt in the bag gets mixed helps distribute it evenly.

 

Yes, if you have a lot of coralline and corals, both use alk and ca.

 

If you have not been testing regularly, I suggest testing alk every day from waterchange to waterchange, a week. This will show you where your levels begin and how much the tank is consuming.

 

Yes algae does take up nutrients causing tests to be inaccurate but leading up to the algae, there would have been results if you tested weekly.

 

What test kits are you using? 

 

Mag should be a bit higher as well. It keeps ca and alk balanced. 

 

But before trying to get your numbers anywhere, I'd test your new water, and test the tank for a week.

 

You can't fix the situation without knowing what is the cause...is it the salt or is it consumption.

 

Mag high has been known to help with algae but I question that because my mag was between 1500-1600 for a long time and I still had gha appear. No massive outbreaks but I contribute that to good husbandry and not allowing the gha to get out of control.

 

 

Your filtration. Chemipure doesn't last as long as claimed. It does need to be changed at least every 3 weeks. 

The additional media mixed with the carbon exhausts quickly.

 

It may be more beneficial to bag your own carbon, purigen, phosguard. You save money buying in bulk and you control the qty used.

 

Do you use filter floss because that helps remove particles in the water column helping with nutrient control.

 

How often do you clean your Aquaclear?

 

 

[Kontactk]

Here are the water parameters from a fresh made batch of salt water. I tested twice; first from one week old premixed water, and second from freshly mixed water after salt bag was mixed. Both tests showed nearly identical results. I am using the Salifert tests for everything, except the pH test is from API.

 

Mg: 1280

Ca: 390/400

Alk: 8.0

pH 8.0

 

This is Fritz RPM salt mix, which I had heard very good things about. It seems like Alk is the only parameter that my tank seems to be consuming a lot of. I just did a WC and will monitor the parameters as days go on. Should I think about changing salt mixes? I am getting to the bottom of my bag.  

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, Kontactk said:

Here are the water parameters from a fresh made batch of salt water. I tested twice; first from one week old premixed water, and second from freshly mixed water after salt bag was mixed. Both tests showed nearly identical results. I am using the Salifert tests for everything, except the pH test is from API.

 

Mg: 1280

Ca: 390/400

Alk: 8.0

pH 8.0

 

This is Fritz RPM salt mix, which I had heard very good things about. It seems like Alk is the only parameter that my tank seems to be consuming a lot of. I just did a WC and will monitor the parameters as days go on. Should I think about changing salt mixes? I am getting to the bottom of my bag.  

It's not your salt mix. That is now ruled out 

 

 

 

So next step is

 

Do a waterchange and test after the waterchange.

 

Test every day for a week alk and ca.

 

This will show you the consumption of the tank. 

 

[Kontactk]

Thanks. After my WC, my parameters were

Alk: 6.1

Ca: 380

 

I am thinking I will do another water change today to get Alk up to at least 6.8 or 7.

So for monitoring the consumption of the tank, how much fluctuation of Alk is okay? I would like to keep WC once a week, but I want to know that I am changing a high enough volume. So say my Alk goes from 7 to 6.5 during the week. Is that too much of a fluctuation?

 

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, Kontactk said:

Thanks. After my WC, my parameters were

Alk: 6.1

Ca: 380

 

I am thinking I will do another water change today to get Alk up to at least 6.8 or 7.

So for monitoring the consumption of the tank, how much fluctuation of Alk is okay? I would like to keep WC once a week, but I want to know that I am changing a high enough volume. So say my Alk goes from 7 to 6.5 during the week. Is that too much of a fluctuation?

 

You need to get it back up to normal levels slowly.

 

Once you determine what the consumption is, the only way to replenish it is either by waterchanges or dosing.

 

 

If you slacked on your waterchanges and were not dosing, that's a logical reason for your alk being so low.