Water Parameters

[Kevin Buckley]

If anyone has any advice I would be very grateful. I've been running tank for 6 months and have added 3 corals around a month ago. torch, frogspawn and hammer. All frags. They don't seem to be doing well so i have dipped them in Lugols solution while doing a water change today. Not too happy at the moment unsurprisingly. They seem to be shrinking from their skeletons. I have tested parameters after WC and this is what they say: Kh 9.6, Ca 500, Mg 1330, Po4 0.1 and No3 5ppm.
i have 2 baby Clowns and a Blenny fishwise, and a Cleaner, and Blood shrimps. i did have a couple of Hermits but they were neither blue or red legged and got too big so i removed them. I have 3 Trochus and 5 Bumblebee snails, with 2 Nassarius. Algae wise i am currently tackling Red Cyano but also have bubble green algae but i am not treating at the moment as concentrating on Cyano. Neither are particularly over run. Running Rowaphos in chamber. waiting to add Purigen when medication finishes. Thanks for looking.

[mcarroll]

Please post one or two pics of the tank and of the algae.  Also, what size is the tank and how is it being lit?

 

Don't stress the corals out any more than they are.....dipping is not good for them.

 

Your water tests don't look bad, but how stable are those numbers from day to day and week to week?  How low does your alkalinity get before you dose or do a water change to correct it?

 

Double check those bumblebee snails....I'm not sure they are 100% reef safe.  They are definitely not algae eaters.  I know they look nice.

 

Cyano isn't gong to hurt anything and will probably fizzle out on its own as the tank matures.  Just make sure you aren't overfeeding (ie wasting food in the tank), and make sure to use 0 tds water for your water source.

 

Bubble algae is actually pretty nice IMO if it isn't spreading....it comes and goes in most tanks without being a problem.  

 

But if you see it spreading, same as with any algae, it's best to nip it in the bud NOW rather than waiting.  Manual removal is the way.  Try not to break bubbles when you do it....that can make it spread in some (not all) cases.

 

No form of "treatment" should be necessary for any of it.  Remove the RowaPhos and do not add the Purigen.

[Kevin Buckley]

[Kevin Buckley]

Tried to upload a video to show movement but I don’t think files are allowed. Movement is not that great. The outlet of Fluval Evo 13.5 exit, flows across the surface of the water at the rear of the tank, where I have a wavemaker directed straight at the oncoming flow, so both flows hit each other.  This is what I have been advised to do. Should I direct flows down and across, into the tank?

[jservedio]

Your parameters look great right now, but if your coral isn't looking good, you really need to be testing every few days and keep a log to see what parameters are going up and down. The amount of algae you have for a 6 month old tank is actually on the very light side of things, but I also see a ton of aiptasia that you should really take care of ASAP.

 

You also mentioned "medication" - what are you adding and why?

 

In addition to your return pump, what powerhead are you using and what is it's flow rate?

[Murphs_Reef]

That's just a sprinkle of algae for a tank that age, don't fret. 

Pick out the longer bits of green hair algae (GHA) and train your snails over the areas you have been working on. As said the aips should be the priority to remove as they have potential to sting your coral. 

 

 

[Kevin Buckley]

Thanks guys, I will test again today and post later. I have tried to remove aiptasia  with kalkwasser by dropping from syringe but I think it spiked my alkalinity and became the start of my problems.

[mcarroll]

On 12/23/2021 at 4:02 AM, Kevin Buckley said:

Thanks guys, I will test again today and post later. I have tried to remove aiptasia  with kalkwasser by dropping from syringe but I think it spiked my alkalinity and became the start of my problems.

That's definitely a potential problem off using kalk....it has to be handled with extra care.....some folks even siphon it out after it's had an hour or so to "work".  (Check out the ReefBeef podcast...I think there was an episode specifically on aiptasia.)

[Kevin Buckley]

Ok, so I have re-tested the water today. Results for last week and this week are in the added pics. Swings maybe due to a few factors. I have removed rowaphos even though the phosphates have still gone down from last week. I have removed some aiptasia with lemon juice which has resulted in a change to my PH. interesting that a saw a YouTube video where a guy was just dripping a couple of drops into the aiptasia rather than injecting. It’s worked for me….. so far? Cyano has gone. Another different thing I am doing is adding, ‘All For Reef’ at 0.5 ml per day, although over the Xmas period I might have missed a couple of days. Lastly I have tested this week before a water change that I will do tomorrow. Last week I tested after a water change. Just remembered, I have putty the frags to rock so they don’t keep falling off as I feel this will add a bit more stability and changed flow direction on Sicce voyager nano power head and turned one of the outlet flows from the sump pump to flow over hammer coral. I still feel I might lose my corals at this stage though. Thanks for looking. Any help appreciated.

[mcarroll]

1 hour ago, Kevin Buckley said:

It’s worked for me….. so far?

Very dicey with aiptasia as tweaking them can cause them to spread – glad that hasn't happened so far to you....I general this is a much better solution for Mojano's than for aiptasia.

 

The potential for damage to your corals is indicative in the first stat-sheet.....0.03 ppm of phosphate combined with 20 ppm of nitrates.  That tells be the "0.03" was effectively "0.00" as far as your corals are concerned.....this was true to the point that dissolved nitrogen wasn't being used up anymore due to the lack of phosphate (both are major essential building blocks for most biological action), it was just accumulating in the water and being processed by bacteria into nitrates.  This is a bad indication for your corals....hopefully teh damage wasn't too great and they will recover in spite of this.

 

Current conditions are more ideal....with PO4 in the "comfort range" at 0.10 ppm and with nitrates still registering at an also-comfortable 5 ppm.

 

The improvements you make to the flow will also increase availability of these nutrients to your corals.

 

All said, if you ask me your tank still looks pretty great!   Keep up the vigilance and good work, and keep your fingers crossed.  🙂