Ira Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 My tank has been looking really sad for the last month or so. I made two changes about that time, I don't know if they're related. I changed my fluidized media reactors with carbon and antiphos so they're being fed by my return pump and started feeding Reef Booster. All my palythoa polyps have closed up and haven't opened in about a month. All my zoanthids have closed up, one of my leathers is looking grumpy constantly, one of the heads of my hammer coral has died and my new green hammer is dying off(I'm pissed off about that) I've done 2 changes with NSW in the last month. My tests are Magnesium: 1300 Calcium: 420 PH: 8.1 Nitrates: 7ish KH: 5.4 SG: 1.026 I know the KH is way low, I somehow missed testing that the last time or two :-? Not sure how. Would that be the cause of the problems? Is it possible I've OD'd on carbon by upping the flow through the reactors? Maybe it's absorbed too much of something I can't test for? Possible overdosing on Reef Booster? I've been feeding the normal weekly dose(1 vial a week) every second week. So any ideas? Doesn't help that I'm leaving on a trip for 2 weeks next weekend. Bad timing, tank dying, dog dying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Hi Ira, I don't have any answers for you sorry, I know nothing about Saltwater Tanks. Just thought, I would wish you the best for your 2 week trip and hope you get it all sorted before you go away. Lynda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Could be many reasons. Low kh can cause problems. Something with your saltwater, joys of using seawater, did not a sewer line break sometime ago around Wellington? Too much po4 remover or carbon, probably the problem. salinity 1.026?? How do you test this? Maybe get it down a bit. Get your kh up a bit and turn off the carbon and po4 . Reduce your halides by a couple of hours. Don’t add anything. Wait and see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Ira, My advice: 1: Remove carbon. 2: Do a 50% water change NOW with water you know is good. 3: raise KH back to 10 all in one hit with baking soda, (1 x Heaped teaspoon per 300 litres = 2DKH) 4: THEN LEAVE IT. Feed sparingly. There is nothing else you can do. If after a week things havent changed do one more 50% water change. CHECK YOUR WATER SOURCE FIRST. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Dont put carbon back in until you know everything is fine. You can go up to 6-8 weeks with Zero Carbon and it wont hurt anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 cracker, Don't know much bout Saltwater Tanks, so does it apply to do changes very slowly? Would changing everything so quickly not be bad for the fishies? Don't want any dead fishies a. Lynda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 No, Ira knows to sort the temp/salinity and Ph first etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Beforehand I'd been using ASW for 3-4 months, the reason I got some NSW is because the tank was looking bad. So, since the NSW came after the problem started it's not due to the NSW. Just retested the salinity, it's a bit more like 1.025. Tested with a refractometer. I'm thinking I'll leave the carbon out for good. No noticable difference from having it in. Hmm, Yeah, I think I'll mix up a batch of ASW and do a big water change. I can't do a 50% though, not without dropping the water level past a couple corals and my anemone and draining my sump dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Thats cool.....You'll want carbon back in in a few weeks. The water will be horribly coloured. I use carbon 24/7. Just dont use too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 I would not do a big water change as it will stress the corals more. Just do 20%. Maybe it was the carbon or po4 remover; do your corals look like they are faded at all?? got any photos?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 No, the corals colors are about the same. Well, except the leather that's grumpy, it's gray instead of its normal tan. Cracker, I never noticed any change in water color from befor or after adding carbon. I only added it because people tell me I should. O_o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 20% wont remove enough toxins in the water column, (If any). 50% will put a decent dent in the problem. 50% will not hurt the reef as long as you have the temp/salinity and ph/kh equal befroe adding it. I have done HEAPS of 50% water changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drifty Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 my brother started using carbon in his tank and his mushrooms etc started shriveling up, he removed it and everything came back again. Neither one of us use it anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 in a thread i read u were adding a lot of mag chloride at once that might do it if u added it too quick?/ Jmt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 KH: 5.4 That would be my first pick. Fix that and more than likely things will perk up in a couple of weeks. KH is the tanks main source of carbon, and is generally limiting already, so when it gets down that low, it can cause real problems. Layton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 What type of phosphate resin are you using? Is it iron based or aluminium based? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 antiphos is zeolite based, so it's aluminium. Either way there is potential for problems using both. I'd say the cause of the problem is mainly the KH though. Layton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Reading the thread again i pick the problem is the low Kh, which could have be caused by the antiphos. Antiphos/rowaphos tend to drop kh fast which in my experiance causes problems especially if you use more than what the instruction say. Best just do 20% water chnage and get the Kh up. also again reduce lighting as the coral wont need much light when damaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Instead of shortening the lights timing I've just raised it up about a foot. If the problem turns out to be because of the low KH I'm going to start banging my head on the floor like this for missing something so obvious, and not testing it since, according to my records, December 2nd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 pretty much doubt it is your water. more like the kh cause by the antiphos. How much antiphos did you put on?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Ummm, Not sure exactly, I didn't measure exactly. A handful or two more than in this picture. I started it with that much, added another handful after 2 weeks then a couple weeks later I changed the plumbing around so the return pump was blowing through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Well I hope it is the KH, although I have to say I've had KH lower than that with no major problems. I googled antiphos but was not able to get the precise formula, however if it is one of those aluminium based ones that leaches aluminium, that can cause problems, in fact, the same problems you've got. If fixing the KH does not solve things, before you go away I'd pull both the carbon & the antiphos, and do a big (75%) + waterchange, then try to narrow things down when you get back. Perhaps change to an iron based phosphate resin & see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Ira, 20% will not dilute enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 My only suggestion is I had trouble remember when I over dosed with carbon by running through a filter. I only run it in a sock bag now with no problems my KH was down to 4 this week with no problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Yeah, I've yanked the carbon and phosphate resin out, it's not going back in for a looong time. And I'll do as big of a water change as I can with ASW, about 30-40%. I'm not so sure I want to do that though, because I'm tending to blame a lack of something in the ASW. Although, I don't have any justification for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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