cookie extreme Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 when stuff comes in from over seas they use ice packs i can tell you have opened many boxes that came from overseas! :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Sounds like the frags are screwed I'm afraid, but still leave them & just see what happens. You say your salinity is 1.023, NSW. NSW in NZ normally has a salinity around 1.026 to 1.028. I am wondering if your hydrometer is giving you the wrong reading. If it is, no worries, just know how far out it is & then adjust mentally. IE, you may know that when it says 1.022, the salinity is really 1.026 ( for example ). Your calcium is also too high should be somewhere aroung 400 - 420 or so, although this alone would not have killed your frags that quickly. Bear in mind that if you discover your salinity is too high and dilute your water, this will also dilute your calcium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 my initial thought was salinity too as this can kill corals quick... but surely other sps in his tank would be in the same boat if that were the case? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Could be the shock of getting dropped into a totally different salinity from what they had been in before. With some of the more sensitive stuff I check the salinity they came in now, to see if an adjustment period is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 i can tell you have opened many boxes that came from overseas! :roll: You're just assuming that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Just a thought, Hazymranch, have you actually added any calcium? If not, a result of ca 480 will likely indicate that your water has concentrated itself quite a bit, NSW in NZ has a calcium level well below that. If this is the case your salinity may be considerably higher than your hydrometer is telling you. Any locals around with a refractometer who could double check for you? This would be the ideal way to make sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazymranch Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 I monitor salinity daily with a floating gauge (simple ones with thermometer) in the sump and I alternate Kalkwasser and Reef Success Ca in my top-off water every evening. I probably need to back off on my Ca supplementation but I was working under the assumption that Ca between 400 and 500 was desirable. I didn't know that you could have too much Ca and I thought that if the water became supersaturated that the Ca would simply precipitate out until equilibrium was reached. This is all so odd because everything else in my tank is doing so well and the growth on my clam and LPS have been phenomenal, which is why I have kept my Ca so high. Being that my whole system is <200L and I lose 3L/day to evaporation, the salinity can fluctuate slightly from morning to night, but it has never caused a problem before and I never saw the need for a refractometer as I use NSW and keep the top-up volume constant. I have a multi-meter with a salinity function on the way from the States so I will have a better handle on it going forward. My best guess right now is that I simply hit them with too much light too soon. My inexperience with SPS being the culprit. The only other SPS in my tank is on the substrate and hass been doing well enough in the few weeks that I have had it. I'll give it another go in a few months when the weather is better for shipping and I will have done a bit more reading on SPS in the meantime. Probably not a bad thing since I have only been into Marine for less than a year and my tank is still evolving (and probably always will be). My 40L nano is doing brilliantly and I am just about to start a 300L FOWL that may evolve into something more as I have a 250W MH for it so we will see... Thanks to everyone for all of your input. Hey Cookie- That bit about boxes from overseas was really tempting, but I think any response I had in mind to it would have been moderated out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Guidelines say: Posts that are not respectful of other members are not welcome here. Posts with the intent of “creating a reaction†are not welcome here. Post removed. Bill Mod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 i guess an ice pack would have not made much of a difference with your weather down in the south island! may be it would have kept the corals warm! freezing temps is a bad thing with sps, hey why do all of you keep your tank above 24 degree? save yourself the money and unplug the heaters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 What's worse? Overheating during shipment, or cold water during shipping? Overheating is far worse for corals than cool water. You know some acropora species live happily in waters as cold as 15 degrees? Temperature tolerance is determined more by the zooxanthellae than the coral itself. They get itchy feet when the temp gets too high, but tend to stay put longer when it's low. But that's not to say they can tolerate it indefinitely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 live happily in waters as cold as 15 degrees as fully agree, but you guys didn't have 15 degrees lately did ya? as far as i remember snow melts above 3 degrees (and i lived with it for over 18 years :-? ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Hazymranch ca of 500 is too high. Probably not fatal, many of us have accidentally gone that high with no losses. Calcium will not just automatically precipitate out if it gets too high, levels of 600 are not unknown. Many organisms will adapt to higher levels no worries, but some will do better with NSW levels. It may well be that the high levels are giving your LPS an added boost though! Once you get your multimeter let's know the outcome, I for one would be interested. I've also recently lost some coral to TN over the last few days & have not yet found the reason. So if you get to the bottom of your problem with the frags, post that also I'm wanting to learn more about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Guidelines say: Posts that are not respectful of other members are not welcome here. Posts with the intent of “creating a reaction†are not welcome here. Post removed Bill Mod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.