Dane's 125 Gallon Marine Setup

You got it looking good Dane.
You'll like that Blue Tip Acro:D

I owe it all to you guys! Yall set me straight and taught me the basics!

Thank You Living Reefs!

Couple of questions guys and gals...

1. Nitrates - I am doing my weekly changes and I cannot get my Nitrates to BUDGE from 20ppm. I have roughly 155 gallons of water (not counting rock @ livestock displacement). I have tried 10-15-20 gallon changes and whether it is a week out, or immediately after a change, My Nitrates are slightly less than 20. Is 20 eminently toxic? Should I just keep chipping away at it? Suggestions? I have 3 clowns, Juvi Foxface, Mandarin Goby (got rid of the others). I feed every other day in the evenings that consist of 1 frozen mysis square target fed to corals, and drift fed for fish. I suppliment that with about 10 small sinking algae pellets. Is that considered over feeding?

I mean hell, when I had Fresh water species, I have TONNNNS of fish / bioload and my trates were NEVER this high.

2. Calcium - Not really having any issues, but wanted to ask... what is consixdered average calcium depletion rate? 2 days ago after my water change, my Calcium was 460. Last night it was 400. Am i REALLY depleting that much calcium in one day?!?!?? Current Calcium suckers include: Acro, Duncan, Favia, LT Plate, Candy Cane.

I beleive that nitrates at 20 shouldnt pose much of a threat to the fish themselves. It would be the inverts and corals that would start showing signs of distress. Aside from water changes, people have used macro algea in a fuge section of a sump. You could also try cutting feeding a bit. That is where most people are getting nitrates from. We over estimate how much our fish need.

Brian

Thanks Brian. I have almost a pound of Chateo in my Sump, I have ratcheted up my Skimmer's rate of action. That leaves only 2 things. Feeding and my replacement water.

I will be ordering a RO/DI setup this weekend and see if that helps, but I wouldnt think High Nitrates could be coming from treated tap water. but then again, Im not a water-ologist either. I know there are OTHER concenrs but I havent had any other options up until this point.

The nitrates COULD be coming from your tap.The easy way to find out,is next time your getting ready to do the change,test the new water for nitrates.
Like Bj said,20s not bad for fish,can be deadly for a lot of corals,especially acros and SPS in general.
I would cut back on the feeding too.Maybe 1/4 to 1/2 what your feeding now.
On your calcium,it can drop pretty dang quick.All the corals you listed use the stuff.Then you got coralline using it to.

If your using tap water for water changes and top offs I bet that's it.

I sat down and spent some time yesterday with one of my reliable LFS guys and he pointed out a couple of things that could be contributing.

Yote - Thanks, Ill test my "Home Made" water this weekend to get a base line

Feeding - I will cut back the amount

Calcium - LFS guy seems to think I could be low on Magnesium, which is not allowing the Calcium to remain in the water column. I haven't been testing for Magnesium, but will pick up a kit today. If my MAG is ok, then we'll just keep dosing

Nitrates - Aside from it possibly being TAP, LFS guy asked me if I had ANY flow behind my Aquascape... I dont. He seems to think I have Food and Detritus collecting back behind the rocks causing my spike in Nitrates. He reccomended a small powerhead placed low that can blow behind my rock structure..

What are yalls thoughts on this?

How high did your nitrate get when you were cycling the tank? Dropping it is pretty much a math problem. Say your nitrate was 40 and you did a 20% water change. If you used RO/DI water that was 0 nitrate, the nitrate in your tank would drop to 32. If you use tap water, and say it has a nitrate reading of 10, you tank would drop to 34. So take this down to your tank is 20, do a 20% change with 10 nitrate tap, you only drop to 18. From this water change to the next, you can be back up to 20...and the cycle continues where your stuck at 20. Don't forget, hobby grade test kits are not very accurate. What brand test kit are you using?

No way are the inhabitants of your tank using that much calcium. I'm not sure if you mean it dropped 60ppm in 1 day or 2 days, but either way that can't be consumed by whats in your tank...going by the lastest pics you posted. (That's almost triple what my system uses...if you saw any pics of my tank). What's you alk and how much does it drop in relation to the calcium drop?
Are you dosing calcium? If you are...stop.
Do you see white build up on the impellers of any of your powerheads? On the heater? Any "glazing" on the glass in the tank or sump?
What brand salt are you using? I don't think low mag is your problem.

Larry, Thanks for lending me your brain power on these issues. to answer a couple of your questions,

1. I am using Nutrafin Test Kits

2.Never really thought of the Nitrate issue as you have descirbed it, but it makes perfect sense. Ill test my Tap water and see what my Nitrates are to begin with.

3. Im pretty sure Im using "Instant Ocean" reef salt.

4. I have been dosing Calcium. I will stop until we figure this out.

5. Yes, I lost 60ppm in 24 hours

6. My Alk hasn't budged since I set the tank up. The ONLY fluctuations I have had with anything are Nitrates and Calcium

7. White Buildup only on the lines coming from the DT to the Sump where it touches water. Im 90% certain that is salt buildup. No cakey white stuff anywhere else.

8. Glazing.. not sure what you mean. I have the normal aggrevating "faint haze" on the glass from years of being an aquarium, but that is all. The normal stuff we razor blade off to make a crystal clear front glass.

9. Thanks Again for all the brainpower on this!

Until you really get a grasp on the chemistry going on in your system, I highly recommend you get Salifert test kits for calcium, alk and magnesium. You may have to get them online and they cost a little more, but they are very accurate and very easy to use/read.

Using Instant Ocean, what does a fresh mix test at for alk and calcium.....before you add it to your tank? You should get roughly 370 calcium and about 11 dKH alk. What is the alk in your tank? Your mag might be a little low and you can bump it up with Epsom salt if it is.

My tank uses aprox 2.5 dKH(1 meq/l) alk and 20 ppm calcium each day and it's packed with SPS corals, a clam and lots of coralline. Realistically, your tank can not use 60 ppm of calcium/day. It's (calcium) is preciptating out of solution. Just stop dosing everything. Give your tank a few days to settle, then test alk and calcium. Do a water change and test alk and calcium. Wait 2 days and test alk and calcium. Did it drop any? They MUST both drop proportionately if they are being used for calcification by coral/coralline. If you drop 20 ppm calcium, you will drop aprox 2.5 dKH alk.

Just take your time. Throwing a tanks chemistry out of whack doesn't take long, but getting it back in line can take some time. The bottom line is test, test and test some more to determine your rate of consumption before doing any dosing.

- 10-4 Larry. Ill grab the Salifert Kits.

- I will mix a batch of Instant Ocean to 1.024 (where I have been running) and get a baseline

- Alk of Tank - 10dKH / 179ppm (just prior to water change)

- Good to know on the proportionate Alk / Calc depletion ratio. you may be on to something because according to my tests, Alk has remained pretty constant (+/-1) but Calc is all over the place.

He has a good idea about the small powerhead blowing behind the rocks, I'll add that.

ok... I left the results at home like a level-4 Tard, but i will post the results tonight.

I did test my water (three times over the weekend) and also tested my "home made / Non-RODI water). Everything seems to be stabilizing except for Alk, which has been all over the place from 17 to its current of 10 dkh. but my calcium is starting to level off and my nitrates have come down a slight bit, holding at 15.

i also discovered a VERY depressing sight... Nudibranches (dendronotoid) infesting my Zoos.

a cold water dip quickly released 200+ from the 3 small colonies of Zoos I have.

I will be picking up a Yellow Coris Wrasse to assist in erraticating them. I have seen one or two since the dip, but was able to suck them off my Zoos. Im thinking I will need another dip mid week. However, Immediately after the dip, they have returned to their normal opened selfs!

Will these Nudi's bother any of my other LPS or stonies, or are they addicted to Paly's only?

It's good you caught that.

ACTUALLY, the wife caught it... I turned the lights off and she says (little miss I dont know AnYTHING about aquariums...) "What is that little thing on the top of that red closed coral thing with the little antenna thingies"....

To which i replied... "WHERE!?!?!?... I dont see any-Ummmmm.... I have No idea, let me pull it off and see...."

That is when I freaked out...

Dane,The next time you dip those zoas,take a tooth brush to the nudis egg sacks.
They'll most likely be a kinda transparent yellow sponge looking something on the bottom of the rock.

Finally got around to posting new pics. Actually the pics are a couple weeks old

Enjoy!

First my purple Mushrooms.

Next is my Flame Polies....

Camera was a Nikon D-90 with standard zoom lense, I HADNT got my halide lights yet. cant WAIT to pop some shots under the halides.