SigEpLucas
Nano Reefer
Great looking tank and I love the sps corals. The monti especially they are so cool!
93g cube of AWESOME!
- Thread starter beeguiles
- Start date
beeguiles
they call me fish geek ;p
So the 93g isn't so awesome lately. I ordered a bunch of sps coral from divers den a few weeks ago and after about two weeks or so the purple valida started to bleach along with another bushy acro. Also I just noticed yesterday that the superman and Danae monti are also starting to bleach. But on the other hand, all sps corals that were transferred over from the 29g are doing great and growing even. I've been racking my brain on why these sps are bleaching and couldn't come up with a single reason other than I was stupid and ordered sps corals way too soon. A couple weeks ago I had my calcium and alk tested and the calc was around 560 and the alk was around 16. That's high so I figured I'd skip water changes for a couple weeks as long as the nitrates stay at 0, which they did. So last night I tested my calcium and alk again and the calcium is 380 and the alk is 12. Calcium is low and alk is still high. Should I have kept of with the routine water changes so the calc and alk would stay at least equal with each other? Also I tested freshly made saltwater for calc and alk and calc was 500 and alk was 16. So would doing a water change boost the calc up to where it was before. The sps did seem happier before except for the valida which I think had rtn. All my other parameters are in check
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0
Temp 79 steady
Sg 1.025
Ph 8.0
Also I thought maybe the photoperiod was too long so I cut it down from 9 hrs to 8 hours. If anyone has any thoughts on this please feel free to throw it out there. I'm thinking it's bc of the calc and alk and that routine water changes will keep that stable.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0
Temp 79 steady
Sg 1.025
Ph 8.0
Also I thought maybe the photoperiod was too long so I cut it down from 9 hrs to 8 hours. If anyone has any thoughts on this please feel free to throw it out there. I'm thinking it's bc of the calc and alk and that routine water changes will keep that stable.
Sorry to hear that.
Adding fresh saltwater to the tank will raise both though, I think.
Maybe look into dosing for them to get them into proper ranges with each other? I figure with all those SPS you'd likely have to dose eventually anyway.
Looking forward to the next round of pics, though! I love this tank. :-)
Adding fresh saltwater to the tank will raise both though, I think.
Maybe look into dosing for them to get them into proper ranges with each other? I figure with all those SPS you'd likely have to dose eventually anyway.
Looking forward to the next round of pics, though! I love this tank. :-)
btw...i was curious. The green tube with tentacles thing on the rock in the top left corner of this pic:
http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/ff466/beeguiles/78b05ecc.jpg
where is that rock? It almost looks like it's attached to the glass somehow. Maybe it's just the picture but if it is standing alone on the glass how did you do that? 'Cause that looks really sweet! haha
http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/ff466/beeguiles/78b05ecc.jpg
where is that rock? It almost looks like it's attached to the glass somehow. Maybe it's just the picture but if it is standing alone on the glass how did you do that? 'Cause that looks really sweet! haha
Samhain
Satin, Lace, and Sequins
Have you shaken up your salt mix lately? Mr. SaltwaterTank recommended doing this fairly regularly, as the salt mix can settle out, giving you a different composition every time you make your water. So you could try shaking the salt mix, or try a different brand. Either way, that's way too high an alk for freshly mixed water!
I would say try setting up a QT tank for the SPS having issues, but if the problem is the mix, then that wouldn't help.......
I would say try setting up a QT tank for the SPS having issues, but if the problem is the mix, then that wouldn't help.......
lilmatty5dimes
Reef enthusiast
Samhain has you covered. We had a bunch of ppl buy red sea pro coral and some of the numbers were way off so the lfs called red sea and they were saying that you should roll your tub of salt around before each time you use it.
Test the water before you put it in the tank and see what it reads.
Test the water before you put it in the tank and see what it reads.
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beeguiles
they call me fish geek ;p
I'll try rolling my bucket of salt tomorrow before the water change and I'll test the freshly made water again.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
Such a pretty tank. Need more pics!
Per your sps... sps is tough in a new tank. For some reason they just seem to do better in a more established tank.
BUT... there are some things catching my eye here.
1. EVERYTHING has to be stable. Fluctiuating temp, ph, calc, alk, mag, etc... all bad.
2. Your old coral are used to the lights. The sps could be in shock if they weren't light-acclimated.
3. Once you get into SPS, it's highly likely that your water changes will not be able to keep up with your trace elements. In fact, I have NEVER not had to dose. Ever. So if you want to keep sps, it may be time to look into some sort of dosing. There's several options for you.
Hope some of that helps!
Per your sps... sps is tough in a new tank. For some reason they just seem to do better in a more established tank.
BUT... there are some things catching my eye here.
1. EVERYTHING has to be stable. Fluctiuating temp, ph, calc, alk, mag, etc... all bad.
2. Your old coral are used to the lights. The sps could be in shock if they weren't light-acclimated.
3. Once you get into SPS, it's highly likely that your water changes will not be able to keep up with your trace elements. In fact, I have NEVER not had to dose. Ever. So if you want to keep sps, it may be time to look into some sort of dosing. There's several options for you.
Hope some of that helps!
beeguiles
they call me fish geek ;p
Thanks for the input dennis :)
What type of trace elements are we talking about dosing bc if I do weekly water changes my calc is always very high and same for my alk. I didn't test mag yet just bc I got home from work at 4am so I was kinda tired but I did test mag for the fresh saltwater and it was 1000. Not sure if there's any significance in that. Are there other things I should be looking into dosing?
Maybe I shouldn't have so many sps in my tank I just want a pretty simple tank but also have a few sps.
What type of trace elements are we talking about dosing bc if I do weekly water changes my calc is always very high and same for my alk. I didn't test mag yet just bc I got home from work at 4am so I was kinda tired but I did test mag for the fresh saltwater and it was 1000. Not sure if there's any significance in that. Are there other things I should be looking into dosing?
Maybe I shouldn't have so many sps in my tank I just want a pretty simple tank but also have a few sps.
beeguiles
they call me fish geek ;p
Sorry I forgot to respond to this earlier! That would be a todds torch coral and it's only this thing called a mag rock. It's a Rock with a magnet that goes thru the glass on the back. Got it online for 20 bucks or so with the shipping. I think it's aquamag.com
Also, I did a 10g water change today. I mixed up my salt like you guys suggested and tested the ca, KH and mg and boy was it different from last time.
These are the results from before
Ca-500
KH-16
Mg-1000
This time after mixing the bucket I got this
Ca-360
KH-16
Mg-760
That seems a bit more normal to me. I haven't tested the 93 yet, I figured I'd give it a day after the water change and then test it.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
Calc and Alk are the main things to watch, and it's very important that these stay consistent for optimum SPS health. Mag tends to stay more stable on its own and can be dosed for periodically using epsom salt. But if you want to keep sps on your size tank, I'd probably look into setting up a simple dosing system using some peristaltic pumps, water jugs, and simple timers. BRS sells their own branded pumps, the jugs and 2-Part (calcium and alkalinity mixes).
With that last test, your Alk is about double what it should be. You sure that's correct?
Your calcium is low, and your magnesium is way low too. Your mag was a bit low in the first one too.
You want your calcium more around 400-450, Alk around 8-11dkh, and Mag around 1200-1350.
With that last test, your Alk is about double what it should be. You sure that's correct?
Your calcium is low, and your magnesium is way low too. Your mag was a bit low in the first one too.
You want your calcium more around 400-450, Alk around 8-11dkh, and Mag around 1200-1350.
beeguiles
they call me fish geek ;p
Yea I'm sure it's right. I had it tested at my lfs also with salifert and I have the red sea test kit. Those results were from freshly made saltwater also. That's not from my tank. Should I wait a day after water changes to test or can I test a few hrs after a water change to get an accurate reading? I want to keep sps but don't have a ton of money to throw into it. I am trying to sell coral frags and live rock to scrounge up some money. I will look up some dosing pumps on brs. As for the alk being so high...many of you know and prolly don't agree but I use tap water. I get an annual booklet of everything in my water and I'm betting that my tap water is as high alk. I've never had a problem with my tap water affecting my previous sps corals in my 29g. What would be the effects of having high alk? I read online that it's not enough to kill corals off unless it fluctuates a lot.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
See... fluctuation is bad. Confirmation. ;)
But I *think* that having really high alk can prevent your calcium from getting high enough. And vice-versa. You might want to have a look here. Randy is a wiz at this stuff.
Calcium and Alkalinity by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
And i would let it mix and wait a bit before testing your new batch. Several hours maybe? Anyone else?
But I *think* that having really high alk can prevent your calcium from getting high enough. And vice-versa. You might want to have a look here. Randy is a wiz at this stuff.
Calcium and Alkalinity by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
And i would let it mix and wait a bit before testing your new batch. Several hours maybe? Anyone else?
beeguiles
they call me fish geek ;p
Thanks for the link, I will check it out. :)
Soo if my alk is sky high my calc won't be able to get up to where it needs to be without dosing for it. So do I still need the two part dosing system or just calc?
Soo if my alk is sky high my calc won't be able to get up to where it needs to be without dosing for it. So do I still need the two part dosing system or just calc?
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
If i was you, my first step would be figuring out how to get that alk down.
beeguiles
they call me fish geek ;p
I have no idea how to do that honestly lol I guess I have some researching to do...
Typically you lower alk through water changes but since your tap water is likely the cause that will have no affect.
Maybe post on the Water Chemistry board and see if someone more knowledgeable knows but I THINK that dosing calc will slowly lower alk....but I don't know if it will be enough.
Maybe post on the Water Chemistry board and see if someone more knowledgeable knows but I THINK that dosing calc will slowly lower alk....but I don't know if it will be enough.
beeguiles
they call me fish geek ;p
I'm testing calc alk and mg in the tank right now to see if the calc is low. I have a feeling it's not.
beeguiles
they call me fish geek ;p
Okay these are the results! I'm not real great on the color changing so I'm giving a slight range here.
Calcium 440-450
Alk 11.8-12.3
Mag 1160
Do these numbers look good? Idk how my fresh made saltwater tested higher for alk than in the tank. Doesn't make any sense to me but I tested multiple times to come up with the same results. Is this an acceptable range? If it is then why else would some of my sps be bleaching? I don't think they are light shocked. They are getting a good amount of light but not straight under it. Ugh this is soo frustrating. I'm about to say hell with it and if they die they die and not get any more sps...:(
Calcium 440-450
Alk 11.8-12.3
Mag 1160
Do these numbers look good? Idk how my fresh made saltwater tested higher for alk than in the tank. Doesn't make any sense to me but I tested multiple times to come up with the same results. Is this an acceptable range? If it is then why else would some of my sps be bleaching? I don't think they are light shocked. They are getting a good amount of light but not straight under it. Ugh this is soo frustrating. I'm about to say hell with it and if they die they die and not get any more sps...:(
