Need some help with my water parameters

K

kar2oons

Premium Member
Hi All,
I have been having some issues with some of my Zoa colonies closing/melting I have checked and there are no pests such as nudis or spiders so Im guessing it has to do with my parameters. It's getting frustrating to say the least [smilie=sadsmile.gif] I'm no expert to a lot of the technical parts of this hobby so I'm looking for some direction to figure this out, btw I just switched back to Instant Ocean from Aquavitro Salinity but this has been happening before the change. I keep mostly Zoas/Palys with a few SPS/LPS but they seem okay, I have noticed an increase in those little brittle serpent stars and feather dusters. I have lost colonies over the past 3-4 months and some stuff looks good but others are so so and things I have had for awhile started looking crappy.

Tanks - 100g & 55g with same water system. Sump with Reef Octopus Skimmer run for a few hours a day

Lights - Lighting hasn't changed running 6-bulb T5 fixtures on both tanks (ATI bulbs 5-Blue+ & 1Purple+ on each fixture)

Live Stock:
100g - Regal Tang, Naso Tang, Yellow Tang, Bristle Tooth Tang, Melanarus Wrasse, Six Line Wrasse
55g - Tomini Tang, Powder Blue Tang, Yellow Tang, Six Line Wrasse, Black Clown, 2 Blue Damsels Hermits/Snails
[
Tank Parameters Tested Today:]
Temp: 78-79
Salinity: 1.026
PH: 7.6
Alkalinity: 12DKH
Calcium: 420
Magnesium: 1480
Phosphates: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrates: 0
Ammonia: 0

My PH is low and I have trouble keeping it up :( Any ideas or suggestions from my fellow reefers??

Thanks, John
 
I have heard that zoas like some nitrates, and phosphates in the water. Have you improved the filtration of the water? I think that is what happened to me, and I switched to acroporas because the zoas were no longer growing as well, and looking as good as when I was doing less to eliminate nitrates, and phosphates.
 
Alk is high imho. My zoas get mad if I go above 10. As in really, really mad. And they do like some nutrients in the water column. Are you feeding anything like reefroids? I found my zoas went nuts when I started feeding a mixture of reefroids, ocean nutrition lps food, ocean nutrition filter feeder food, freeze dried arctic copepods, and freeze dried decap brine shrimp eggs. Most of this is small enough that the fish won't try to steal it.

Cyclopeeze is also a favorite treat, I use it to spot feed.
 
Sherita I do feed reefroids and Cyclopeez and rods. I have been using a buffer to try to get my PH up so I'm guessing that's what Is shooting up my AlK. Why would my PH stay so low though?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
What test kit are you using for Mg. I only ask because I use the Red Sea Pro, and its endpoint is very tricky. Watch the video on YouTube if you are using it. I've heard of people being as much as 200 ppm off.
 
@saltyrottie wrote:
How can you bring alk down? Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2 said:
Stop adding buffer and water changes. Each tank is different, but mine will drop a couple of points over a weeks time frame if I don't add any buffer. I personally try to keep mine around 8 but it does drop to 6 if I forget to add buffer on a daily basis.
Click to expand...
 
When are you testing the PH. I believe it will be lowest in the morning. You could try adding Kalkwasser, it will raise the ph some. I know it is something I should do, but I've never tested my ph.
 
I run a calcium reactor and the effluent PH is around 6.8, so I just variously test my tank with the probe. No real set time.
 
alk at 12 and ph at 7.6 .. thats a rough one. i wouldn't try to drop the alk untill after the PH is closer to 8. something is acidifying your tank in-spite of the high alkalinity. the typical culprit is CO2 buildup.
try putting some tank water in a jar - test the PH, then take it outside, wave some fresh air into it, put the lid on, and shake it up real good. repeat the fresh air and shake a couple of times, then check the PH again - if it goes up, you have too much CO2 in the water column. - then take the same jar back to your tank room and do the same thing with air from that room - if it goes back down, your have too much CO2 in the room.

if its CO2, and if you aren't skimming with your skimmer (and its in-sump) you might try leaving it on and just removing the cup to let it "volcano" and help oxygenate the water and point a power head or two to the surface for better surface agitation
if its not CO2, do some big water changes. i cant think of any chemical that would drop PH but not alkalinity that you want (much of) in your tank.
 
Do you buffer? How do you measure PH? Maybe a Water Chemistry expert will chime in....I was like you (but on a MUCH MUCH smaller ghetto priced Zoa scale [smilie=lol.gif]) I buffered for PH and My Alk shot way up and I got melting. I researched and kept reading "Stop chasing PH" so I stopped chasing PH... I worried about Calcium, Alk and Mag and my PH fell inline.
Have you read through this?
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/
 
I don't test ph. Ever. I do own a test kit but I don't use it. I quit chasing numbers, and when I did, my corals got happy. Here's what I do:

twice weekly small water changes (as in 2-3g on a 80g system)
kalk in my ato
skimmer, sometimes, when I think about it. Or not.

I don't use carbon reactors, kalk reactors, gfo reactors or nuclear reactors. I don't dose anything but kalk in my ato. Nothing. My twice weekly small water changes keep mg in check, the kalk keeps the ca where it needs to be. I use a good quality rodi water, my filters are changed regularly and I monitor tds. I don't use fancy schmancy salt, plain old Instant Ocean. I look at my corals, they tell me if something is up. If they are mad, then I do a water change. If they are still mad, I do another one. If I suspect chemical warfare I will run carbon for a few days, then take it offline.

We can complicate this hobby WAY too much. He who has the most equipment running on a tank does not win. Once I simplified my tanks, things got much easier. And I cannot tell you the last time I tested anything on my tanks, because it's been a long, long time. And, my corals are big and healthy and sexy, and growing like weeds.

Take a deep breath, step back, and stop chasing numbers. Life will get much easier, for you, and for your corals.
 
We can complicate this hobby WAY too much. He who has the most equipment running on a tank does not win.

Agree. Simple and understanding the corals is the best approach. Although I do add those things that will make *my* life simpler and keep the "science project" look around my tank down to a minimum. I do test my tank each week - more habit than need. But after stepping away from the hobby for 5 years I need the roadmap once again. Some things come right back and other times I have to pull out the old maps and get my bearings.

Low PH, high ALK - It's summer in Texas. We have our houses closed up and the CO2 can build up driving down the PH. High ALk offsets, but many corals do not like the higher ALK. Stop buffering and do small water changes each week. Will take a month but the ALK will drop back down.

Allelopathy, chemical warfare, is harder to define and from what you have described I do not think you have an issue here. If concerned, check for what is immediately upstream from the zoas and then spread out across the tank.

Brittle serpent stars - have a TON of these on everything. Have never seen a coral react nor can I find any evidence that they do anything but eat detritus and breed.

The biggest problem I have in my tank is me. When I don't stop and think and just react I do stupid.
 
Thank you all so much for the info, I am definitely going to take a step back and go basic like when I started everything was happier back then. I think as I progressed in this hobby I had the idea that more was better and more gadgets and additives would make things grow faster and bigger...boy was I wrong. I just did a water change and will start doing them more frequent and no more buffering and chasing numbers will make my life easier for sure and less stressful. I love the hobby and Zoas but some days I would get so frustrated and it kind of took the fun away and seemed like more work and stress and I thought about hanging it up and it made me sad. :( I feel better now and confident and ready to turn things around :) Thanks again everyone I truly appreciate you all!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top