Atragichope
New member
I'm new and I'm trying to learn. I feel like I have been patient. I've been seeking the advice from my LFS and local buddy who has had very successful reef tanks for years.
What's in the tank:
I have 2 zoa frags, 1 single head branch hammer, 1 favia frag, and 1 GSP frag. The zoas and branch hammer have been closed for about 3 days now. Although, GSP that I have is fully extended. I have 1 damsel and pair of clowns. I have about 6-8 snails, about 30-40 small tiny hermits, and three peppermint shrimp.
Setup and how I have it set:
I have an innovative marine all in one 40 gallon reef tank. I have 40 lbs of live sand and 35 pounds of dry BRS reef saver rock. I run chemipure blue and 5 tablespoons of Phosban. I have a midsize ghost protein skimmer, Mp10 and spin stream nozzles on return pump. Temp stays within 78.5 F to 79 F daily. Tank was setup as a new tank 9-1-2015. Used instant ocean biospira to help with cycle. Radion XR30w ProG3 set at 20% with radiant light cycle( essentially the schedule looks like a bell curve for 8 hrs a day).
What's going on:
Last Saturday, I tried to raise salinity from 1.024 to 1.025. Some have suggested higher salinity as I get more corals. So I decided to follow advice to get it to 1.025. I use Red Sea Coral Pro salt. Everything looked fine at the time of change until this past Thursday. I noticed things closing up, except my GSP which was fully extended but didn't look as wavy as it usually does. Looks sort of stiff while being pushed with the flow.
So I performed another 20% water change Friday because Nitrates were 20 ppm and felt it might help. It usually sits around 10-20 ppm on the Red Sea test kit I use. I usually do 20% water changes every 2 weeks. So far it's seemed to work pretty well. I went ahead with the tests Saturday morning after Friday's water change:
Nitrate: 20ppm
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ph: 8.0
Alk: 9 dKH
Calcium: 450-500
Temp: 78.5 F
I took sample to LFS and they had two different measurements which were nitrate at 10ppm and calcium way over 500.
They then suspected that calcium was the culprit and that the Red Sea coral pro salt was the issue with the high calcium concentrate in salt mix. So I picked up some reef crystals and performed another 20% water change yesterday.
Have I screwed up my tank? Will it resolve? Will my zoas and branch survive? Thanks for any help.
What's in the tank:
I have 2 zoa frags, 1 single head branch hammer, 1 favia frag, and 1 GSP frag. The zoas and branch hammer have been closed for about 3 days now. Although, GSP that I have is fully extended. I have 1 damsel and pair of clowns. I have about 6-8 snails, about 30-40 small tiny hermits, and three peppermint shrimp.
Setup and how I have it set:
I have an innovative marine all in one 40 gallon reef tank. I have 40 lbs of live sand and 35 pounds of dry BRS reef saver rock. I run chemipure blue and 5 tablespoons of Phosban. I have a midsize ghost protein skimmer, Mp10 and spin stream nozzles on return pump. Temp stays within 78.5 F to 79 F daily. Tank was setup as a new tank 9-1-2015. Used instant ocean biospira to help with cycle. Radion XR30w ProG3 set at 20% with radiant light cycle( essentially the schedule looks like a bell curve for 8 hrs a day).
What's going on:
Last Saturday, I tried to raise salinity from 1.024 to 1.025. Some have suggested higher salinity as I get more corals. So I decided to follow advice to get it to 1.025. I use Red Sea Coral Pro salt. Everything looked fine at the time of change until this past Thursday. I noticed things closing up, except my GSP which was fully extended but didn't look as wavy as it usually does. Looks sort of stiff while being pushed with the flow.
So I performed another 20% water change Friday because Nitrates were 20 ppm and felt it might help. It usually sits around 10-20 ppm on the Red Sea test kit I use. I usually do 20% water changes every 2 weeks. So far it's seemed to work pretty well. I went ahead with the tests Saturday morning after Friday's water change:
Nitrate: 20ppm
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ph: 8.0
Alk: 9 dKH
Calcium: 450-500
Temp: 78.5 F
I took sample to LFS and they had two different measurements which were nitrate at 10ppm and calcium way over 500.
They then suspected that calcium was the culprit and that the Red Sea coral pro salt was the issue with the high calcium concentrate in salt mix. So I picked up some reef crystals and performed another 20% water change yesterday.
Have I screwed up my tank? Will it resolve? Will my zoas and branch survive? Thanks for any help.
