Tripod1404
Active member
It should be fine. Natural salinity of northern red sea is around 1.031 (41ppt). And going above 1.031, starting from 1.027 would require ~15% of the water to evaporate.
Corals Dying
- Thread starter MyHouseIsAZoo
- Start date
It should be fine. Natural salinity of northern red sea is around 1.031 (41ppt). And going above 1.031, starting from 1.027 would require ~15% of the water to evaporate.
MyHouseIsAZoo
New member
I'm confident in the salinity. We use a refractometer (had a hydrometer, but I didn't trust it as it always jumped around). Hubby checks it regularly for calibration and is usually the tester...he uses them at work and is very particular with it. I am trying to slowly lower it!
It got that high for evaporation and replacing with saltwater instead of RODI...twice. That was a rookie mistake that won't be happening again. We had been using premixed saltwater that had been purchased and when the filter started spitting because the waterlevel dropped that was grabbed for refill. We now keep only RODI and not premixed. We keep it at 72 (have a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and a heater) so we can do a quick add without offsetting the temperature and so we can do a quick mix if we need to do a water change. I always worry about rapid temperature changes on the small tank...we killed a few freshwater fish years ago because of not paying attention to water temperature when doing a water change so now we go out of our way to prevent it. The bigger tanks don't seem to be as quick to change temperature with a small water change.
MyHouseIsAZoo
New member
Did a water change yesterday (3-4 gallons) and it was looking better right away. I was right about the filter pad between the 2nd and 3rd chambers! It was clogged big time and pretty gross. I tossed it and now water flow between the chambers is much better. I took photos about an hour after the water change last night and it was already looking better. This morning we were back to crystal clear! I was running late, so I didn't take any photos 
I removed all but 2 of the coral. I'm 99% sure they were dead. I left the GSP because it is alive and well and left the galaxea because we aren't sure if it is dead or not. I was surprised by how easy it was to pry off the glued on frag plugs. My kids were not happy to see that their coral frags were gone but I explained why and they were good.
I removed all but 2 of the coral. I'm 99% sure they were dead. I left the GSP because it is alive and well and left the galaxea because we aren't sure if it is dead or not. I was surprised by how easy it was to pry off the glued on frag plugs. My kids were not happy to see that their coral frags were gone but I explained why and they were good.Attachments
RobZilla04
Active member
What is your filtration setup in the AIO chambers? Mechanical filtration is not a must, but it can clog quickly especially in such a confined space. One option is a Poly Filter pad which can be cut to size. Advantage is they will remove contaminants along with mechanical filtration. This will help clear the water and remove silica from the water column. After that you're left with Nitrate and Phosphate control.
MyHouseIsAZoo
New member
We have a protein skimmer in chamber 1, bio balls in 2 (we will likely change that eventually), 3 has our heater and now a UV sterilizer (don't plan to run that full time) and return pump. There were originally poly pads in chamber 1, but they had to be removed for the protein skimmer.
We cycled with dry rock. The photo below is what it looked like when we added the clowns. All of the color on the rock has grown over the past two months. We also have some growing on the back of the tank.
What? LOL. Maybe he did grow that much coralline in a couple of months. It's hard to gauge from the pictures just how much there is. Why are you basically calling the man a liar, though? I think anyone would notice if they bought "œpainted dry rock".
MyHouseIsAZoo
New member
It seems the photo did not properly attach to my last post. THIS is the rock when the clowns were added. The purple color did not show up all at once, but has gradually spread over the last several weeks. The first attached image is from January 27. The next image with the pom pom crab is from February 27. The close up on the speckled rock with the hermit cleaning the snail is from March 7. The final photo is from yesterday March 16. I am a total newb at saltwater/reef tanks, but if there is paint that appears over time, that is one crazy gimmick. The crab, snail and last photo are the same general area of the same rock, just slightly different angles over several weeks. The rockscape was changed between the January 27 and February 27 photo do to a collapse (rock wasn't burried in the sand enough and became increasingly unstable after our goby & pistol shrimp were added...the pistol shrimp has created a tunnel from the front left corner of the rock work to the back rear corner of the tank)
Attachments
MyHouseIsAZoo
New member
Thank you! If it's painted it is fancy paint that appears over time! Though my kids and dogs could be sneaking in and finger painting while I'm sleeping or at work :lol2: The rock was white/beige when it was purchased and added to the tank. The only thing that has been added to the rock is superglue to secure the rock together and to secure frag plugs.
MyHouseIsAZoo
New member
Is there anything it could be other than coralline or cyano? It is encrusted (I tried with my nail and then with a knife last night when I was removing dead coral frag plugs) It doesn't budge!
The next thing I'm doing is to remove the light cover and clean it as it seems to have some debris on the inside. That may help with the intensity. I also got the okay to start looking into LED upgrades for the lighting :inlove: I only had to agree to a puppy in exchange for the okay for tank upgrades. I think we both knew that wouldn't be a hard trade to make! I'm a sucker for puppy breath! Of course the kids tried to join the conversation and suggested that we get 2 puppies, one for each of them :lol: Not happening...yet :lmao:
RobZilla04
Active member
You could try ditching the bio balls completely (your rock work should be sufficient enough in 14g) and placing the poly back in chamber 1. Chamber 2 skimmer leave there, and chamber 3 leave how it is as well.
The filtration benefit of the Poly filter would out weigh the bacteria surface area provided by the bio-balls.
MyHouseIsAZoo
New member
I'm not opposed to that. The BioBalls are a PITA when needing to do anything in that chamber. I'm not a big fan of digging around in dark places I can't see. I know the chances of anything living in there are slim to none, but I still don't like it.
Borntrippn
New member
Maybe a amonia spike
gonioporagirl
New member
im getting really nitpicky here but maybe you could up your ph to 8.3 or 8.2. Be careful though because marine buffers can add unwanted phosphate
Borntrippn
New member
In my experience thesmaller the system the harder it is to keep stable
Tastee
Member
Another idea for your Bio balls is to replace them with Marine Pure balls or cubes. I use these (balls) in the first stage of my sump and they seem to be doing a wonderful job controlling nitrates. If you want to keep this type of filtration to one chamber then I would place Marine Pure balls on the bottom and cover them with Polyfilter.
I clean my Polyfilter monthly, replace as needed, and gently clean the Marine Pure balls once every 6 months in my system (don’t plan to ever replace them unless they physically break down). I keep my Polyfilter in the same compartment as my skimmer, as I use it to adsorb contaminants etc. I have a sponge filter and filter socks for other physical and bacterial filtration in separate areas. My sump sounds like a different design to yours however.
I clean my Polyfilter monthly, replace as needed, and gently clean the Marine Pure balls once every 6 months in my system (don’t plan to ever replace them unless they physically break down). I keep my Polyfilter in the same compartment as my skimmer, as I use it to adsorb contaminants etc. I have a sponge filter and filter socks for other physical and bacterial filtration in separate areas. My sump sounds like a different design to yours however.
