damage control mode HELP!

[chakacris]

Hi everyone, I need some help.

For the longest time my tank has been a zoa killing machine, every time i try one it goes really well for a couple of weeks and then all the way down from there, never seen eggs, nudys or spiders, check almost every night with a small flashlight, mushrooms and one paly I have have done great since day 1 over 3 years ago.

I do water changes with natural seawater, before use filter with carbon, gfo and a UV.

Just in case spent the last year without a single zoa to kill any specific predators.

2 maybe 3 weeks ago my lfs sold me a beautifull rock with palys and zoas in it, full of palys and about 12 beautyfull zoas, less than 1$, a steal right? well everything went well about 1 week and the zoas started to close, checked every single thing i could and everyhitng is fine, once again stumped, reading and reading and i realized the one thing i have never checked is my instant ocean hydrometer, i know they are crap but this is Venezuela, refractometers are rare.

Went to the lfs i bought the rock and tried their water, my hydrometer said 1.022!!!, tried multiple times, still 1,022, now i know two things: first i need a new hydrometer, found a glass floating one, at least those are way better. second, i need to get my water to 1.022 on my hydrometer FAST while I buy the floating one.

same day go to another store i have bought coral from, tested theirs, 1.021, multiple times again, 1.021, ok lets get moving, have an aquarium to save!... saw a rock with yellow parazoanthus and a kenia tree, i knwo how to kill the tree if i need to and i love that zoa, how much? 0.50 USD, SOLD!

Started dripping RO water 1 drop a sec, took 4 days but now i am at 1.0215. (remember my hydrometer is off, this is the value a good reef has on it.

yellow parazoas doing great, kenya tree doing great, palys doing great, zoas with the palys still closed, i think i should do something.

My ideas are:

1.- take SOME zoas off the stone in case the palys went agresive with the change of tank, separate the zoas to another part of the tank.

2.- take ALL zoas off the stone in case the palys went agresive with the change of tank, separate the zoas to another part of the tank.

BOTH mean taking them off of the stone soflty and gluing them to a small rock (i have dead coral dry and completelly white for this). saltwater dip in iodine?

3.- dip the piece and wait and see.

4.- wait and see.

what whould you advice?

another thing, how whould you dip? in freshwater o saltwater? i have both perixide and iodine, how whould you do it? how much time?

ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: arround 25.
PH: 8-8.5
Kh: 9
Po: 1
Cu: 0

 

[chakacris]

Pictures of the corals. They are under a 145w black box led from WattShine, 75% blue, 25% white.

 

[chakacris]

sorrt dont knwo how to edit my post, the second picture is the coral second day, you can see the zoas open, the first one is today.

 

[sde1500]

You are going the wrong way with salinity. You should be aiming for 1.025 or 1.026. Your tank is a little high on nutrients. Aim for around 10 Nitrates, phosphate of 1 is way too high, you'll want that much lower. Alkalinity of 9 is fine, whats mag and calcium?

 

[Jekerry]

I’m confused. What is your salinity? It should be 1.026. Why are you lowering it?

 

[chakacris]

I'm confused. What is your salinity? It should be 1.026. Why are you lowering ityes salinity should be 1.026, but checking my hydrometer in a thriving reef it sais 1.022, so it off, wich means if it sais 1.022 when in a tank with 1.025-6 water, when i test it in my water and sais 1.026 its actually closer to 1.030, i have to use it as reference to another water instead of as an actuall meassuring device untill i can buy a good one.

 

[Jekerry]

Fish stores might run low salinity in fish only tank. Get a refractometer that you can calibrate. You can get them on amazon for like 20 dollars. Then you calibrate them to a water sample they include with it. It is much more reliable and easy to use. Did you ask the store what their water was at? Make sure it really is off before messing with it. You need to know what your tank really is at and a swing style isn’t going to cut it.

 

[Troublekitty]

Does your LFS sell mixed reef water? Thats going to have a salinity of 1.026 which is what you need. Also running carbon can mess with your zoas.

 

[sde1500]

Does your LFS sell mixed reef water? Thats going to have a salinity of 1.026 which is what you need. Also running carbon can mess with your zoas.

I wouldn't count on the water being that. I know since most run it slightly lower their water they sell is likely the same.

 

[afm32607]

1) I would suggest calming down and not doing anything to change the water. My experience has been the slower you act to adjust (most) things the better it is for your animals.

2) +1 to the ATC Refractometer that can be adjusted. Buy the cheap one from BulkReefSupply, i believe they will toss in a bottle of calibration fluid.

3) Have you tried iodine or other coral dips (Coral RX or Revive) before a FW dip? Usually more gentle from what I've read.

4) Have you tried putting them in a shady spot?

 

[chakacris]

1) I would suggest calming down and not doing anything to change the water. My experience has been the slower you act to adjust (most) things the better it is for your animals.

2) +1 to the ATC Refractometer that can be adjusted. Buy the cheap one from BulkReefSupply, i believe they will toss in a bottle of calibration fluid.

3) Have you tried iodine or other coral dips (Coral RX or Revive) before a FW dip? Usually more gentle from what I've read.

4) Have you tried putting them in a shady spot?

havent tried the shady spot yet, i think ill try that, but they were under metal halides in the store so i didnt think my light whould be too much for them, thank you for the advice!

 

[JZinCO]

Wait. You use actual seawater but your salinity is off? What gives?
I think you need to explain how you are getting or making up saltwater. And describe how you are dealing with evaporation.
If something is off with either of those, you'll be chasing your tail getting salinity dialed in.

 

[chakacris]

Thats exactly the thing, i dropped the ball in my top off since its manual and daily and most likelly at some point during a water change i took out less than i put back in, its the only way, i didnt test my seawater for salinity because its seawater (stupid but understandeable mistake i guess?), I test it for copper and run carbon through it for a week before use just in case, i store it in sealed containers to avoid any evaporation. I am not chasing any salinity number right now but the same salinity (needle position in my hydrometer by their water) I see in healthy tanks wich by the way are the same most of my corals have come from. I cant really trust their numbers because oddly enough they use in both stores the same instant ocean hydrometers I have, but I can trust their coral health, against my coral death. I did it and my fish and corals started to do better, more apetite from the fish and my mushrooms started being a bit more colorful and stretched a bit more.

 

[chakacris]

once i get my hands on an instrument i feel i can trust ill go back to chasing numbers again.

 

[JZinCO]

Okay I see. Sounds like for top off and water changes, you'll just need to find a way to mark the water level on your containers. That should avoid future issues.

And you can always do alot of successive water changes in the interim to bring your salinity back to the proper level.
I don't know what it's like in Venezuela but wish you luck finding a decent refractometer.

 

[Fylerb]

Stable parameters are key. Also try and get nitrate Down some