Do I control the nitrate before dealing with calcium and alkalinity?

[fixingstill]

Do I control the nitrate before dealing with calcium and alkalinity?
I have a soft coral tank that is 2 years old. For the past months, the zoa and other soft corals are dying. I have been testing nitrate and changing water but it made no difference. Today I tested the Ca and ALK. They are off. I could start 2-part dosing (which I thought was not needed for soft coral.)
I have tried eveything - vinegar dosing, biopellet, microbacter7, nitrate is still 25 to 50 by Salifert.

 

[krs1102]

A few questions:

What are the actual numbers for Ca and Alk? How large is the tank and what size water changes have you been doing and how often? What kind of fish load do you have and what is your feeding schedule like?

 

[AlSimmons]

How do your other corals look? (zoanthids and softies aside) What is your Magnesium level at? Picture?

 

[fixingstill]

65G DT + 20G sump.
CA was actually high. It was 500.
Alk was low. It was 5.6 dkh.
We changed 30% water every 2 weeks (or 3 if I am busy/lazy).
Fish:
Hippo tang 5"
Koran angel 4"
Yellow Tang 4"
2 ocellaris clown 2"
2 3-strip damsel 2"
1 sand sipper goby
1 filefish 3"
1 cleanfish
1 leopard wrasse 3"
1 yellowtail damsel
1 cleaner shrimp

Feeding 2 times a day with apex feeder. I believe I feed them light.

 

[fixingstill]

 

[mcgyvr]

What salt mix??..
Have you gotten a second opinion on that alk level?...
Hard to believe with only softies and routine 30% changes...
Also nitrate levels of 25-50 usually will not harm softies...

More info/details needed...

A frogspawn/hammer is lps not a softie..They can be temperamental on occasion and just go downhill quick...zoas sometimes too...but low alk isnt helpful.if it really is that low then slowly bring it up to 7-8.5 or more..no more than a .5dkh change over 24 hrs..

 

[fixingstill]

Used to be like this in Sept 2017:

 

[AlSimmons]

I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary on the softie, but have you checked your zoanthids for pests? (Asterina stars, Sundial snails, Sea spiders, Nudibranchs etc)

 

[fixingstill]

Instant Ocean Reef salt (amazon cheapest).

I am waiting for a ICP water test.

 

[fixingstill]

I have a lot of Asterina stars. I didn't know they are bad. They are on my glass a lot.

 

[mcgyvr]

With io salt that alk is highly suspicious....
Testing error is likely...

Al is just scared of asterinas....

 

[AlSimmons]

Not when I see them all hugged up in between my zoanthids...

In that other thread I see that you have THOUSANDS in your tank, no? Do you really think that saying each and every one is harmless is a safe bet? GL.

 

[fixingstill]

Let me go back to my original question. Do people usually work on nitrate first, then CA and ALK? Even with CA and ALK out of whack, soft coral usually can thrill?

 

[fixingstill]

I asked because I am thinking about resetting the tank but there are still corals in there. I just can't seem to control the nitrate and corals are dying. Maybe start 2 part dosing and see...

 

[krs1102]

I'd do an extra water change one week and see what that does to your nitrate. I wouldn't start chasing other numbers though. You really don't have the coral demand to start dosing two part, in my opinion. So, it might just be a false test.

Have you tested the water you make before you put it in your tank to make sure the Alk is normal?

 

[mcgyvr]

You keep alk/cal stable and work on reducing nitrates...plain and simple..
Letting alk get out of control/swing is far worse than some elevated nitrate...
So get alk where it needs to be and keep working on reducing nitrates...

 

[mcgyvr]

Not when I see them all hugged up in between my zoanthids...

In that other thread I see that you have THOUSANDS in your tank, no? Do you really think that saying each and every one is harmless is a safe bet? GL.

As I have thousands now and just as many in other tanks and have never had a problem in 15+ years that I can attribute to them I will say harmless with confidence...


And again...keep alk/cal/mag stable and continue addressing the nitrate issue...no reason to do a one then the next...

 

[AlSimmons]

As I have thousands now and just as many in other tanks and have never had a problem in 15+ years that I can attribute to them I will say harmless with confidence.

Just out of curiosity are you expecting heavy damage or just damage? I wouldn't really expect you to wake up one day and find a whole colony of zoanthids is gone or one of your prized sps corals has been stripped down to the bone, but just because your not seeing this doesn't necessarily mean that all 1000 of those starfish are harmless. Would you put all 1000 in a 40 gallon tank? (half your size) What about a 20? They're harmless right? *yawn*

I'm done with you... (IGNORE)

 

[lapin]

You keep alk/cal stable and work on reducing nitrates...plain and simple..
Letting alk get out of control/swing is far worse than some elevated nitrate...
So get alk where it needs to be and keep working on reducing nitrates...

+1

Unless you want to grow stars.They seem to like what you are doing.

You have quite a few fish in a 65 gallon tank. For nitrates you might think about another way to reduce them along with water changes. They didnt get to be high over night, so it might take a while to get them back down. Filter socks and wet skimmin can help and dont cost much. There are other options too.

 

[lafayettereefer]

65G DT + 20G sump.
CA was actually high. It was 500.
Alk was low. It was 5.6 dkh.
We changed 30% water every 2 weeks (or 3 if I am busy/lazy).
Fish:
Hippo tang 5"
Koran angel 4"
Yellow Tang 4"
2 ocellaris clown 2"
2 3-strip damsel 2"
1 sand sipper goby
1 filefish 3"
1 cleanfish
1 leopard wrasse 3"
1 yellowtail damsel
1 cleaner shrimp

Feeding 2 times a day with apex feeder. I believe I feed them light.

It seems to me like too heavy of a bioload for a 65g and over feeding maybe the root of your nitrate problems. Cut back on feedings to every other day or once a day and do water changes on a weekly basis until you get ahold of your nitrites.

I would take care of nitrites and big 3 at the same time just to answer your original question.