HELP, at a loss!!

W

wicz101

New member
So my tank is in a downward spiral ... I have significant coral loss and the coral that are live do not open completely, just not looking happy, additional I am battling hair algae which I "œseem" to winning but now cyno is coming back in its place with force. Tank just looks bad.

The background is "¦. the tank was moved to its current location in July 2015 from a very well established, and I'm proud to say thriving 4ft 120g reef tank. The growth was great and color was good as well, with that said tank was mostly softies and simple LPSs. The tank looked as good as ever until about a month ago, when the spiral started.

"¦.. due to the 120g cracking in the move, the 6ft 130g I had lying around (it was $75, who wouldn't)that I was planning to be a fowlr way down the road, had to become my main reef tank, not a bad thing right! The difference between the 2 setups from one location to the other is as followed (which I feel were all positives):
-basement sump/fishroom
-larger filtration water volume
-live rock bin-approx 30 gallons volume
-40g breeder refug-approx 30 gallon water volume
-return bin approx. 25g- holding skimmer-same from 120g -seaside aquatic cs2 and brs carbon/gfo reactors
-jebao doser for alk and ca-added in aug.2015, hand dosing mg via Randy's 2-part dosing method
-using same light fixture from the 120g w/ new bulb in aug. 2015-ATI 6 bulb t5 sunpower dimmable
- the rest of the equipment is the same-see signature

I do 14g waterchanges every 7 to 10 days with reef crystals and change carbon/gfo bi-weekly. Levels are alk.- 8-9, ca.-430-460, mg.-1300-1400, ph- 8.2-8.4, salinity 1.25-1.26. About 2 month ago I changed out all my RO/DI media as tds was creeping up to 10ish and then did a 50g WC with 0 tds water and reef crystals. I then ran new gfo/carbon for 4 days, changed both out ran for 1 week and changed out again and returned to the bi-weekly carbon/gfo and 14g WC changing schedule. Also re-upped my clean-up crew about 2 weeks ago, adding 25 astera snails and 25 other assorted snails.

Now one thing that I have thought is this that the fish room inner walls has pink r-13 insulation that is exposed because I ran out of money to drywall it, didn't think it would be an issue but maybe I'm wrong"¦. If that's the case, wow am I bonehead.

Please help, feeling defeated"¦ I am truly addicted to this hobby"¦ I have been in the hobby for a number of years and don't consider myself noob, not a pro, but very comfortable in my skill level.

I AM COMPLETELY WIDE OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS AND ADVICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I guess its possible that it had copper in it, I did clean the tank with vinegar before use... was that good enough?
 
What about the rock? Could they have used the rock on a system with copper? Or the rock was saturated with phosphates and now you are seeing the result of that. It could also be the fact that you switched to a different tank and stressed things out. Did you use new sand when you switched tanks or use the same sand as before? The insulation shouldn't be a problem unless it is getting in the tank.

I really think that you had some die off, or just the release of trapped detritus or anaerobic bacteria into oxygenated water. Now you are probably dealing with the chain reaction of those extra nitrates and phosphates. What do you have for nutrient removal?
 
Have you tried a Poly Filter to check for metals? If I remember correctly, it's color will indicate if there are metals (copper) in the water
 
A1t2o said:
What about the rock? Could they have used the rock on a system with copper? Or the rock was saturated with phosphates and now you are seeing the result of that. It could also be the fact that you switched to a different tank and stressed things out. Did you use new sand when you switched tanks or use the same sand as before? The insulation shouldn't be a problem unless it is getting in the tank.

I really think that you had some die off, or just the release of trapped detritus or anaerobic bacteria into oxygenated water. Now you are probably dealing with the chain reaction of those extra nitrates and phosphates. What do you have for nutrient removal?
Click to expand...

The rock I have had for 2 years plus and was "cooked" for 2 months in holding barrels while the tank was put back together but its possible.

Now thinking about it, things could be stressed out, just thought I would have seen it sooner than now. And yes I used new sand, about 1 inch, same as previous tank, didn't consider that to be a major factor.

nutrient removal is via protein skimmer, remote 40g refug, and carbon/gfo reactor.
 
wicz101 said:
The rock I have had for 2 years plus and was "cooked" for 2 months in holding barrels while the tank was put back together but its possible.

Now thinking about it, things could be stressed out, just thought I would have seen it sooner than now. And yes I used new sand, about 1 inch, same as previous tank, didn't consider that to be a major factor.

nutrient removal is via protein skimmer, remote 40g refug, and carbon/gfo reactor.
Click to expand...

If you had hair algae, then you were already dealing with it there. Now that you are beating back the hair algae you don't have it soaking up the extra nutrients as the system stabilizes so your corals are experiencing a bit of a nutrient spike. That's my theory.
 
wicz101 said:
no I have not, but I will, first time hearing about, how is it used?
Click to expand...

It is used like a filter pad. Place it anywhere that makes water flow through it. It can be cut into discs and stacked into one of your reactors, placed into a power filter, or placed in a tray.
 
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