HELP! Frustrated Newbie!

[Kristi W.]

Hi guys! I am relatively new to reef keeping, and I am really struggling at the moment. I'm going to list the info that it looks like you'll need, and then ill list the issues. Here goes....

We purchased a 5 year old tank 1.5 years ago from an experienced aquarist. It was gorgeous. We lost a fish and a few corals in the move, but nothing too bad. 6 months later, every piece of coral is dead but the fish are fine. We changed lighting from compact fluorescent and metal halide to some extremely expensive (holy cow!!) programmable LEDs. We've replaced everything with a motor thinking that maybe something wasn't running efficiently.

Setup:
130 gallon tank, 40 gallon sump
3 800gph power head wavemakers
3 Aqua Illuminations Blue Sol LED units
3 stage filter (I believe that's what it's called...): filters through standard filter padding as well as active carbon and drips onto 2sq ft of bio balls, and then drips again through about 1 sq ft of coral and live rock.
Eshopps PSK 150 in sump skimmer rated for up to 200 gallons
UV Sterilizer in sump (can't see a brand and husband has stashed the box)
100 lbs of live rock in tank
78 - 80 dgr

Stock: all of which are happy and healthy
12 fish (tangs, angels, clowns, goby, damsels)
25 crabs
2 emerald crabs
2 shrimp
25 snails
4 turbo snails
2 serpent stars
1 urchin
1 anenome

Parameters:
Nitrate - 30 ppm!!!!!
Nitrite - 0.0 - 0.05
Phosphate - 0.0 - 0.15 ppm
KH - 12 dKH
Calcium - 480 mg/L
PH - 7.8 - 8.0

Additives:
B Ionic Buffer System parts 1 and 2- 25 cc daily
20 gallon water changes every 3 weeks

Obviously, the first issue is the nitrate. It's high and I can't ever seem to get it stabilized. I also have brownish green algae growing on my sand bed (2 to 4 inches deep). The only coral that I've braved adding after a total tank wipe out is a large frogspawn and it isn't doing well. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I've programmed the lights to four different recommended schedules, and nothing helps.

 

[Green Chromis]

:fish1: I would remove the bio-balls first, this will reduce the nitrates. Next you need to lower your phosphates, you can do this with gfo or other PO4 reducing media. Set your lights to one program and leave them their for a few months to see if this is also part of your problem. With high Nitrates and Phosphates you may also be overfeeding your tank so reduce your feeding. Water changes never hurt either, I do monthly water changes of 30% or so. Hope this helps. :fish1:

 

[wrott]

Decrease alk to 8-10dKH, slowly remove bio-balls. Do more frequent WCs.
Are you using a refractometer to keep sg ~1.025?
Light shock and instability of water parameters could have stressed corals to death.

 

[Finland]

Lower your alk, as stated above and perform more frequent water changes. Make sure you are using RO/DI water for water change and evaporation. Dilution is the solution to pollution.. At least until you get the nutrients down. I would lose the "3 stage filter " in the sump. They tend to be a nutrient trap leading too high NO3. Keeping the nutrient and waste in the water column, lets the skimmer remove it. Running a filter sock is fine, just change it out when needed. Live rock in the sump is good, but make sure there is good circulation, so it doesn't trap waste. Also, Led's running at 100% can fry corals if not acclimated. You didn't state if you are dimming down the leds.

 

[edsbeaker]

Welcome Kristie!
You didn't mention if you are using tap or RODI water for your tank.

 

[rtecanoe]

Bio balls and 3 stage filtration are generally for fish only tanks. As previously stated make sure u remove the bio balls a little at a time so as not to shock the system. LED lights tend to put out a lot more light than they appear so most people start their lights low like 40 percent and slowly work them up. Filter padding,like filter socks, would have to b bleached clean at least once a week or they will pump out nitrates also.

 

[Kristi W.]

Thanks guys! So bio balls are a bad thing?? I never would've guessed!

The LED's are definitely dialed down. The highest level they reach during the day is 65%. It was recommended to start them lower and increase intensity over a 6 month period. Good advice?

 

[Kristi W.]

I actually purchase the water pre made from a local store. It's inexpensive and works at the moment until I can have my own system.

 

[julie180]

Welcome Kristi.
Have you tested the water you are buying? Might be bringing in phos and nitrates and not knowing it. A hand held TDS meter is also a great way to know how pure the water is. They cost approx 20.00.

 

[edsbeaker]

I have to agree with the advice you have gotten here from others. The main things being:

1. Slowly lose the bio balls over the course of a few weeks. This will give your live rock time to grow an equal filtration capacity of what you are losing when removing the balls.

2. Do water changes more often. A good guideline is 10% of the total water volume per week. This will be a big help with lowering the nitrates and phosphates over time since you will be tripling the amount of water you are changing presently.

3. Bring down the alkalinity to around 8-9. 12 is really quite high and I'm sure the corals aren't happy at that level.

4. Test the water you are buying. It may actually be a lot more cost effective and easier on your back to purchase your own system. $150 will buy you a great one.

Just out of curiosity, how long ago did you change the lighting, and how does this compare in the timeline of when your problems started? Were you losing coral before that? If so, this seems to indicate that it was the water quality and not the new lighting. If things went down hill, though, after changing the lighting, it may indicate that the lighting is part of the problem.

I know this seems frustrating for you, but it is just part of the hobby, and you will come out of it with more knowledge to deal with problems down the road. Just give it time, though. It took six months to create the problems, and will probably take awhile to clear them up! Small steps. :spin2:

 

[rfurst]

If you lost all that coral using the same equipment the previous owner did that would suggest that it is not an equipment problem. It's an environmental problem. I agree with others on removing bioballs and other mechanical filtration. The issue is that they trap crud that would otherwise get filtered out of the water column. This stuff decays resulting in additional nitrates in the system. These filtration systems are fine for systems that can handle higher nitrate levels but not very good for nitrate sensitive systems. The issue may well be just system instability. Especially if you've had three lighting systems in such a short time. Stability is often more important than reaching any magic parameter number, within reason. There is an important calc - Alk- Mag balance that needs to be maintained but there is a range it can work within but your current paramaters seem within that range. Most obvious thing of course is nitrate levels although even that doesn't seem likely to have killed off all coral so quickly.

 

[bif24701]

I actually purchase the water pre made from a local store. It's inexpensive and works at the moment until I can have my own system.

Do Not trust This, get your own RO/DI system from BRS. 5 stage 199.99! Works! http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-5-stage-plus-ro-di-system-75gpd.html

 

[Kristi W.]

I just completed a water change and removed 1/4 of the bio balls. Ill do it weekly until they are all gone. I do test the water before it goes into my tank, but i will absolutly purchase a RO/DI system!

The owner we purchased from did not use bio balls. He had 5 tanks in his home that all ran down through the floor into a huge system in his basement. It was pretty impressive and nothing I could ever duplicate. He actually recommended the bio ball system, so that's what we went with. Our first issues happend 6 months in, so maybe that's when they started producing too much waste??

I thought the issues came from the mechanics, so they've all been replaced....and weren't the issue..lol.

I replaced the t5's that came with the tank 6 months in with the CF and metal halides after everything died. Nothing improved, so after 6 more months we replaced them with the LEDs. We love the LEDs, so I hope I can make them work.

 

[edsbeaker]

I replaced the t5's that came with the tank 6 months in with the CF and metal halides after everything died. Nothing improved, so after 6 more months we replaced them with the LEDs. We love the LEDs, so I hope I can make them work.

Doesn't sound like lighting is any part of your issue then. BTW, I love my LED's as well. They will probably work great for you too.

Sounds like you are on your way! But do get an RODI system as soon as you can. Then you are in control of ALL of your parameters. It also will give you peace of mind like on some Christmas day when everything is closed and Murphy's Law throws you a situation requiring a large water change.

Good luck and please keep us posted on how things are going.

 

[Kristi W.]

Just wanted to say that you guys are brilliant!! The bio balls are gone and my water parameters are perfect and holding steady thank you all for your help!

 

[edsbeaker]

Glad to hear!