Help with sps please!

[emeraude1484]

Parameters:
Specific Grav (with recalibrated refractometer) 1.025
PH: 8.2
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:0
Phosphate:0 (asking LFS to do a test)
DKH:9
Calcium:420

Waiting for mag test to arrive at LFS tomorrow

 

[emeraude1484]

Also starting balling method for dosing from Ocean Fresh Aquarium Products.

 

[emeraude1484]

Parameters: last night
Specific Grav 1.025
PH: 8.2
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:0
Phosphate:0

*DKH:7* lowered from 9 in a day

Calcium:420

Mag: 1200

 

[stevedola]

mag is unacceptably low. And from Thursday night to Saturday morning you drop 2 dkh? are you still dosing? if so you should increase your alk/calc dose. You may have just found you problem. Alk swings will destroy sps. DId you do a waterchange friday?

 

[stevedola]

I don't actually have hair algea I have valonia and TONS of cyano Waiting another 1.5 weeks to do another 3 days lights out.

IME 3 days with lights out is only a bandaid and cyano will comeback by the weeks end. You need to address the reasons cyano appears which could be a few things. Flow, nutrients, dosing carbon (N/A), ect...If you want a quick fix that will work well for months use redslime remover. follow directions and 2 days later you have no cyano and the water is crystal clear. just add an airstone to keep the oxygen up while the skimmer is shut off. Ive used it a bunch of times over the years and it works great everytime.

and Valonia can only be reduced with manual removal. 3 days out wont do it. get in there and pull em out. Then get an emerald crab or 3 to eat it up.

 

[emeraude1484]

mag is unacceptably low. And from Thursday night to Saturday morning you drop 2 dkh? are you still dosing? if so you should increase your alk/calc dose. You may have just found you problem. Alk swings will destroy sps. DId you do a waterchange friday?

Did the water change on thursday 26th couple of hours before the tests. Haven't dosed anything yet because I wanted to test and figure out what's used up so I didn't overdose something.

 

[emeraude1484]

IME 3 days with lights out is only a bandaid and cyano will comeback by the weeks end. You need to address the reasons cyano appears which could be a few things. Flow, nutrients, dosing carbon (N/A), ect...If you want a quick fix that will work well for months use redslime remover. follow directions and 2 days later you have no cyano and the water is crystal clear. just add an airstone to keep the oxygen up while the skimmer is shut off. Ive used it a bunch of times over the years and it works great everytime.

and Valonia can only be reduced with manual removal. 3 days out wont do it. get in there and pull em out. Then get an emerald crab or 3 to eat it up.

Was considering redslime remover but Understand that it will most likely kill off my copepod population... I JUST added my Mandy so I'll keep siphoning it out and find why it's actually happening. Using the remover will be LAST resort.

 

[emeraude1484]

Are these the ideal parameters for these?
Calcium 380-450
Alkalinity 7-11 dKH
sg = 1.026
pH 8.1-8.3
Magnesium 1250-1350 ppm

 

[Mock]

Are these the ideal parameters for these?
Calcium 380-450
Alkalinity 7-11 dKH
sg = 1.026
pH 8.1-8.3
Magnesium 1250-1350 ppm

Just want to reitterate that when someone says 7-11 or 380-450... This doesnt mean to let them vary to one or the other before doing something. It means pick a number and keep the parameters spot on.... So shoot for an 8 on Alk or a 9 and 430 on Calc and keep them there... Your mag can swing I usually let it mine go from 1400 to 1200 then bump it back up to 1400... Salinaty too shouldnt change. 1.026 and keep it there. PH.... just ignore it unless its below 8 or above 8.6.... never chase that number. Test your water change water... if it comes out at an alk of 9 and a calcium of 450.. Those are numbers that you should base where you want to run your tank... If you dont you will always be chasing numbers....

 

[emeraude1484]

Just want to reitterate that when someone says 7-11 or 380-450... This doesnt mean to let them vary to one or the other before doing something. It means pick a number and keep the parameters spot on.... So shoot for an 8 on Alk or a 9 and 430 on Calc and keep them there... Your mag can swing I usually let it mine go from 1400 to 1200 then bump it back up to 1400... Salinaty too shouldnt change. 1.026 and keep it there. PH.... just ignore it unless its below 8 or above 8.6.... never chase that number. Test your water change water... if it comes out at an alk of 9 and a calcium of 450.. Those are numbers that you should base where you want to run your tank... If you dont you will always be chasing numbers....

No no I know constant is what you want I was just making sure I was right on the ranges to shoot for. Perfect, I'll aim for alk 9 and calc 430. Thanks!

 

[stevedola]

and i dont know where you heard redslime kills pods but i have never had that happen in any of my experiences.

not dosind and dropping 2 dkh to a stressed tank is a bad idea. a better idea would to be to estimate a dosing schedule(on the low side). use a basline dosing calculator or the side of the bottle even. Then adjust up or down over a couple days off testing.

 

[emeraude1484]

and i dont know where you heard redslime kills pods but i have never had that happen in any of my experiences.

not dosind and dropping 2 dkh to a stressed tank is a bad idea. a better idea would to be to estimate a dosing schedule(on the low side). use a basline dosing calculator or the side of the bottle even. Then adjust up or down over a couple days off testing.

A couple of people on here and a moderator had it happen spent about 500 buying copepods keeping his mandy alive. But the 15-20 gallon water changes plus scrapping and shiphoning is helping the cyano and bubbles. I changed the placement of things a bit yesterday as well.

 

[emeraude1484]

I will be putting the first dose in tonight. Just trying to calculate how much I need to put in there. I'm using the balling salts from ocean fresh aquatics

 

[emeraude1484]

Well... Found a rusty hair clip in the sump last night... Let's see if things settle down now!!!

 

[stevedola]

well! theres an issue right there. good catch.

 

[emeraude1484]

Well, Mg is up to 1400, Alk is slowly being raised to 10 and ca 450. Birdnest is actually starting to grow again but all acros have taken a turn for the worst stn from the bottom up seemed to have stopped but all of a sudden there are now patches of tissue bleaching and essentially flaking off... All affected pieces have now been fragged. I pruned one of my larger acro colonies to where the branches were not just breaking off when touched lightly just to see if it will come back. But the rest... I hope the healthy branches I took for frags will make it through.

 

[emeraude1484]

I have essentially tested every 2 days to see for parameter swings, alk has stayed steady at 7 cal at 440 since last update.

 

[skidoctor]

I've always been told to get your Ca and alk in check. Slowly. From there you can start dosing with kalk to maintain those levels. I am under the belief that kalk wont adjust your levels, just maintain them. The cyano might have come from the changing of your lights, but phospates play a large part in its growth.

 

[emeraude1484]

The cyano is almost gone! Only grows on the side of the tank that faces the window. I'm hoping getting my parameters in check will stop that within the next few weeks as well.

I'm actually looking into using a calcium reactor where I would be using ARM media. Until I can AFFORD that though I will be dosing daily manually to keep things in check.

 

[emeraude1484]

A little update,

Cyano still a small issue, bubbles are nowhere near as bad as they were and I"m still scrapping it off whenever I do water changes.

Iodine dipped all the corals (frags of corals), found no pests. Acros are still looking rough but don't seem to be receeding since being fragged. The pink birdnest is actually growing! The green chalice extends feeders every night, the new orange one (added on friday)has yet to do so but had not receeded or bleached in any way. The bubble added at the same time looks fantastic.

The mandy has doubled in size in 1.5mths that it's been there. The bi-coloured blenny is bold enough to stick around the mated clown pair We added a blue-sided wrasse on friday, seemed to be doing fine. Eating mysis, swimming around and now we haven't seen him in over a day The only thing that might have affected it is temp on Sunday as we couldn't turn on the air but NOTHING else was affected.

Parameters:nitrate 0.25 nitrite 0 ammonia 0 Phosphate 0 Cal 440 Alk 7.4 (this is the only one that I'm having an issue keeping steady!) Mag 1400