I had a 16gal tank that was completely cycled and up and running for a couple months. After a while i then decided i wanted to go a little bigger so i changed everything over to a 29gal tank. After a day or two my gsp, zenia frag, zoa frag, and bubble tip anemone all closed up. Aftet doin some testing, i had very small traces of ammonia and nitrite. After about a 10 days the only things are my gsp and zoa. It seems as though it had went through a mini cycle. I now test ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate at 0. These have been at 0 for a week now and my zoa and gsp have not opened yet. Any advice? Thanks
how sensitive are corals to ammonia and nitrite?
- Thread starter bsnow19
- Start date
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
ammonia is pretty much fatal to all living organisms in your tank, and nitrite isn't much better, nitrate is a little easier on them…yes it sounds as though you mixed up the sand and caused a mini cycle, if you corals didn't melt and your parameters are back in check the corals will likely be fine in a couple days..
yeah but thats what kinda stumps me. my two black ocellaris clownfish acted like nothin was there while my corals were dying. oh and also all 12 of my snails died. im guessing fish are a little more forgiving than corals and inverts?
like i said i did get ammonia and nitrite readings. ammonia was like .25ppm and nitrite was .50ppm. i guess my primary question was would these VERY small amounts affect my corals and snails as it did or should it not have done much and i probably have some other problem? because my clownfish acted as if nothing was going on. and my two corals that are left (gsp and zoa frag) are still closed up even though these readings have been gone for about a week now. i figured they would open back up a day or two after the ammonia and nitrite were gone
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
is there a chance you introduced copper to the system?
im not sure how i would have done that but ive been starting to think that also. i guess i should buy a good copper teat kit. i hate to buy one and it turns out not to be the problem. i bought a new zoa frag yesterday to see if maybe the problem was gone and if my other zoa and gsp hasnt opened yet because they are recovering or somethin, but my new one opened up about 75 percent of the way after acclimating. then today when i came home from work it was closed and has been the rest of the day
Reefvet
New member
Nah, there's no reason to suspect you added anything else toxic. You created a short cycle and the ammonia was toxic enough all on it's own. Alkalinity was ver low and the more sensitive creatures succumbed.
so do you have any idea as to why i dont have any traces of ammonia or nitrite but the new zoa i bought yesterday doesnt want to open up?
Reefvet
New member
Zoas want moderate flow, moderate light and need stable alkalinity like most things in a reef tank.
You've told us nothing about the 29 other than you moved the contents of your 16 to it.
What kind of light and circulation does the tank have ?
Are you doing anything to maintain alkalinity and calcium ?
I dose 2 part BRS calcium, alkalinity, amd magnesium. I have an API saltwater and reef master test kit. Sometimes i get weird readings from those kits so i dont think they are very reliable. So i have a calc and alk hanna checker on its way. I have 2 hydor koralia circulation pumps. One being a 240 gph and the other being 400gph. Plus the return from the fuge gives another 200gph. And i have a kessil a360we light
Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
Everything looks good except the API Kits for testing ALK. Not good. The CA test kits should be fine. I use them and they are within 20ppm of my Red Sea kit. My ALK however is unreadable in the API Kit. I can test 9dkh, 10dkh and 11 dkh within 10min of each other with the API Kit. I now use Hanna for ALK.
I would not have started dosing 2 part with what you have in the tank and with those test kits. Water changes weekly should more than suffice. What salt do you use? Once you get your Hannas, test your ALK and CA. I have a feeling they may be WAY out of whack! I would also get a MAG test kit from Salifert or Red Sea and make sure your Mag is above 1300. If not, your ALK and CA will be extremely hard to control.
And if you moved from one tank to the other, did you mix all new Saltwater for the new tank and move them right over? If so, the difference between your old and new tank water may have been the issue. You should always get the parameters the same before tank transfer or acclimate them over as if you bought them from a LFS.
Good Luck
I would not have started dosing 2 part with what you have in the tank and with those test kits. Water changes weekly should more than suffice. What salt do you use? Once you get your Hannas, test your ALK and CA. I have a feeling they may be WAY out of whack! I would also get a MAG test kit from Salifert or Red Sea and make sure your Mag is above 1300. If not, your ALK and CA will be extremely hard to control.
And if you moved from one tank to the other, did you mix all new Saltwater for the new tank and move them right over? If so, the difference between your old and new tank water may have been the issue. You should always get the parameters the same before tank transfer or acclimate them over as if you bought them from a LFS.
Good Luck
Yeah my alk test does the same thing. One minute its 3 dkh the next its 10 then 12. Thats why i decided to buy a calc and alk hanna checker. But i use instant ocean and my calcium seems to be consistent at 360. But then i dose and bring it to 420-440ppm. And i do have a red sea mag kit and ive got my mag at 1400
Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
Great! Then your good as far as CA and Mag then. Just wait on that Hanna and test ALK when you get it. You may have had some big swings in ALK and not even realized it.
Did you match your water parameters when you moved everything over?
And also......make sure you dose your new salt water batches for CA and ALK BEFORE you do your water change so that you get your parameters where you want them instead of trying to raise them after the water change. Much easier on both you and the animals. You can then tweak them as desired without worrying about shocking them or if you dosing too much at once.
Did you match your water parameters when you moved everything over?
And also......make sure you dose your new salt water batches for CA and ALK BEFORE you do your water change so that you get your parameters where you want them instead of trying to raise them after the water change. Much easier on both you and the animals. You can then tweak them as desired without worrying about shocking them or if you dosing too much at once.
I matched the salinity obviously but i didnt think about matching the calc alk and mag. My newest gsp was closed up the for two days when i got it. So was the zoa frag i got. I decided to see what would happen if i dosed enough alkalinity to raise it 1dkh. The next morning my gsp opened a little and opened more and more the next couple of days and looks great now. But the only thing is that my zoa still hasnt. So im not sure if me dosing alk had anything to do with my gsp opening or if it was just a coincidence
Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
Problem 1: How do you know you raised ALK 1dkh if your using the API kit? Wait until you get your hanna. Don't experiment yet until you know what you're getting.
Problem 2: Some Zoa's do not like ALK swings. It may have been getting better and you may have just made it worse again for the zoa while the gsp liked the increase. Again, wait until you get your hanna and don't do anything different than normal until then. I know it's hard but you may be making things worse rather than better.
Once you get your Hanna you'll know for sure where you stand and will feel better about what to do.
Problem 2: Some Zoa's do not like ALK swings. It may have been getting better and you may have just made it worse again for the zoa while the gsp liked the increase. Again, wait until you get your hanna and don't do anything different than normal until then. I know it's hard but you may be making things worse rather than better.
Once you get your Hanna you'll know for sure where you stand and will feel better about what to do.
Well i dont know for sure if i raised it 1dkh but the reason i say that is because i dosed what the BRS reef calculator said to dose for raising it 1dkh. And also thanks for the advice and such. Always appreciate quick replies
Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
No problem. I'm sure everything will get better once you get some solid numbers.
I know how you feel. I've been through all the same stuff with my 28g Nano. Patience really does help.
I know how you feel. I've been through all the same stuff with my 28g Nano. Patience really does help.
Well i tested my calcium and alkalinity with my new hanna kits. My calcium is sitting at 520 and my alkalinity is at 12.6. And my magnesium is at 1440(red sea test kit). Both are a little high but not so much as to why i lost so many corals. Correct me if im wrong. I do however think that the ammonia and nitrite spikes i had after switching tanks is what did them in. Ive been reading some things and from what i have come to understand is that some soft corals such as zenias or zoas like a small trace of nitrates in the water to thrive. My nitrates are at zero. so now i think this is my problem with my zoa frag not opening yet my gsp has looked great and i thinks is starting to spread since it gets most of its food through photosynthesis. Do my theories seem real or should i look elsewhere for another issue?
Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
Wow. Alk is pretty damn high. I think most limit Alk to 12dkh max. CA is also way high. It's pretty useless to dose past about 440/460 if I remember correctly. Goes to show how off your API test kits were.
At this point, I would get both your ALK and CA back to a normal level with some daily water changes for the next few days.
At this point, I would get both your ALK and CA back to a normal level with some daily water changes for the next few days.
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