I'm Back!

[keekalmatter]

I used to keep a 55 gallon reef but took it down when I was getting ready to join the Navy. Well the time has come where I'm pretty settled into VA for a while and my girlfriend and I decided to pick up a 29 gallon BioCube and start up a tank together. It's been cycled and was doing very well. We have a 6-line wrasse, purple firefish, fire shrimp, and some hermits and snails. As far as coral, we have 6 zoanthids, torch coral, and an open brain. Recently the Zoanthids have all started closing up except for one of them. I've tried moving them, done water changes, adding water flow and nothing worked. I went and got my own test kits since the LFS kept saying the levels were good. These are the readings I got...

28Jun15
Salinity - 1.023
PH - 8.0
NH3/NH4 - .2
NO2 - .2
NO3 - I'm having trouble reading this one...
KH - 12 dKH

I performed a water change on the 29th because I thought the test was reading over 50 for nitrates but now I'm not sure because it's a bright pink and all the colors on the card are dull. I bought the Red Sea tests. Anyone have any experience with this? I also added some Reef Buffer.

29Jun15
Salinity - 1.024
PH - 8.2
NH3/NH4 - 0
NO2 - .2
NO3 - Still having trouble reading but looked less dark today.
KH - 14 dKH

I'm open to any advice anyone has. It's been a while since I've been in the hobby and know I'm probably making some mistakes. I really want my Zoas to open back up. Everything else is thriving!!!

Thanks!!!

 

[Coralreefer1]

Congrats! Let me start off by saying thank you for your service in keeping America safe and strong!
As for the tank, you seem to be off and running! You need to get that Nitrite level to 0 and the nitrates will take care of themselves with the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria as long as you don't over feed or over populate the confines of your Biocube! Cheers and best of luck to you and your inhabitants!

 

[keekalmatter]

Could the nitrites and nitrates be causing the Zoas to close up? Or do you think it's a different problem?

 

[Coralreefer1]

How long have you had them? How long have they been closed? Your other corals are still doing fine? Sometimes Zoanthids are funny. They will look awesome and opened up, then they will close for a few hours to days or longer if they are upset or just placed in your tank.
The main thing is to get the nitrites to 0 and don't do anything initially. Patience is your best friend. Don't try to do too much and too quick as bigger problems can arise from this. Keep your eyes on them and chances are they will open up again.

 

[keekalmatter]

I guess it hasn't been as long as I thought. Most of them I've only had a month and one I've had about 6 weeks. They've been closed up for probably about 10 days. It seems like it's been longer haha. I'll give it some time and hopefully they'll open back up.

 

[scooter31707]

also, I would get that dkh down to the 8-9 range.

 

[homer1475]

If your using the red sea kit for nitrates and its bright pink, have you tried the high range? You dilute the sea water with RO/DI and perform the tests with that, then color match and look up the high range part.

 

[CStrickland]

Thank you for your service!
Sometimes zoa just close up cause it's Tuesday, but you'll want to get your levels under control and make sure nobody is getting sand in them or crawling on them. Once they get mad it takes a couple days to open up again sometimes so changes should be slow. Often buffers so more harm than good by throwing off things like alk
10% water change weekly is a good place to start.

 

[keekalmatter]

What do you guys suggest for getting the Nitrites and dKH to drop?
I have not tried the high range but I will try that tonight when I test and see if it gives me a better color!
I'm planning on performing another water change this weekend.

Thanks everyone for all the help.

 

[CStrickland]

Your nitrates might not be that high after all. The tests read a little nitrite as a lotta nitrate so they're only good once the nitrites have cycled out. I figured it was just the tail end of a newly cycled tank that was stocked a little too fast, but if you have nitrites around after things settle in then there's an issue with your tank or your tests. Waste should be passing from ammo through trites and into trates so fast that you don't see readings for the first two.

Water changes and time is usually all that's needed.

 

[keekalmatter]

Oh! That makes a lot of sense! So I shouldn't even waste time checking Nitrates until Nitrites are all gone? As far as stocking too fast... That's definitely probable. My gf was a little overzealous and the LFS said levels were good and we could add a couple small fish. Which my gf heard as 4 fish and a sally lightfoot. Unfortunately our pearl jaw was taken out by the rogue sally lightfoot and two clowns got ich!

I told her we needed to stop adding things until the tank settles out though so I'll continue doing water checks and changes and see how things go! Any advice on dKH?

Readings as of 2JUL were...
Salinity - 1.024
PH - 8.3
NH3 - .1
NO2 - .05
NO3 - 50 (diluted the water with RO. Still a little hard to read to me lol It can never be the exact color)
KH - 15 dKH

 

[Mcgeezer]

I would be most concerned with any nitrite reading, which tells me you aren't cycled.

Your Dkh is wayyy too high. Do not dose so much when the corals you have cannot consume what is being put in. With such a minimal amount, minor doses would be sufficient thru proper testing.

Your SG should be slightly higher in reef aquaria...aim for 1.025-1.026

 

[CStrickland]

I wonder if on such a new tank the bacteria is just barely able to keep up with fish waste, but each fish that dies will make a spike in the water, perhaps enough to spook the zoa for a few days each time. Just a thought?

Whenever I see ammonia or nitrites I dose the tank with Seachem Prime so it doesn't burn the fish.

I also had a zoa colony that wouldn't open for like a week, then I noticed fine algae between the heads. I guess they were tickling him cause after a peroxide dip he perked up the next day.

Also, your water source is good right? It's a lot easier to keep fish in tap water than corals.

Have you looked into zoa pox? If all the other critters are fine it could be that. Look around the stems and mats for little pimple things.

Really, I doubt it's anything serious, I bet a few water changes and some more time in your tank will sort this out