reefmutt
Active member
Hi All,
I am wondering about metal toxicity in a reef and how much damage, let's say one penny in a 700 gallon system could go. Or maybe a 1 1/4 in dry wall screw.
I am wondering because I have a friend who is not a big computer user who has problems with mainly sps corals not surviving.
His system has been running for 4 years and is now situated on 3 floors of his home. Tank upstairs, tank main floor, sump in basement.
Originally, there were deep and old sand beds in the display and sump, recently the the sump was redone and the sand bed was discarded, there is still the oldest sand bed remaining in the display, but is is only about 3 inches at its deepest.
All parameters have been tested and retested- calc mag alk ph all have been monitored and now stay well within acceptable norms.
Temp and lighting have always been the same and flow has been increased lately.
Po4 and No3 are always not detected on salifert and elos kits- the system has a large sump full of macro algae, Still, GFO and carbon is run at all times.
The tank is full of large fish and gets heavily fed.
The light bulbs, calcium reactor and skimmer are always maintained..
Frequent smaller water changes had no effect on the slow decline and wasting away of sps, but massive water changes (aprox150-200g) have shown to have a temporary beneficial effect. Polyps extend and color improves, but after a few weeks, the corals begin to decline.
The latest attempt to deal with the problem has been the addition of a large amount of activated carbon instead of small frequently changed amounts.
We are toying with the idea of pulling out the sand bed in the display as a last ditch effort...
There is also a persistent tan colored goupy 'algae' here and there but not infesting the tank. I assume it is a diatom algae, there are no other problem algae in the tank.
But I am wondering about foreign objects, like a penny or a screw or something like that.
Would one penny give a copper reading in a test kit or would it require a hand full of pennies, how about a screw, or many screws??
I have not yet tested for copper, and don't even know if a standard copper test kit would be suitable for the low levels that occur in a reef..
I have no idea how much of one or another metal is required to cause slow decline in corals.
There are many other corals, like an established seriatopora , montipora confusa and fire coral that seem to grow and do fine and they have all been in the tank for years.
Newer additions seem to do the worst.
Any theories on metal toxicity or other would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
I am wondering about metal toxicity in a reef and how much damage, let's say one penny in a 700 gallon system could go. Or maybe a 1 1/4 in dry wall screw.
I am wondering because I have a friend who is not a big computer user who has problems with mainly sps corals not surviving.
His system has been running for 4 years and is now situated on 3 floors of his home. Tank upstairs, tank main floor, sump in basement.
Originally, there were deep and old sand beds in the display and sump, recently the the sump was redone and the sand bed was discarded, there is still the oldest sand bed remaining in the display, but is is only about 3 inches at its deepest.
All parameters have been tested and retested- calc mag alk ph all have been monitored and now stay well within acceptable norms.
Temp and lighting have always been the same and flow has been increased lately.
Po4 and No3 are always not detected on salifert and elos kits- the system has a large sump full of macro algae, Still, GFO and carbon is run at all times.
The tank is full of large fish and gets heavily fed.
The light bulbs, calcium reactor and skimmer are always maintained..
Frequent smaller water changes had no effect on the slow decline and wasting away of sps, but massive water changes (aprox150-200g) have shown to have a temporary beneficial effect. Polyps extend and color improves, but after a few weeks, the corals begin to decline.
The latest attempt to deal with the problem has been the addition of a large amount of activated carbon instead of small frequently changed amounts.
We are toying with the idea of pulling out the sand bed in the display as a last ditch effort...
There is also a persistent tan colored goupy 'algae' here and there but not infesting the tank. I assume it is a diatom algae, there are no other problem algae in the tank.
But I am wondering about foreign objects, like a penny or a screw or something like that.
Would one penny give a copper reading in a test kit or would it require a hand full of pennies, how about a screw, or many screws??
I have not yet tested for copper, and don't even know if a standard copper test kit would be suitable for the low levels that occur in a reef..
I have no idea how much of one or another metal is required to cause slow decline in corals.
There are many other corals, like an established seriatopora , montipora confusa and fire coral that seem to grow and do fine and they have all been in the tank for years.
Newer additions seem to do the worst.
Any theories on metal toxicity or other would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
