So.Cal. Out of the Ashes 340 build
- Thread starter acesq
- Start date
acesq
Premium Member
Sooo... time for an update.
Long story short, the tank was humming along, excellent growth and color from the corals, the tank had matured into exactly what I had hoped when I planned it. Then disaster struck in early August, 2016 . All of my SPS started to STN. I'll keep you in the same suspense I suffered through trying to figure it out and first show you some happy times pictures:
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Long story short, the tank was humming along, excellent growth and color from the corals, the tank had matured into exactly what I had hoped when I planned it. Then disaster struck in early August, 2016 . All of my SPS started to STN. I'll keep you in the same suspense I suffered through trying to figure it out and first show you some happy times pictures:
acesq
Premium Member
Then this happened:
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This is the skeleton of a Jedi Mind Trick Monti that I grew from a half inch frag I bought in 2011!! The hardest loss of them all.
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Incredibly, despite the devastation around it, this purple stag made it through with no more than a few burnt tips.
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This is the skeleton of a Jedi Mind Trick Monti that I grew from a half inch frag I bought in 2011!! The hardest loss of them all.
Incredibly, despite the devastation around it, this purple stag made it through with no more than a few burnt tips.
acesq
Premium Member
While this decline was happening, I was desperately trying to find what was going on. Massive water changes were not working, the STN continued regardless what I did. My alk was stable (the Dastaco has not missed a beat), my nutrients were low, almost undetectable (I have 15 liters of Siporax in the sump, replacing the marine pure blocks I started with and dose -NP Pro and Pro Bio S).
I sent in a Triton a test and it came back pretty good for all parameters but one -- a heavy metal Triton did not even test for until this year -- Tungsten. My Tungsten level was at 556 ug/l when it should have been at zero.
I visited the Triton/Unique Corals booth at MACNA San Diego and had a long talk with Eshan Dashti about the tungsten levels and he relayed his experience with the heavy metal -- it can be released when cheap stainless steel corrodes in salt water. He had experienced it when the impeller of a Chinese made DC pump corroded. Guess what? I had three of that exact pump in my system. I went home and the following day (after sadly having to put down my horse -- yep, when it rains it pours) and took apart all of my pumps. By then I had 3 Blue Eco DC pumps, a Tunze and an Ecotech L-1 running the systems. The only corrosion I could find was a small amount on two SS bolts on the Blue Ecos. I took them off line as soon as I could -- with three Royal Exclusive RD3 230W pumps.
I continued with weekly 20-30% water changes and sent in another water sample to Triton. I got the Tungsten levels down to 470 within 6 weeks. Not a very fast decline.
A month later (after taking out a 3 gallon bucket of coral skeletons) and many more water changes, the levels were down to 235.
But this was still too high and not decreasing as fast as I would have expected. I ran a magnet through the gravel in the DT and found no metal. So I decided to vacuum the the sump. It was then that I remembered that I was using an Avast probe holder in the far back corner of the return section to hold the float switch for my topoff system. I pulled the magnet out and just about screamed. Rusty water was dripping out of it! I pulled the silicone cover off the magnet and found this:
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I was both p***ed off and elated. I have not been able to confirm that a rusting magnet releases Tungsten, but I know it releases bad stuff so getting it out of there can only help.
Here are a few pics of what it looks like now. My Tunsgen levels are now below 90, I'm still doing 15% weekly water changes and my SPS are growing well. I don't have the polyp extension I would like, but attribute it to super low nutrients and high par levels and perhaps the still elevated Tungsten level. The frags in the frag tank, with lower par show much better polyp extension, so I'm not confident it is a chemical issue. I've been dosing NaNo3 to get the nitrate up to near 10 ppm and the colors on the SPS have deepened.
Sooo, long story long, I'm baaaak! :dance:
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My new Jedi Mind Trick:
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I sent in a Triton a test and it came back pretty good for all parameters but one -- a heavy metal Triton did not even test for until this year -- Tungsten. My Tungsten level was at 556 ug/l when it should have been at zero.
I visited the Triton/Unique Corals booth at MACNA San Diego and had a long talk with Eshan Dashti about the tungsten levels and he relayed his experience with the heavy metal -- it can be released when cheap stainless steel corrodes in salt water. He had experienced it when the impeller of a Chinese made DC pump corroded. Guess what? I had three of that exact pump in my system. I went home and the following day (after sadly having to put down my horse -- yep, when it rains it pours) and took apart all of my pumps. By then I had 3 Blue Eco DC pumps, a Tunze and an Ecotech L-1 running the systems. The only corrosion I could find was a small amount on two SS bolts on the Blue Ecos. I took them off line as soon as I could -- with three Royal Exclusive RD3 230W pumps.
I continued with weekly 20-30% water changes and sent in another water sample to Triton. I got the Tungsten levels down to 470 within 6 weeks. Not a very fast decline.
A month later (after taking out a 3 gallon bucket of coral skeletons) and many more water changes, the levels were down to 235.
But this was still too high and not decreasing as fast as I would have expected. I ran a magnet through the gravel in the DT and found no metal. So I decided to vacuum the the sump. It was then that I remembered that I was using an Avast probe holder in the far back corner of the return section to hold the float switch for my topoff system. I pulled the magnet out and just about screamed. Rusty water was dripping out of it! I pulled the silicone cover off the magnet and found this:
I was both p***ed off and elated. I have not been able to confirm that a rusting magnet releases Tungsten, but I know it releases bad stuff so getting it out of there can only help.
Here are a few pics of what it looks like now. My Tunsgen levels are now below 90, I'm still doing 15% weekly water changes and my SPS are growing well. I don't have the polyp extension I would like, but attribute it to super low nutrients and high par levels and perhaps the still elevated Tungsten level. The frags in the frag tank, with lower par show much better polyp extension, so I'm not confident it is a chemical issue. I've been dosing NaNo3 to get the nitrate up to near 10 ppm and the colors on the SPS have deepened.
Sooo, long story long, I'm baaaak! :dance:
My new Jedi Mind Trick:
acesq
Premium Member
Now you have it!
I kept a stiff upper lip about it. It was that or take a ball peen hammer to the tank!! :debi:
acesq
Premium Member
This hobby can dole out the heartache, that's for sure. But I'm pretty passionate about it so in the end I'll just treat it as another learning experience and move forward.
dave.m
Active member
<gulp!>
That was a pretty tough lesson. Thx for sharing.
I have been looking up what would be good for filtering out tungsten. Most articles are on water conditioners for treating source water. There are some articles saying activated carbon can work. Polyfilters say they will remove it but at that size they would also be removing other metals from the water as well - another source water form of filtration only, I think.
I guess this just reinforces the lesson that cheap Chinese goods aren't so cheap in the long run.
Dave.M
That was a pretty tough lesson. Thx for sharing.
I have been looking up what would be good for filtering out tungsten. Most articles are on water conditioners for treating source water. There are some articles saying activated carbon can work. Polyfilters say they will remove it but at that size they would also be removing other metals from the water as well - another source water form of filtration only, I think.
I guess this just reinforces the lesson that cheap Chinese goods aren't so cheap in the long run.
Dave.M
acesq
Premium Member
Polyfilters and carbon don't work. I tried both. And while I agree with you about cheap Chinese products, I'm not convinced it wasn't caused by the magnet American made probe holder. Although I can't find any references to tungsten in magnets or the nickel coating.
King Jason
Reefer
I am so grateful for the update on this thread! I just randomly started reading it as I'm doing some research for some upgrades. Great tank BTW. I had the same exact scenario happening to me many months ago where much of my coral just crashed on me for no reason (that I could figure out). The tank has been pretty idle and "dead" since then. After reading this thread I checked the magnet on LED light that hangs on my refugium and ...bam, cracked plastic around the seal and exposed magnet/metal and whatever else is inside there. When I popped it open there was plenty of water in there from the moisture and I'm sure it's been dripping into my tank.
I never would have thought to check that if it wasn't for this update!
I just ordered a Triton test kit and we'll see if I have something going on similar to you.
I never would have thought to check that if it wasn't for this update!
I just ordered a Triton test kit and we'll see if I have something going on similar to you.
) let me know what your Triton test shows for heavy metals. Magnets are killers lying in wait!!
