uhoh... someone needs to test more often...

[heartben]

so, i got around to checking my water and uhm... its not good...

i think i have an ammonia problem. im not sure what to do about it.

anyone have any suggestions to i get my water quality back?


i have some possible ideas as to what happened - after i got the leathers and zoas from travis (after his crash, or whatever you like to call it) they finished dying off in my tank... could this have caused it? almost all my sps died now and im thinking it was from the leathers but im not sure (it is in no way your fault travis, i just thought people might be confused if i said "those leathers that were in need of help" or something)

otherwise - can mangroves leach crap back into the water? i dont take very good care of them and they could just be dying (i dont know anything about mangroves)

im about to do a 5 gallon water change (i dont know whats safe to do all at once on a 40 breeder w/ 29 gallon sump)

any help would be appreciated.

thanks!
-ben

 

[slovan]

You're probably right about the leathers. Do you still have the 55 gallon you were selling? Maybe it's worth it to keep it and set up as an emergency/QT tank? A 5 gallon water change probably won't be enough to do much to it.

 

[heartben]

how much can i change at a time?

i dont have room for the 55. its not at my house right now either.

i have a 10 gallon but i dont think ill be able to fit even just my coral in it...

so, what is there? pretty much just a lot of water changing?

 

[seanb1]

well beings nothing can be worse than high ammonia besides high nitrite which is probably gonna happen if its not already, i would say a big water change is in order.

i would change half at least, cant hurt only help.

 

[seanb1]

then do another one in a couple days

 

[slovan]

If I were you, I would check with someone in the area who could give you like 5 gallons of their tank water. Then you could mix it with some new water and set up a temporary tank. As long as it is heated and has flow, you should be ok for a couple days until you get your 40B back in order.

If you can't use the 55, get a Rubbermaid container, they're cheap enough.

 

[Atticus]

Oh man I should have warned you... This blows, I thought you knew if the corals started to die you had to run carbon and do water changes. Even in a big tank. Crap man nothing worse than losing your tank by trying to save my corals.

I feel sick now.

Water changes are in order to get ammonia in check. You can sneak by with a 50% water change and then keep an eye on it. Plan to do another 50% in a few days.

 

[heartben]

jesus! i only have enough salt for like 10 more gallons.

i hate myself... i guess you gotta go through it to learn the ropes... er, whatever.

i think im just going to try do a couple more water changes, i guess until i run out of salt.

man, im out of like everything i need right now.. i guess nows a good time to stock up!

also - does this mean im going to cycle again and go through all the diatoms and crap... they are just starting to go away. grrr

thanks everyone! youre all awesome.
-ben

anyone have a bucket of salt they want to sell me cheap? i can never find it cheap enough :-(

heh.

 

[glaspie69]

Change 25 gallons today and 25 gallons in 2 days....wait a week and change 25 more, wait a week and test again. F&S has salt for 31.99 a bucket right now

 

[heartben]

man. i dont have that much salt, i had enough for maybe 15 gallons and i changed 5 out already.

i wont be able to get to a store before they close either.

could this be the end of heartbens reefing journey... stay tuned to find out!

(if anyone near waterloo has extra salt, seriously PM me)

 

[glaspie69]

^ i have a bucket in my basement you can use if you order a bucket to replace it

 

[keith1974]

hay man im so sorry to hear this if i was closer to u i would give u salt but im not best i can do is give u salt if u come to metting and i know u cant wait that long im realy sorry ben if u do end up loseing every thing i can give u free frags to get u back up and going wish i would help out more

 

[heartben]

thanks doods

 

[Atticus]

I have 3 buckets of IO and obviously would hook you up since this is my fault... I should have questioned you more, but I just knew I had been promissing you frags for months and was about to lose everything I promissed you... If you can get a ride out here I have the salt.

 

[heartben]

you have been pmd sir.

 

[heartben]

also, let this be a lesson for the non testers.

i probably wont test everyday, but i will from now on - be testing regularly or when i think something is wrong.

i didnt think much of the sps dying, because im totally new to that and i didnt know if my lighting was sufficient.

but, now that i know it was the water i will test.

just letting people who dont test much - apparently... its important... hahaha.

 

[heartben]

alright, updates...

so, thanks everyone who offered to help me out. i got some salt from travis because i bought some of those 8 channel on/off things so it was just easier.

i think today i changed right around 15 gallons? i just didnt have time to change more.

tomorrow i might change like 10 more gallons and then ill wait like 2 days and do some more.

im about to test my water for ammonia right now...soo...

ok, results are actually quite pleasing - they have gone down dramatically closer to where they should be!

i will test again tomorrow morning and probably change out 5 or so more gallons if it looks good...

thanks travis/everyone else who replied!

i dont know if this is normal but after i had the buckets next to each other - the dirty water looked kind of yellow while the new water looked almost blue? is that normal? i thought it was cool... made me want to change my water way more often..

also - about the mangroves... leave them in? take them out? - let me know what you think!

 

[bgreenlee]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11611275#post11611275 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by heartben
alright, updates...

so, thanks everyone who offered to help me out. i got some salt from travis because i bought some of those 8 channel on/off things so it was just easier.

i think today i changed right around 15 gallons? i just didnt have time to change more.

tomorrow i might change like 10 more gallons and then ill wait like 2 days and do some more.

im about to test my water for ammonia right now...soo...

ok, results are actually quite pleasing - they have gone down dramatically closer to where they should be!

i will test again tomorrow morning and probably change out 5 or so more gallons if it looks good...

thanks travis/everyone else who replied!

i dont know if this is normal but after i had the buckets next to each other - the dirty water looked kind of yellow while the new water looked almost blue? is that normal? i thought it was cool... made me want to change my water way more often..

also - about the mangroves... leave them in? take them out? - let me know what you think!

If your water is that dirty you need to be keeping fresh carbon in your tank and also need to lower the amount of nutrients your adding to your tank, you are obviously putting in more then you are taking out through skimming and water changes.

I would continue down the water change path you are on, slow down with future additions, and leave the mangrove plants in the refugium unless they are dying, in which case trash them before they die and pollute your water.

 

[Atticus]

The yellow is the breaking down organics in your tank. We run carbon and skim to keep the tank clean of those organics. As the water turns yellow your light has a much harder time penetrating and I have read you can lose as much as half of your light's potential benefit to your corals by having yellowed water. You will also get much better coloration and growth with clear water.