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#1
11/09/2006, 07:49 PM
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at my wits end
i am still battling the cyno problem and my sps slowly bleaching out
some zoas are shrinking only thing that seems to be doin great are the leathers and xenia (of course) and a purple gorgian ditched the 15k xm and have the 10k still in and it just fuels the cyno i had the bleaching under the xm 15k tho too po4 is at less than .1 running phosban Ca 450 aLK IS 2.5 -3.0 iodine i cant read the chart colors correctly i dont have every test kit in the world but i doubt i could read the colors anyway MH is over a foot off the water i dont know whether to get rid of the MH all together was thinking of another brand of 15k bulb or goto 20k po4 coming out of the RO is at .5 shouldf it be this high? i dont know if my water is so dam crappy the RO cant take care of it dont have a tds meter yet also debating building a LARGE po4 reactor to treat 55 gals of RO water at a time to get it out before it ever gets in my tank i just cant seem to pinpoint the problem yet and dont want to waste a ton of money gettin gadgets or chemicals that dont solve the problem |
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#2
11/09/2006, 08:44 PM
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if your ro water has phosphate in it than you will never get out of your tank. No your water should not have that much phosphate. I dont think philly tap water has that much in it to begin with.
when was the last time you changed your carbon or di? your alk is a little low to. Red slime does not like high alk. raise it to at least 3.5 or 4. If you have that much phosphate coming from your ro I wonder what else is ? do you have a test for amonia or nitrate? I would check those in your ro as well as your tank. |
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#4
11/09/2006, 09:49 PM
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Have you checked your tank with a new thermometer? Just to make sure it's not up to 85 or so?
I have a digital TDS meter somehwere. If you want to borrow it you're more than welcome to, I'd just need to find it  Nick |
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#6
11/09/2006, 10:15 PM
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ok, few more questions....
How long did you have these corals before they bleached? Have you changed anything in your system in that time? How is the oxygen exchange in your tank? Is there a lot of "rippling" at the top of the tank? How big are your leathers? Do they take up enough of your tank that you might be having chemical warfare going on? Do you have any pics? Nick |
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#7
11/09/2006, 10:38 PM
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after about 2 months id say theyt start to fade
keep the system the same i have a mj900 on one side and a mj600 on my slower side and the fluval exit in the center, also have the fluval surface skimmer surface is clean and rippled i run ferric oxide, chem pure and carbon in the canister i have 4 large leathers in the tank and a few small frags pix are in my gallery, they are older and crappy camera tho hmm wondering about the one leather id'd as a devils hand, its been in a high flow area for months and never had a polyp extend from it ever and it was a bit beat up when i got it i've had leathers and hard corals together in the past with no problems o well bed time |
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#8
11/10/2006, 12:54 AM
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you need to get your phosphates under control. < 0.1 is not good. you need < 0.03. You can borrow my Merck/Deltec test kit if you want. it is very sensitive.
__________________
click my red house for the cutest BABY ever! |
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#9
11/10/2006, 01:59 AM
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i dont think its your lighting.
first,i do not think your filtration is adequate. i personally can not keep a reef without a sandbed and a fuge. flow seems low. i have more in a 12 gallon nanocube. consider reducing your feeding. increase water changes. reevaluate your lighting cycle. reevaluate the livestock load. when i see a sign of any unhealthy livestock, the first step on my protocol is immediate/successive water changes. simple but affective. just my thoughts. hopefully more advanced reefers can help you out. good luck. dont lose hope. the hobby is a constant learning lesson.
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The Fertilizer......... |
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#10
11/10/2006, 07:21 AM
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I totaly agree with Huey. You have too much of a bio load. The phosphate reactor will only help reduce Phospahtes but you need more filtration.
__________________
One day I will not have to scrape my windows! DVRC Vice President |
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#11
11/10/2006, 09:45 AM
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I'll be second in line behind Huey, and Jay4Robin. Also I wouldn't keep Phosban in a canister filter. WAY too much flow. You may be actually be grinding away into the water column. Also sps crave stability. Alk at 2.5 - 3.0 over a short enough time frame can also be part of your problem. Your best course right now would be weekly water changes, and persitant testing until your water parameters stabilize.
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Why can't my wife see this stuff as an investment? |
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#13
11/10/2006, 04:56 PM
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the phosban is packed into the the holder laying flat and spread out to prevent grinding
the RO unit is only 3 weeks old brand new off the shelf but a tds is essential not sure if A to Z has them or not, dont want to goto TFP if i can help it...i get in trouble when i go there heh bioload im not sure of,but i would think if its to great that my nitrates would be sky high jay..more filtration in what way? chemical or mechanical? mechanical its no different if its laying on the bottom of my tank or stuck in a filter grind to me easier to vacuum and do a water change with it than rip apart my canister every other day anyone local have a good set of test kits? i got a case of good belgian beer 
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#14
11/10/2006, 06:02 PM
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I agree that the phosphates are the problem...I've been dealing with the same thing for the last six months. Finally making some progress...with a combo of more frequent water changes using phosphate-free water, reducing feedings, and running Phosban.
Do you have a DI (deionization) cartridge or are you running purely a RO filter? The DI will help tremendously to lower phosphates in your filtered water. YMMV. Chris |
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#15
11/10/2006, 06:14 PM
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fraggin,
I'm not sure I agree with everyone on the phosphate issue... I simply can't imagine you have that much in terms of phosphates coming out of your water. I would suggest a protein skimmer instead of a mechanical filter though. A mechanical filter will never get your nitrate level down... a test kit won't show it, but it's there, just being used up by cyano, algae, etc. I'm not sure if A-Z pets has a TDS meter, but I live right down the road from there if you want to give mine a try. Another question... when you're acros/polyps started "flaking" apart, did you remove them from the tank or leave them? If you left them, it could have polluted your tank killing off some of the other corals. Nick |
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#18
11/10/2006, 08:40 PM
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johnny the acros bleach in direct path of the light
shaded sides keep their color "flaking" or dieing i have nowhere else to put them cept the trash jay only thing on your list thats not done is the fuge and DSB i have a 15gal fuge downstairs i got in a package deal awhile ago, needs all the plumbing and pumps and whatever else never used one i could use a better skimmer im sure but dont have room for a hang on seamac2 the RO unit has a DI just really starting to wonder about my water quality makes ya wonder just wth your are drinking every day |
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#20
11/12/2006, 05:10 PM
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well i took apart the rO unit
its a 50 gpd unit and it seems the blue line was producing more than the red waste line redid the seals and now its at a dripple on the blue doing a ratio test right now and looks about right now at 3:1 tested the po4 out of it and it looks better at .1 instead of .5 that i had before |
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