Reef tank crash

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Hmmmm...lets see if I can remember the live stock


Green carpet anemone
Neon green zoo polyp (zoanthid?)
Star polyp
Assortment of snails from small to xlarge..maybe 2-3
Peppermint shrimp
Clown fish x2
Neon green open brain (pretty sure thats what it is called)
30+ lbs live rock
1-2 emerald crabs
2-4 small hermit crabs

Ammonia reads .25 (when I first noticed the problem of dieing corals, it was at .50)
Nitrite reads 0
Nitrate 30
Specific gravity 1.022
I haven't tested ph
I don't have the test kits for calcium and alk yet, but only started adding products for them today.

Filtered with an AC50 and the temp stays in the mid 70's to low 80's on hot days( last week we had temps in the low 100's)

The lighting is an Odyssea brand with 12k daylight and "true actinic" both 65w. It sits a few inches above the tank and I keep the daylight on around 8hours a day, and actinic only at night (sometimes I just turn them all off at night). One of the led's "burnt" out and it looks like a pain in the ass to replace.

I think thats pretty much it.


edit// ammonia is usually at 0 and the nitrates in the 40 range...I have been doing extra water changes since the corals started dieing.

I also was going to get rid of the HOB and add a protein skimmer, I just couldnt make up my mind on one and the lfs was selling them for a few hundred dollars ( and it was the smallest rated one as well :( )
 
Its city water that I dechlorinate in a 5g bucket, add salt and then dump into the tank.

I'm almost positive that leaving out the calcium and alk was the reason. Since I've added the product (maybe 3-4 hours ago), some of the star polyps have opened up again and the zoo is completely open.
 
Thats cool hope everything pans out for you. BTW youre testing for calcium right? i dont think you wanna go too much over 420
 
Thanks for the input!

Right now the closest LFS was out of the alk and calc test kits. They will test it for free if I bring in a sample, so that should hold me over until I can get my own.

The weather is pretty weird right now, usually don't see huge changes like that.
 
hmmmm why would you buy something to add to the water if you don't know what the readings are?

why don't you test for ph ...that a pretty important test to do.

and your temp shouldn't really be going a constant up/down things are pretty stable in the reefs of the world.

i think if you fix those problems then it will get better
 
My husband built a handy little contraption to dose Kalkwasser to our tank. its almost a steady drip. that helps with the calcium and the alkalinity. we also check for and dose essential elements, iodine, Strontium and Molybdenum. I think that might be it..lol with using the kalkwaser we usually dont have to worry about our ph, ca or alk it stays very stable.

and yes sw tanks are money pits.. lol

a few months ago I spent 900.00 on my lights and I got them wholesale
 
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