Neptune Aquatics

Biocube 29

OnTheReef said:
Might be worth dosing a little Prime, perhaps you have a little chlorine or chloramine contamination from cleaning something? That would totally explain the invertebrate death and corals being irritated.
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I do have prime on hand. So I can dose prime with no negative effects? (As long as I follow directions for dosage amount on the bottle)

OnTheReef said:
Also, how are you checking your salinity? A good refractometer is the best way. If your salinity is off by more than 2ppt from your local fish store, that would also explain the issues.
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I use a refractometer also bought calibration fluid to make sure the refractometer was calibrated correctly. (currently at 35 ppm / 1.026)

OnTheReef said:
Finally, what's the temperature in the tank?
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Temperature in tank is 76 - 77.
 
That should bring it up, very slowly. I'd say keep getting that phosphate down for awhile still. And yes, turning dark blue quickly means high reading of phosphate for the Hanna.
 
Man, I could never tell a visible difference in the color of the test vial when I tested for phosphorus with my Hannah checker. I guess that makes sense though if mine was really low and yours is really high.
 
Flagg37 said:
Man, I could never tell a visible difference in the color of the test vial when I tested for phosphorus with my Hannah checker. I guess that makes sense though if mine was really low and yours is really high.
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Yah mine is a very light shade of blue and still is max that the reader can read up to.
 
Do you by any chance have a water softener in your home? If present, that would very quickly overwhelm your RO/DI unit and leach phosphates into your water. Maybe do a phosphate test on your RO/DI water?
 
OnTheReef said:
Do you by any chance have a water softener in your home? If present, that would very quickly overwhelm your RO/DI unit and leach phosphates into your water. Maybe do a phosphate test on your RO/DI water?
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I honestly dont know if we have a water softener. Also checked the phosphorus on my newly made salt water when I was doing a water change yesterday and it came out to be 6 phosphorus (.018 phosphate). Not sure if that is a margine of error ordeal or maybe there is some phosphates in the water.
 
Little but of an update. So for the last couple weeks I have introduced some more coral frags including an Acan, Favia, Hammer, and couple more Zoas. Acan already has shown some growth with 2 more heads sprouting out. Favia and hammer has shown no change but the zoas opened when I first introduced them but after a day or 2 start to close up and if they are partially open are starting to lose color. Did some testing and have found my phosphorus is also finally dipping below 200 with the addition of a gfo reactor. My nitrates for the last couple weeks have been dead 0. From the research I have been doing online this seems to be a problem. From what i understand the purigen and chaeto I added to the tank has done its job TOO well. I removed both the purigen and chemipure elite 2 days ago. Nitrates have stayed 0 and phosphorus has gone up a bit again. Swapped out the gfo thinking it may have exhausted it self.... phosphorus is still climbing.. I only have one fish and feed him VERY little. Also decided to shut off my protein skimmer. From what I understand having 0 nitrates can really mess up the balance between nitrate and phosphate. I can see brown dust forming on everything. When I clear off my glass it reforms up the next day. So I have decided to dose KNO3. I added 6 ml of the KNO3 solution I made (should have increased nitrate by .5 ppm). I checked nitrate 2 hours later and it was still 0. Got a different test kit and it still tested 0. I haven't dosed anymore because I want to take this slow and I dont like the idea of dosing nitrates to the tank. Just trying to get the right balance for nitrates and phosphates so every zoa I add to the tank doesn't melt away.

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Opinion: You have three separate problems.

1) Your tank is simply new
The ammonia/nitrite/nitrate cycle is just one piece.
Brown dust (likely diatoms) is the next step, and is normal.
It takes months to grow the right biology and stabilize.
Patience!!

2) Phosphates
Most likely leaching from your rocks.
Unless you see Cyano, don't overly stress about that and chase numbers.
I would just keep doing water changes, adding GFO, and watch Alk.
It will eventually stop leaching out, and you will be fine.

3) Unhappy Zoas/Coral:
My guess : Lack of food or too much light.
You can try oyster feast, and try reducing light a bit.
But Zoas like to eat bacteria and other tiny life, and your brand new tank has very little.
As your tank ages, they will do better.
 
rygh said:
Opinion: You have three separate problems.

1) Your tank is simply new
The ammonia/nitrite/nitrate cycle is just one piece.
Brown dust (likely diatoms) is the next step, and is normal.
It takes months to grow the right biology and stabilize.
Patience!!

2) Phosphates
Most likely leaching from your rocks.
Unless you see Cyano, don't overly stress about that and chase numbers.
I would just keep doing water changes, adding GFO, and watch Alk.
It will eventually stop leaching out, and you will be fine.

3) Unhappy Zoas/Coral:
My guess : Lack of food or too much light.
You can try oyster feast, and try reducing light a bit.
But Zoas like to eat bacteria and other tiny life, and your brand new tank has very little.
As your tank ages, they will do better.
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Thanks for the input! I definitely understand that the tank is very new it just seems like the problem I am having alot of others have had the exact same issues with 0 nite and high phos. And just visually seeing the zoas doing bad while the others are just fine is just a bit off putting =/. I do feed all the corals with BRS reef chilli via a small squirt bottle to every polyp in the tank. Usually do this once a week.

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rygh said:
You can also just add nitrates if you want.
Calcium Nitrate or Potassium Nitrate are both cheap.
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I actually started this last night with spectricide stump remover... the name scares the bejesus out of me. I I had seen this thread

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...&share_tid=215730&share_fid=1020&share_type=t

And alot of people who wrote there share the same problems I have so I decided to attempt this and see where it'll take me.

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