Nadine’s. Tanks

[nnero66466]

WATERBOX. 35.2 gallons. Sicce 1.5 syncretic silent pump. Mag tool ATO. Sicce control heater. set for 78 degrees. ( usually reads 81 degrees). Hygger mini wave maker. I use 2 of them either side of tank. 1 low pointed towards rock and the other one towards front of glass. Still playing around a little to get good wave action. Started 7 moths ago with dry rock. Cycled for a month before adding coral. All of which melted due to high salinity. Used live sand. Now own 3 Salina testers ( 2 refractors which were calibrated by Kenny at high tide aquatics.) also have digital tester. Lost initial fish due to bacterial invasion. Also that’s what Kenny thought as well since my water tested out fine. I have now homed a fire fish, 6 stripe, fairy basslet, 2 cardinal fish cleaner shrimp and a cleanup crew of snails and hermit crabs plus 2 emerald crabs. Do water changes every 2 weeks 5-10 gallons each time. Filter socks changed every other day. Today I just tested Ph. 7.63. Ammonia 0. Salinity. 1.026 ppm. Akl. 8.6 dKh.

I also have a Fluval 13.5 nano. Every thing there is fabulous. Testing is spot on. I actually use it to rescue some corals from big tank.

Problem issue now as u can tell by my forum post is coral keep dying in waterbox tank. This past Sunday went to Hightide and bought a hammer coral which kind of lost its flesh. At least that what it looked like. The torch I quickly moved out of there was not extending its tentacles all the way. See pics in the forum. Not sure why corals are having a hard time in my tank. Will post more later.

 

[MichaelB]

Thanks for starting a journal, I see on the other thread you mentioned ipa master kit, I'm gonna assume you meant API master test kit. (Just to be clear the marine master kit not freshwater one?)

I first started out using the api saltwater reef master kit (Something I doubt I would be able to give away for free in this club), best way i can describe those kits are if you test back to back 3 times your likely to get 3 different results. I will admit it’s better than not test at all, but I wouldn’t personally trust anything going by that brand of test kit. Imo they are extremely inaccurate and unrelible especially with their salt water kit. I believe there freshwater kits preform much better.

I also see the test results you listed:

Ph 7.63. Ammonia 0. Salinity. 1.026 ppm. Akl. 8.6 dKh.

Ammonia is nothing you need to test after the tank is cycled unless something drastic occurs. Seeing it's zero is good.

Alkalinity 8.6 would be ok (Though I wouldn't trust that from a api test kit mentioned above)

Salinity 1.026 is within range. (I'm Confident saying this should be accurate being you stated kenny personally calibrated them for you.

Ph 7.63 isn’t horrible but i believe people aim for 8.1-8.3 for faster coral growth. It takes intentional effort and prehaps more equipment and or modifications to acheive those numbers. It's a goal not a requirement going by this number it wouldn't cause things to die(This also I wouldn't trust based on a api test kit.)

I'm assuming this is the kit you have being you have yet to post tests for calcium, magnesium, or phosphate.
They are all vital for keeping a healthy reef tank.

This one is their master saltwater reef kit which would include calcium, nitrates, and phosphate as well.

These are only my best guesses.

If you haven’t tested for calcium, magnesium, nitrates, phosphates one of those could be your issue.

Salifert makes solid test kits at affordable prices:

I would recommend these specific tests, each ranges $10-20 or sometimes you can find a bundle deal online or in most local fish stores. These are simple to use and each kit is like 50 tests so last you a long time.

This are what I recommend be a long term goal Though saliferts work except (the salifert phosphate one is useless.)

These are more expensive but gives you a digital number read out, very accurate and prehaps the most widely used in the hobby not counting more advanced and more costly testing methods. They range from $60-$75 for the complete kit. With 25-30 tests, after thoae run out you buy refill kits normally $25 or less.

If you were to get any of these I would recommend in order: Alkalinity, Calcium, Phosphate low range.

I got these one at a time here and there. So it made the cost more bearable.

For the amount of the typical hammer coral you could pick up the salifert kits.

Did kenny check your water for: Alkalinity, Calcium, magnesium, phosphate & nitrates? If so what where the numbers he gave you?

If he didn’t if nothing else get him to test all those parameters for you.

Alternatively if your are planning to attend our frag swap, let us know and bring a water sample someone would be happy to bring their test kits and test them for you. So you can get things going in the right direction.

 

[Turkeysammich]

Slow is fast and fast is dead. That’s what I keep telling new reefers. Always start with a canary coral. Like hammer. Just 1 cheap hammer. If it dies. Then you’re not ready. If you started with dead rock. The aquarium will turn around in a year to a year and the half. Unless you’re kung fu is good you can do it in less time. But 99% of new guys are not good. There is a steep learning curve.

 

[derek_SR]

If you have one successful tank and one that isn't - I'd start off with just a simple question and think about what's different between the two?

If you started the waterbox with dry rock, it can occasionally take a very long time to find success with corals - like @Turkeysammich says above. Some dry rock tanks just seem to be cursed, some folks have more luck. Have you moved any rocks or sand from the smaller successful tank into the bigger one? This can sometimes help provide the biodiversity needed to get the bigger tank going.

I would not stress about all the testing - if your salinity and temp are good, nothing else is going to kill a coral in 3 days. Alk being high or low is pretty much irrelevant with where you are in terms of tank and troubleshooting. If you're doing regular water changes, and it sounds like you are, just make sure salinity and temp are solid and don't go down the testing rabbit hole until you are a bit further along.

I would take the filter socks out and feed your fish a little every single day - this will make sure you have some nutrients cycling through the system and ensure those don't bottom out, which can cause some problems.

Do you have any algae growth in the problem tank?

 

[Coral reefer]

What’s the lighting like?