scubasteve92 Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I just added my first coral to my tank, around 13 frags. Before I went to get them (live in east texas, went to austin to get good coral) my water parameters were perfect. My calcium levels were slightly lower than I wanted but still pretty high. They have been in my tank for about 24 hours now, everything is looking very happy and polyp extension on everything is great. But i just tested my water and it is like everything went down hill. This is my before and after Before: Salinity: 1.021 Temp: 78 pH: 8.0-8.2 ammonia: undetectable nitrite: undetectable nitrate: 5ppm phosphate: undetectable calcium: 400-420 alkalinity: 11dkh Now: Salinity: 1.024 Temp: 78 pH: 8.0-8.2 ammonia: 0.25-0.5 nitrite: undetectable nitrate: 15ppm phosphate: undetectable calcium: 340-360 alkalinity: 2dkh (this is bad, right?? how do i fix it??) I added a pura filtration pad to my filter about 14 hours ago. Could that affect it? Should I do a water change or would that shock it even more?? I have been adding Kent: Essential Elements to my tank. Should I add more of that? Would it help? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 get a different KH test kit i bet it bad. your new #s look good, bump up calcium and some add magnesiumcorals can handle the nitrite and nitriate just fine, FISH cant as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 did you add the tank water from the 14 bagged corals ? if so it could have an effect on your tank if its only 20 gal. A water change is a good idea you want to get rid of the ammonia its a killer i would do 10% and recheck in the morning and posibly do another if it still has ammonia. Why and how much of Kents essential elements are you useing ? If nothing was in the tank and you have been dosing the kents with nothing to use it it may have built up ? not sure on that just an idea. and ya for your alk to change that much I would say you did the test bad or the kit is old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubasteve92 Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 Thanks, I am going to go get another one today after work. I was told to dose the essential elements by my LFS. I was using it to build up cal and alk. What do you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Definitely retest everything. If all your animals look happy but your tests show radical changes like that I'd think it's the tests or test procedures before water quality. How far apart were the tests? 1 day, two days? It's hard to change alk and calcium that much in a short time unless you've got a lot of death or done massive water changes. I also would expect the pH to have changed noticably if both alk and calcium changed. Did you test with in half an hour to an hour of adding water? Sometimes it may take a while for new water (either fresh topoff or new saltwater) to mix especially if it's noticebly colder or warmer than the tank water. Also test the water you're using for makeup water, I would expect to see ammonia there, here in Austin RO and RO/DI usually tests about 1 ppm (I don't see this as an issue, with a 25% water change bacteria and corals should eat it up in less than a day). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubasteve92 Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 The tests were 5 days apart. I added water before work, went to work for 9 hours and then came home and tested. I will go get another test and do a water change, also shoudl i pick up some food for my LPS and if what should I get? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I don't think essential elements has calcium in it but I could be wrong I think its for boosting the more exotic mineral types Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubasteve92 Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 yeah, i heard the same thing from one of the guys i picked my coral up from this week. I am going to look for something else. How long can my coral survive without excellent cal and a stabel alk, or is there too mcuh variation to tell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I dont think your cal is that bad and if your test kits are bad then there is no telling what the alk really is. I have seen people post good results with alk of 6.5-12 lol so I duno what to tell you there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 . . .How long can my coral survive without excellent cal and a stabel alk, . . . So much for me thinking it might have been unmixed water . Corals can adapt so it's hard to say (it's hard to say when they won't also). Having your parameters jump around can be worse then having one parameter less than ideal. If your animals are still showing good expansion I'd make just slow adjustments. (my opinion best way to make fast adjustments is with a combination of new water along with aged water form an existing healthy system.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubasteve92 Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 thanks, I will make sure do to a water change and get a new test kit. Thanks for all the input! I would be screwed if I didnt find this site 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 . . . Thanks for all the input! I would be screwed if I didnt find this site Yeah, I've said this before and don't mind saying it again: Even though I've been keeping saltwater 24 years and read as much as I can ARC has still helped me be a better aquarist! Being able to discuss and argue ideas and meet other aquarists who may do things differently or who have experience in an area or with animals or with equipment I'm not familair with is a valuable asset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubasteve92 Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 And when work is going slow it make the time go by faster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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