Juiceman Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 Calibrate your stuff regularly guys...... My refractometer has been telling me my tank was sitting right at 35ppm for months..... Ty tested it and it showed 39ppm....!? I calibrated my refractometer and sure enough, it read the solution wrong.. I've just got wrong things all over the place! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Here are my results for your water Juiceman: Sal - 1.029 Mg - 1800 ppm NO3 - ~50 ppm PO4 - 0.08 ppm Ca - 565 ppm Alk - ??? (Forgot what I told you) For sure your salinity is probably causing most of your SPS death but if those nitrate levels are as high as I read, then that would be a contributing factor as well. I know you mentioned you fed right before you took water samples but that's a really high number just off of a feeding alone. I doublechecked by testing my nitrates just to be sure my test wasn't off and my result was around 0.25 ppm for my nitrates, which is what was expected. When you doublecheck with your nitrate test, let me know if you get a similar result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 Here are my results for your water Juiceman: Sal - 1.029 Mg - 1800 ppm NO3 - ~50 ppm PO4 - 0.08 ppm Ca - 565 ppm Alk - ??? (Forgot what I told you) For sure your salinity is probably causing most of your SPS death but if those nitrate levels are as high as I read, then that would be a contributing factor as well. I know you mentioned you fed right before you took water samples but that's a really high number just off of a feeding alone. I doublechecked by testing my nitrates just to be sure my test wasn't off and my result was around 0.25 ppm for my nitrates, which is what was expected. When you doublecheck with your nitrate test, let me know if you get a similar result. Nitrate test shows exactly the same number. ~.50 nuts! I wonder where those came from?! I moved 5 gallons of tank water into the QT and added 5 Gallons of RODI water to start working on bringing the salinity down. It's at 37 ppm this morning. I'll add some more tomorrow, don't want to bring it down too fast. I dose bacteria on Sunday's and Thursday's and I hadn't dosed before the sample, maybe I'll check it again tomorrow and see if it catches up with the normal bacteria dose, otherwise, idk maybe a good water change is in my future..... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I'm guessing you meant to put ~50 ppm, not ~0.50ppm. But yeah, my nitrate results ended up right about where yours ended up in the picture you texted me. It fell right between the darkest and the 2nd darkest color on the high end nitrate scale. Sounds like you're doing the right thing to rectify your salinity. At least for fish, it's easier to take them down to a lower salinity quicker than it is to introduce them to higher salinity. For corals, I do not know so your gradual decrease seems to be the best route. I'm still baffled that you would have this high of a concentration with biopellets running so indeed check your bacterial dosing to see if that momentarily spikes your nitrates. I'd also check your RO/DI water and make sure it is not contributing in any way. Anything else you dose? Aminos? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 No, I dose potassium and iodine. That's about it. The occasional zeo food, but nothing crazy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Was just curious... I know some of those additives like Fuel can really spike your nutrient levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 Over the last 6 months I've had.... 4-5 Fish die behind the rocks somewhere 3-4 large SPS colonies Die, 5-6 small SPS colonies Die Sump redo Bryopsis (and killing of said Bryopsis with Tech-M, which is the suspect of the raised Salinity) Cyano in the 60G Bio Pellet Reactor Clogged 3 Pumps not running Skimmer overflew onto the floor 4 times In the words of Danny Glover, "It has not been a nice day!" I think everything is beginning to move in the right direction, just needs to stabilize back out again. The funny part is I've had more growth out of my Red Planet, Blue Mille, Purple Stylo, and a few other SPS than ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 In respects to Danny Glover... are you getting too old for this "stuff"? [emoji2] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 As much as we'd like to automate everything and set it and forget it every once in a while we just need to get some spring cleaning done. Glad everything is doing better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 With the nitrates showing up in the tests, I'm focusing on the bio pellets.... I know I had trouble with them clogging and not tumbling a few times, and it's also lower in volume than usual. I moved the inlet tube further down in the reactor to push water closer to the bottom, and I also added more pellets to bring the volume back up. I'll test every few days and see if the level starts dropping. I'm also manually dosing Alk for a bit to get my calcium down. Once it's where it should be I'll turn the CARX back on. I'm ordering salt today so I'll do a 30-35 gallon water change later this week also to help move things along. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 Hmm, I don't understand why my phosphates go up and down. I dosed Microbacter last night. Am I adding phosphates when I dose that. I started alternating between Microbacter and Zeobak about 3 Months ago..... Which is right when all this mess started..... Could the Microbacter be a source? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 For me, the question is why dose bacteria to an already cycled tank? What are you hoping to achieve with it? Have you seen other tanks successful with this method? I don't know about direct correlations with bacterial dosing and increased nutrient levels but I would imagine any bacteria that doesn't get a foothold in your system and just dies... will add to your nutrient level. So indirectly, I can see your nutrient levels spiking with additions of bacteria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 I do zeobak based on the zeo methodology, I dose bacter based on a totm I saw on reef central that said they alternated between the 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 Microbacter tested .08 for phosphate Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Microbacter tested .08 for phosphate Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I'd just keep in mind the water volumes you're dealing with here. 0.08 ppm phosphates in a tiny jar of microbacter is like... and sorry for the terrible metaphor... but like a drop in the ocean to your size tank. It will barely affect your phosphate levels once diluted in your system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 True, but I add 6 capfuls fir my volume, not such a tiny vile...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 I was just reading about biopellets, I wonder if my tumble might have been too strong, with the recent change, they are at a nice easy tumble with no dead spots.... Maybe that was an issue... My pellets were being blown to hell before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Yeah, I've always run mine at a slightly stronger than gentle tumble. Still, 6 capfuls to 250+ gallons? Drop in the ocean bud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 It's a big cap, but still..... Either way I'm not finding the source of the phosphates..., Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 Did a 30 Gallon Water Change yesterday! [emoji33] Also switched GFO to high capacity, calibrated the PH probes, and switched out the RO profilters. Probably going to do another Water change early next week 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 Still reading the same stuff.... Hmm I am adding Alk solution each night based on the BRS calculator to keep its around 7.5 Just for my own happiness, I tested my RO water for Po4 and it came up 0. I currently have Phosguard and High Capacity GFO running and it's still not dropping the PO4. Did I mention I turned off the auto feeder last week?! Any ideas what else could be causing it? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 Also still surprised I have nitrates... When my biopellets should be knocking those waaay down. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Don't know how long your feeder was dumping food into your tank but you could have bound phosphates in your live rock. That'll take awhile to remove with an aggressive GFO attack plan. Still got me stumped on the nitrates. The biopellets should be knocking those out unless somehow your bacteria in the reactor died off and hasn't regained population. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Did you ever figure out about your Nitrate test kit? Do you have the same Red Sea Pro version that can read high and low nitrates depending on dilution? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 I don't see any other instructions so I think it's just the regular one. I'm planing on doing another water change tonight after Band rehearsal. I have one more Idea on something to try. I have Detrius collecting under my Live Rock in the Sump, so I'm planning on trying to add a foam filter before the Live rock section. I'm planning on pulling the rock out and siphoning out as much detrius as I can, then sloshing the rock in a bucket of water to get excess stuff off before putting it back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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