Cloud not dissipating - just moved - could use some help

[k_dog345]

Hey guys.

So I just made the long haul to Oklahoma from Florida. Luckily almost everything seems to have survived. Unfortunately everything appears to be stressed. Also there is a brownish tint to my water that has not cleared over the last two days. And my skimmer is skimming out really stinky muck. I'm sure it's because of stirring up the sand bed. Which I should've just replaced....20/20 hindsight.

My situation is that I had 3 gals left of saltwater. I also have prime handy. I need advice on what I should do to help speed up the clearing of the brownish tint, and also what rodi unit I could buy as well as salt so I can begin mixing my own saltwater (used to rely on store, there are none here )

Here are some pictures for a better idea of what I'm dealing with:

This guy seems like he's not gonna make it

My stressed corals

Here is what they look like healthy.. Only have a picture on my phone

Thanks!

 

[CarrieB]

Can you test your water and see what's happening?

 

[skim]

Boy quite the haul. Things will be stressed and to think you will have sparkling water after a tear down is not realistic. I would do another small water change and double amount of Prime. You also go to a local store and pick up some Bacteria Booster or Bacterial supplement to get the Cycle going again. Make sure you have some GFO and Carbon on hand, I would start with the Carbon now. I would see if you can find any local guy's and find out what the water is like where you are. I have heard some from Florida say it high in Nitrates and some from a different part of State say Phosphates are high, so being without a RO/DO unit you may be heading down Stream without any Paddles. You may also shorten your Lighting period to like 4 hrs. until everything settles, may help reduce any Algae growth that may be sparked from the move.

 

[k_dog345]

Whoa. Well I tested the water. Things are definately off.

PH: ~7.5
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Ammonia: 2 (disclaimer: using API get kit)
Calcium: 400
Alkalinity: 8dkh
Phosphate: 0
Salinity: 1.027

I buffed calcium, waiting until tonight to raise alkalinity. I put another cap of prime in the water (I have a 35 gal)

Let me know what I can do! Like I said, I have no rodi unit, and no access to saltwater. All I have at the moment is 3gal saltwater

I'm ordering a rodi unit and saltwater mix so I can have it next week. Any suggestions on that as well?

Thanks

 

[k_dog345]

Also, I should mention that the cloud has dissipated a bit since arrival to Oklahoma. It was a whitish color at first, it's faded more into a brownish color.

I also have bacteravital that I dosed once while filling the water back up to help the bacteria. Should I dose again?

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

The best in the biz......

http://spectrapure.com/RO-RODI/RODI-SYSTEMS/MaxCap®-Manual-Flush-90-GPD-RO-DI-System

 

[lion king]

I would use that prime and do water changes to get the ammonia down, a poly filter can also help to clear the water.

 

[k_dog345]

Tank seems to be doing a bit better today. Corals still stressed, but water has cleared. I'll dose calcium and alk once more this weekend after checking params. I have a spectrapure rodi system and Red Sea salt coming my way! Thanks for the suggestion! @cromag08, it lined up with my research as well.

Here's some pics from today

Hopefully synthetic water will do good for the tank, I've been using natural water from the Atlantic Ocean since I've had the tank and it's done me a lot of good so long as I kept up with dosing alkalinity and calcium. Fun fact, the Atlantic has lower levels of these two elements compared to the Pacific!

Also, can someone point me to a decent tutorial on how to make saltwater for the tank?

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

For red sea do the following......

Start with room temperature rodi water. add a power head or pump and turn it on. add salt until you have the correct salinity. mix for about 15 mins. Unplug the pump. heat the water to tank temperature. do your water change.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

For red sea do the following......

Start with room temperature rodi water. add a power head or pump and turn it on. add salt until you have the correct salinity. mix for about 15 mins. Unplug the pump. heat the water to tank temperature. do your water change.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

For red sea do the following......

Start with room temperature rodi water. add a power head or pump and turn it on. add salt until you have the correct salinity. mix for about 15 mins. Unplug the pump. heat the water to tank temperature. do your water change.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

For red sea do the following......

Start with room temperature rodi water. add a power head or pump and turn it on. add salt until you have the correct salinity. mix for about 15 mins. Unplug the pump. heat the water to tank temperature. do your water change.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

For red sea do the following......

Start with room temperature rodi water. add a power head or pump and turn it on. add salt until you have the correct salinity. mix for about 15 mins. Unplug the pump. heat the water to tank temperature. do your water change.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Uh........oops.

 

[k_dog345]

Thanks @cromag08

I turned the lights down to the lowest setting on my tank. I noticed that before the whites came on, everything was partially open, but once the lights kicked on my softies shriveled up in stress. Please let me know your guys thoughts on my action. I normally have my blues ~30% and whites ~75%

I have a 165w chinese LED. Usually those settings are perfect, and everything is happy. But since the move, I'm guessing the change from dark buckets, to crappy water and light just made everything mad.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Lower the lights a little until they're not stressed from the move.

 

[k_dog345]

I turned my lights up a bit today. I noticed my zoas were starting to "raise" towards the light and I hear they do this when they're not getting enough light. Everything seems to be doing a bit better but not 100%. Everything except my pulsing Xenia that is

I hear they are very sensitive to temp. One thing to note, during the move I closely monitored temperature. The temp went from ~74 to 77. Once we arrived the temp dipped to 67!!! After acclimating for over an hour to the tank water (which was at 72). I put everything back in the tank. The water temp is staying around 72.8. I bumped the heater just a tad today to get it back to 74 where it normally runs and everything thrives

Thoughts on that? And how I may help everything get back to normal? I'm really worried about my Xenia. I'd love to get insight on how I can save them.

Luckily, my only loss was a feather duster and sun coral.

Thanks!