Corals

[anew2thereef]

Guys,


I have a 40 gallon tank, and it seems that my corals are dying... I do not have a skimmer on the tank and it has been running for about 6 months now. Corals in the tank are

Hammer
Torch
Zoa
Leather
Galaxea
Trumpet
War

Water parameters are...

Alkalinity 5.8 Dkh
Phosphate 0.81 ppm
Sanilty 1.22

 

[vladimir4076]

Hi looks like alk is too low and salinity as well

 

[vladimir4076]

Any pictures

 

[anew2thereef]

I can get pictures later... how would I rise the alk? Any suggestions....?

Thanks

 

[timrocks311]

yeah, your water parameters are off. Alk is too low, phosphates are too high, salinity is too low. do you test nitrates, calcium and magnesium? I'd guess they are off as well.

can you provide more info on what you use (salt, equipment, dosing) and what maintenance you do?

 

[RyanCSGO]

how often do you do water changes?

I would start with doing 5 gallon water changes every few days to slowly turn those parameters around.
you can dose a two part system like B-ionic or BRS two part to maintain alk and cal

 

[Mal11224]

May need to verify that your tests are accurate and not expired. Alkalinity is definitely too low and may be a direct result of the salinity. There are other parameters that may need to be verified. Raising alkalinity and salinity will need to be done slowly. Alkalinity by dosing and salinity by top off. What are you using to check salinity? If alkalinity and salinity are low, your calcium is likely low as well.

 

[anew2thereef]

The checkers are from Hanna, I recently bought them from reefaplooza this year. I do a 5 gallon water change sometimes give or take a little more every Monday, I use RODI water....just baffles me how do I rise alkalinity

Aquaclear 110
Jabeo 8 wavemaker
Chemipure blue
Circulation pump
Tropic Marin salt


Hanna
Phosphates
Alkalinity

Thanks,
Ariel

 

[Mal11224]

I use tropic Marin and ESV and my alkalinity is pretty stable. At 8.4. You are probably not doing your water changes with the correct salinity. I mix my salt to have 1.026 salinity for water changes. It is recommended to raise alkalinity slowly by slowly increasing your dosage and testing daily. But, I believe your issue could be with your water reserve when doing water changes and probably has been so for a little while.

 

[RyanCSGO]

+1 on @Mal11224 response above

what are you using to measure salinity when you make new water?

 

[anew2thereef]

Salinity Refractometer and I calibrated it.. I did a water change last night some how still 1.20 ... I was thinking about how about if I just make about 3 gallons of salt water, but go really heavy on the salt as it's mixing then add to main display tank little by little until the salinity creeps up a little bit.?

Thanks,

 

[Tautog]

Do a 50% WC, but it sounds like your tank is still very young
As said above, your salinity is very low, be sure to test before WC, the Alkalinity will be higher with the higher salinity
Don't be afraid to do the large WC, or even 70%, your present reading are almost like fresh water. If your following the directions on the salt your using, and not testing prior, well lesson learned.
Don't worry about dosing anything, the WC's will straighten your water out, Good Luck
Do yourself a favor : buy a floating hydrometer w/temperature reading, their very accurate, and easy to use, wipe clean when done. Buy the larger version if available, I have both sizes and leave the smaller one in my sump

 

[RyanCSGO]

Salinity Refractometer and I calibrated it.. I did a water change last night some how still 1.20 ... I was thinking about how about if I just make about 3 gallons of salt water, but go really heavy on the salt as it's mixing then add to main display tank little by little until the salinity creeps up a little bit.?

Thanks,

how are you calibrating it? do you have the proper solution or are you using RO water?

 

[anew2thereef]

Thanks for the responses guys!! I use a Salinity Refractometer.. When I calibrated it, it was with RODI water..