Duncan Coral Help

William Spak · Apr 20, 2019

Hello everyone... I am looking for some help with my duncan.
He is very upset... I tested my Nitrates to be 160ppm!!!
However, I brought it to the local fish store and it was no where near as bad... it was only about 20ppm

What should I do?! I don't want him to die

glb · Apr 20, 2019

What are the rest of your tank parameters? Is the tank new? Are you dosing? Give us some more information and we can help you out!
What do you think #reefsquad?

William Spak · Apr 20, 2019

glb said:
What are the rest of your tank parameters? Is the tank new? Are you dosing? Give us some more information and we can help you out!
What do you think #reefsquad?

All of my parameters are on point.. except for calcium.. could not get a good read. Tank has been running since august of last year. Not dosing anything.
I just don't understand how we got 2 different readings.
Thanks

saltyhog · Apr 20, 2019

Unfortunately it looks like that poor guy is done for.

Post the rest of your parameters though because you never know. How do you make your water? RO/DI? Anything else new in the tank? What are you using for flow? Dosing anything?

glb · Apr 20, 2019

William Spak said:
All of my parameters are on point.. except for calcium.. could not get a good read. Tank has been running since august of last year. Not dosing anything.
I just don't understand how we got 2 different readings.
Thanks

What test kits do you use? Are they different from the store? 160ppm sounds almost impossible unless the tank has just finished cycling.

William Spak · Apr 20, 2019

saltyhog said:
Unfortunately it looks like that poor guy is done for. Post the rest of your parameters though because you never know. How do you make your water? RO/DI? Anything else new in the tank? What are you using for flow? Dosing anything?

Nitrite : 0ppm
Nitrate : ~160ppm (off the charts high... I don't know why?) - Fish store got 20ppm
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: .5ppm
Calcium: Could not get a good read.. I think when I was shaking it, some of the liquid came out of the bottle.

William Spak · Apr 20, 2019

glb said:
What test kits do you use? Are they different from the store? 160ppm sounds almost impossible unless the tank has just finished cycling.

My kit is the API master kit... it is different from the stores.

saltyhog · Apr 20, 2019

What test kits? What was alkalinity? Was your 160 NO3 verified by repeating the test?

There should not be any ammonia in a tank this established! What ever caused that (if the reading is legit) could be the problem.

William Spak · Apr 20, 2019

saltyhog said:
What test kits? What was alkalinity? Was your 160 NO3 verified by repeating the test?

There should not be any ammonia in a tank this established! What ever caused that (if the reading is legit) could be the problem.

I don't know about alkalinity... I just tested the specific gravity and it is 1.028! That can't be good.

Also.. I did test nitrates two times.. I will do it again now to be sure.

glb · Apr 20, 2019

William Spak said:
Nitrite : 0ppm
Nitrate : ~160ppm (off the charts high... I don't know why?) - Fish store got 20ppm
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: .5ppm
Calcium: Could not get a good read.. I think when I was shaking it, some of the liquid came out of the bottle.

If the ammonia reading is accurate (API is known for false positives), you need to do a water change pronto. Could something have died in the tank?
Also, IMO you need better test kits to keep coral. Here’s what I use: salifert for nitrates, calcium and mg. Hanna Checkers for alk and phosphates, refractometer for salinity, and my apex for temp and ph. We’ve all used api at one time or another but I would t trust it for coral.

William Spak · Apr 20, 2019

glb said:
If the ammonia reading is accurate (API is known for false positives), you need to do a water change pronto. Could something have died in the tank?
Also, IMO you need better test kits to keep coral. Here’s what I use: salifert for nitrates, calcium and mg. Hanna Checkers for alk and phosphates, refractometer for salinity, and my apex for temp and ph. We’ve all used api at one time or another but I would t trust it for coral.

Ok, also we have just begun the switch to RO water... could this be the reason for some of this? I will do a 30% water change tonight.. is that ok?

Update: Just tested my Nitrates twice.. one how the people at the fish store did it... and one following the directions... the first test said it was around 20ppm...mine said it was around 80ppm... bit better than yesterday.

William Spak · Apr 20, 2019

here is my ammonia test... don't know if I am mis-interpreting it?

William Spak · Apr 20, 2019

Another update; The specific gravity is down to 1.024 after the water change.

zoous · Apr 21, 2019

Is that green algae on your duncan?

William Spak · Apr 21, 2019

zoous said:
Is that green algae on your duncan?

Yes... I removed it

William Spak · Apr 21, 2019

saltyhog said:
Unfortunately it looks like that poor guy is done for. Post the rest of your parameters though because you never know. How do you make your water? RO/DI? Anything else new in the tank? What are you using for flow? Dosing anything?

I don't dose.. but I do have things that I could dose.. I started the switch to RO water.
I did a 30% water change but my Nitrates essentially stayed the same... what should my next step be?
Thanks

golver1 · Apr 22, 2019

William Spak said:
here is my ammonia test... don't know if I am mis-interpreting it?

The results of the ammonia test looks like you put the drops in backwards or on top of each other. API ammonia test kit results turn that color if the first drops aren't evenly distributed before part 2 is added or if they are added out of order.

Put in the first part, cap tube and shake lightly a couple times, add second part, lightly shake a couple times, wait 5 mins.