danieyella
unfriendly local swamp witch
To set the story: I test generally every two weeks unless something seems off, I do a 10g water change weekly. I make my own RODI for the ATO but typically buy saltwater from a specific LFS simply for convenience sake.
Tested Jan 1 per my usual schedule, everything stable and normal (I keep a running excel document to track).
No losses in tank, I purchase some Kent's garlic drops online for a fish who's being iffy about eating to see if I can encourage him. I use 1 drop on the frozen food for this week. He eats. Excellent. No other changes to feeding frequency, amount, variety, etc.
Was headed to a different side of town than usual, so decided to get my water from a different LFS who claims to use the same brand, no issue right? Get water on the 6th, go home and do my usual changes. Another feeding with a single drop of garlic happens.
8th my tank has a funk growing on the sand bed and the corals seem a little *****, can't tell at this point if the funk is the beginning cyano or dino because it's kinda brownish in light, kinda reddish with lights out. Seems weird, check that all the powerheads are still flowing and look good. Check the sump to ensure all is well there.
9th do an early water change to be on the safe side and manually remove what I can -- I've picked up water from my normal LFS. New resin for the RODI is already on order, but better check that as well.... Check the tds on my rodi to make sure it isn't blown earlier than usual - it's at 6, we're starting to elevate but that shouldn't be enough to cause this problem. Perform tests after letting everything settle. Everything is exactly where it tested on the 1st, except nitrates. Let me test that again, and again.... nitrates spiked from the stable 2 I keep it at (my corals always seem happier around there than at 0) to 15?! No fish have died, no corals have died, I see no loss in inverts or snails.... No changes to feeding aside from 2 drops of garlic total from the 1st to the 9th....
My question: What are the chances this is from the garlic drops? Or is it more likely I got some terrible water from the other LFS? Any other ideas on how this could have happened? Doing another waterchange tomorrow to help drop the levels....
Tested Jan 1 per my usual schedule, everything stable and normal (I keep a running excel document to track).
No losses in tank, I purchase some Kent's garlic drops online for a fish who's being iffy about eating to see if I can encourage him. I use 1 drop on the frozen food for this week. He eats. Excellent. No other changes to feeding frequency, amount, variety, etc.
Was headed to a different side of town than usual, so decided to get my water from a different LFS who claims to use the same brand, no issue right? Get water on the 6th, go home and do my usual changes. Another feeding with a single drop of garlic happens.
8th my tank has a funk growing on the sand bed and the corals seem a little *****, can't tell at this point if the funk is the beginning cyano or dino because it's kinda brownish in light, kinda reddish with lights out. Seems weird, check that all the powerheads are still flowing and look good. Check the sump to ensure all is well there.
9th do an early water change to be on the safe side and manually remove what I can -- I've picked up water from my normal LFS. New resin for the RODI is already on order, but better check that as well.... Check the tds on my rodi to make sure it isn't blown earlier than usual - it's at 6, we're starting to elevate but that shouldn't be enough to cause this problem. Perform tests after letting everything settle. Everything is exactly where it tested on the 1st, except nitrates. Let me test that again, and again.... nitrates spiked from the stable 2 I keep it at (my corals always seem happier around there than at 0) to 15?! No fish have died, no corals have died, I see no loss in inverts or snails.... No changes to feeding aside from 2 drops of garlic total from the 1st to the 9th....
My question: What are the chances this is from the garlic drops? Or is it more likely I got some terrible water from the other LFS? Any other ideas on how this could have happened? Doing another waterchange tomorrow to help drop the levels....
