MY tank after 9 months

Moonlightreef · Nov 22, 2013

new addition
Aqua house dosing pump for my ALK .
im was loosing all my SPS's cuz of me manually dosing everyday so i had to switch to dosing pump hoping this will fix the problem .

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and a new coral
gold torch

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Moonlightreef · Nov 22, 2013

here is what my SPS s look like right now

here a

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gman08016 · Nov 22, 2013

How often do you test your water.Any luck of the clowns hosting I have had mine for years can't get them to stop hosting my dam mushrooms.

Moonlightreef · Nov 22, 2013

gman08016 said:
How often do you test your water.Any luck of the clowns hosting I have had mine for years can't get them to stop hosting my dam mushrooms.

at beginning i would test a lot almost everyday , and with my clowns no lock they are still free birds dont host anything . i bought gold torch and put it where they usually are trow out the day hoping they host that at list . time will tell .

YHSublime · Nov 22, 2013

That is not because of your clowns "hosting."

What are you water params at right now? Especially your alkalinity.

Moonlightreef · Nov 22, 2013

YHSublime said:
That is not because of your clowns "hosting."

What are you water params at right now? Especially your alkalinity.

cal 460 ppm always
mag 1300 to 1350 ppm
alk goes from 8dkh to 7dkh in 24 hour period , i think thats why my SpS start dying on me and alk is the only think i dose everyday and it keeps going up and down . Right now i dose 20 ml every day to keep rasing back to 8 dkh.
i just bought the dosing pump for my alk
to keep it at 8 dkh . I dont want any higher then 8 dkh . Hopefully they regrow the dead spots back .

GoTakeANap · Nov 22, 2013

looking good. i love how you rearranged your rock!

YHSublime · Nov 22, 2013

Moonlightreef said:
cal 460 ppm always
alk goes from 8dkh to 7dkh in 24 hour period , i think thats why my SpS start dying on me and alk is the only think i dose everyday and it keeps going up and down .

Yep, I'd say you're right. You shouldn't have to be dosing that much, a young tank with a small amount of SPS. What kind of salt mix do you use? Does your PH swing as well?

tuna_bullet · Nov 22, 2013

Moonlightreef said:
here are some babes

looks good i feed mine all the time....

Moonlightreef · Nov 22, 2013

YHSublime said:
Yep, I'd say you're right. You shouldn't have to be dosing that much, a young tank with a small amount of SPS. What kind of salt mix do you use? Does your PH swing as well?

i buy my water from Vivid aquariums and im not sure what type of salt they use , but i trust them. about my PH it doesn't go lower then 8.1 . Its always between 8.1 to 8.4 . i use API test kit and i check it once a month .

Moonlightreef · Nov 22, 2013

Brokendeck said:
looking good. i love how you rearranged your rock!

thanks

Moonlightreef · Nov 25, 2013

has anyone seen this before , its some white jello thingy . its was on the bottom of my dying Firefly Echinopora

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goodtimes · Nov 25, 2013

Moonlightreef said:
has anyone seen this before , its some white jello thingy . its was on the bottom of my dying Firefly Echinopora

I've had several Lps with that. I always figured it was some sort of sponge.

Moonlightreef · Nov 25, 2013

goodtimes said:
I've had several Lps with that. I always figured it was some sort of sponge.

so i shouldn't worry about that ?

YHSublime · Nov 25, 2013

No, just scrape it off it it starts to smother your coral. It looks like a sponge, and there are many types.

Moonlightreef · Nov 25, 2013

YHSublime said:
No, just scrape it off it it starts to smother your coral. It looks like a sponge, and there are many types.

thank you

787will · Nov 25, 2013

Yes that's sponge, nothing to worry about! What do you use to test alk? The reason I ask is a drop from 8-7dkh in a 24hr period seems rather a lot considering you don't have that many corals.

Moonlightreef · Nov 25, 2013

whorsefield said:
Yes that's sponge, nothing to worry about! What do you use to test alk? The reason I ask is a drop from 8-7dkh in a 24hr period seems rather a lot considering you don't have that many corals.

i use API test kit for Alk
its been droping 1dkh for past 3 -4 months

Moonlightreef · Nov 25, 2013

right now from
my calculations my tank uses 18 ml Alk everyday .

787will · Nov 26, 2013

Scrap the APi test kits IMHO they are useless when it comes to reef tanks, they lack the required accuracy necessary to be truly successful. Looking at your numbers your tank is not very stable. A ph swing from 8.1-8.4 is not good. You want to keep it the same with a max swing of .1 not .3. Ph and alk are closely related which could be why your alk is going crazy too. This instability is why your SPS are not looking good. LPS and softies are much more tolerant!

I would suggest replacing your test kits with salifert and Hanna checkers. The Hanna checker for alk IMO is a must. It measures in ppm and if you check daily and get and average you will have a much more accurate idea of what your alk is really doing and then you will no what to exactly dose daily! Also I would think about investing in an RO unit to start making your own saltwater with a good quality saltmix, it will save you a lot of money over time!