Need advice to give advice

[Gonzo74]

My buddy has a 130 gallon tank(Red Sea Max S500). Probably 80-90 pounds of live rock. 2 inch sand bed.

His tank is 4 months old and everything, minus the fish, has died in it.

His parameters are stable and not too high or too low. Except his phosphate has never been above 9PPB, which to me is extremely low for feeding daily. I think he has around 5 fish, maybe a total of 10 inches all together.

We figured out that when he installed his RODI unit, he did not add the waste water outlet and has been running straight sink water for 4 months.


His TDS says 29 when testing his freshly made RO water.

We are planning to quarantine his fish and empty out all water and start over. Does anyone know if we would need to do anything to the live rock or sand? Would we need to do anything to treat them or should rinsing them in good RO water do the trick?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[saltyhog]

I would do an ICP test on his present water and see if you can figure out what the 29 TDS consists of? Could it be a heavy metal issue? If so could the rock absorb it?

What did he lose? Corals? what types? Inverts?

 

[vetteguy53081]

First, i would take a water sample to a trusted LFS and have them test for comparison and accuracy.
What is salinity and nitrate readings. Also what method of filtration is he using?

 

[cracker]

I'd suggest getting the TDS way down before any thing.

 

[Gonzo74]

I would do an ICP test on his present water and see if you can figure out what the 29 TDS consists of? Could it be a heavy metal issue? If so could the rock absorb it?

What did he lose? Corals? what types? Inverts?

He lost all LPS, all shrimp, and all hermits. The only thing living were Zoas.

He ha snot lost fish and they are in a quarantine tank with LFS water and rock from my tank.

 

[Gonzo74]

I would do an ICP test on his present water and see if you can figure out what the 29 TDS consists of? Could it be a heavy metal issue? If so could the rock absorb it?

What did he lose? Corals? what types? Inverts?

Which ICP do you recommend? Would prefer a quick one. Money is no issue.

 

[Gonzo74]

First, i would take a water sample to a trusted LFS and have them test for comparison and accuracy.
What is salinity and nitrate readings. Also what method of filtration is he using?

Salinity is 1.026 and nitrates are around 20PPM.

Calc- 445
Alk- 8.5
Mag- 1220
Phos- between 8-10

 

[Gonzo74]

I'd suggest getting the TDS way down before any thing.

He is getting a new RO unit. He has a cheap one. He is going to go with dual inline TDS meters.

I think the ICP is a good idea. Then we know what we are dealing with.

 

[Nburg's Reef]

I believe the chlorine in the tap water would eventually air off. There could be heavy metals in the tank as well. TDS of 29 is actually pretty good for tap water.

If it were me and suspected water quality was my issue, I'd drain, restart with some poly filters and give it an ICP test before adding coral.

 

[Gonzo74]

First, i would take a water sample to a trusted LFS and have them test for comparison and accuracy.
What is salinity and nitrate readings. Also what method of filtration is he using?

He has a Red Sea Skimmer, running a TORQ reactor with GFO and Carbon, 2x 200 micron filter bags, chemi pure blue, sand bed, live rock, and UV Light as filtration.

 

[Gonzo74]

I believe the chlorine in the tap water would eventually air off. There could be heavy metals in the tank as well. TDS of 29 is actually pretty good for tap water.

If it were me and suspected water quality was my issue, I'd drain, restart with some poly filters and give it an ICP test before adding coral.

I have ploy filters. I will give them to him tonight so he can see what color they turn.

 

[Nburg's Reef]

Is that phosphate ppb or ppm? If ppm, that might be a red flag for a new system. Im wondering if his rocks are leaching high phosphates.

 

[Scooter90254]

Sounds like copper build up from the bad RO setup. Fish ok and inverts struggling. Hmm.

Old house? Copper pipes?

ICP is obviously the way to go.

 

[Gonzo74]

Is that phosphate ppb or ppm? If ppm, that might be a red flag for a new system. Im wondering if his rocks are leaching high phosphates.

It’s PPB using an ULR Hannah checker

 

[Gonzo74]

Sounds like copper build up from the bad RO setup. Fish ok and inverts struggling. Hmm.

Old house? Copper pipes?

ICP is obviously the way to go.

We purchased the ICP and just ordered a new RO unit. He is wondering if he should re-cure his rock with bleach.

As for old house, it’s an apartment building. So, could be pipes.