Need help!!!!

[Paula C Owens]

Also 72 degrees is on the cool side. Have a heater for the tank?

Have to buy a new heater. The one that came with it got broken

 

[Duke4Life]

Have to buy a new heater. The one that came with it got broken

I'd add another carbon and change water daily. It's hard to say but if you do lose the coral take this as a learning experience. I run my 125g at 76 - 80 degrees and a salinity of 1.025.

Also by your pics, it appears you have only 1 power head. Going to want something on the opposite side and maybe a few on the back wall for flow.

 

[Paula C Owens]

I'd add another carbon and change water daily. It's hard to say but if you do lose the coral take this as a learning experience. I run my 125g at 76 - 80 degrees and a salinity of 1.025.

Also by your pics, it appears you have only 1 power head. Going to want something on the opposite side and maybe a few on the back wall for flow.

Ok awesome!!!!! Ty so much for your input and advice!!!! I will add the extra carbon filter NOW but unfortunately will have to wait till payday (the 20th) to get another power head and heater

 

[Brew12]

Idk why we did it that way honestly. That's just the way my husband wanted to do it

A good rule of thumb is that if you drain water, replace it with saltwater. Only use fresh water to make up for evaporation.

 

[Paula C Owens]

The coral aren't completely dead yet. The first one is a kenya tree which. is a soft coral. The second one is from the genus Euphyllia, but can't tell exact species because of how damaged the flesh is. You need to raise the salinity of the tank ASAP. You want to be 1.025. You can accomplish that by doing another water change with new water at a much higher salinity. You should mix you water in a separate container in the future not the sump. It takes awhile for the salt to fully dissolve. I use a clean garbage can that was bought new and used for only this. You want to put a pump in to keep the water moving and salt dissolving. Honestly at this point I would dump salt in the sump and toss a pump in there to keep the water agitated. Either that or dissolve allot of salt in a small amount of water and add that. The Kenyan tree has a good chance at survival, the Euphyllia isn't dead, but looks pretty bad off. How are you testing the salinity of the water? We all make mistakes.

What can I move the corals too and setup to try and save them????? I am out of salt and seriously don't have any money($3.92)until the 20th

 

[Paula C Owens]

Ok awesome!!!!! Ty so much for your input and advice!!!! I will add the extra carbon filter NOW but unfortunately will have to wait till payday (the 20th) to get another power head and heater

I'm sure the an

The coral aren't completely dead yet. The first one is a kenya tree which. is a soft coral. The second one is from the genus Euphyllia, but can't tell exact species because of how damaged the flesh is. You need to raise the salinity of the tank ASAP. You want to be 1.025. You can accomplish that by doing another water change with new water at a much higher salinity. You should mix you water in a separate container in the future not the sump. It takes awhile for the salt to fully dissolve. I use a clean garbage can that was bought new and used for only this. You want to put a pump in to keep the water moving and salt dissolving. Honestly at this point I would dump salt in the sump and toss a pump in there to keep the water agitated. Either that or dissolve allot of salt in a small amount of water and add that. The Kenyan tree has a good chance at survival, the Euphyllia isn't dead, but looks pretty bad off. How are you testing the salinity of the water? We all make mistakes.

I'm sure the answer is probably no but can I use table salt? That's all I have on hand and have access right now

 

[Brew12]

I'm sure the an


I'm sure the answer is probably no but can I use table salt? That's all I have on hand and have access right now

Unfortunately, the answer is no.

 

[JaimeAdams]

Yeah, only reef salt.

You could bump up the temp in your house. You want to aim for around 78f.

As far as moving the coral that would be possible if you had some place to move them to. At this point correcting your parameters and getting them set and stable is the important thing.

I don't know where you are located, but finding a local marine aquarium society where you can network and ask questions and learn from other marine tank keepers would be a good idea. You can look for a close club here https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/local-reef-club-discussion.516/ I would also suggest looking around at the online forums or picking up a book or two. Don't get discouraged and ask questions when you have them.

 

[Paula C Owens]

Yeah, only reef salt.

You could bump up the temp in your house. You want to aim for around 78f.

As far as moving the coral that would be possible if you had some place to move them to. At this point correcting your parameters and getting them set and stable is the important thing.

I don't know where you are located, but finding a local marine aquarium society where you can network and ask questions and learn from other marine tank keepers would be a good idea. You can look for a close club here https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/local-reef-club-discussion.516/ I would also suggest looking around at the online forums or picking up a book or two. Don't get discouraged and ask questions when you have them.

TY so very much. Not really anything I can do until the 20th about anything other than adding the extra carbon filter suggested by someone else. Guess it's a good thing we only $20 each for the corals but God KNOWS I HATE being responsible for ANYTHINGS death!!!!!!!

 

[jaws789832]

Please Don't take offence to anything I say, I am only trying to help. The old saying "Slow and steady wins the race" is true in many things in life but it is essential in the reefing hobby. Did you say that it was a 150 gallon tank? The picture doesn't look that big but pics can be deceiving. I think your biggest problem right now is your temperature. Salinity will rise and fall based on temp (I don't think that much but it will change), so the first thing you should do is get the temp stable. That's the first thing I would invest in is a good heater or 2. I use 2 smaller ones on mine that are set about .5 of a degree apart. In the meantime before you can buy a heater there are some things you can try that might or might not work. Like someone mentioned turn the heat up in your house. The tank will remain pretty steady to what the ambient air temp is around it (usually a couple of degrees lower due to evaporation which cools the tank). Also leave your lights on as much as possible. T5's don't generate a lot of heat but they do generate some so that too will help heat your tank. Leaving your lights on might cause other issues though (algae outbreaks and whatnot) so that is at your own risk.

A reef tank should have a salinity of 1.026 (35 ppt). You have to remember that its not just Sodium chloride in a reef tank salt mix, its a mixture of many other elements that corals need to thrive. Fish are much more adaptable than corals so they can usually do well in lower salinities (because they don't need these other elements as much as corals do) so in pet stores you will find they keep their salinity in the 1.020 range to save on costs and to prevent disease outbreaks. When you mix to lower salinity you are also lowering things like calcium, magnesium and other trace elements that are vital to corals. You should never mix your salt in your tank. always mix it in a separate container. This doesn't have to be fancy or expensive. I use a 30 gallon brute garbage can to mix mine. Most salt mixes recommend 24 hours of mixing before adding to the tank. Before you add it to the tank you should match the temp and salinity. By the way what salt mix are you using? As someone already stated anytime you take water out of the tank you add saltwater back in, anytime you are just topping off water (due to evaporation) you add freshwater. Salt does not evaporate so over the course of time, if you don't top off with freshwater you salinity will rise (which isn't good either). Speaking of topping off, on a 150 gallon tank you are probably going to be in the neighborhood of 2 gallons a day. This is crucial since you have a sump because the water will Lower (evaporate ) from you sump chamber and you don't want your return pump going dry. This is why most people get an ATO (auto top off) because adding water to the tank everyday gets a little tedious and you won't be able to leave the house for more than a few days at a time . When you do get some salt this is how I would raise my salinity. I would mix up a higher salinity batch of salt (1.30) and add it through the top off process. This way its a slow and steady raise of system salinity. Monitor the salinity it the display tank often until the 1.026 is reached.

The next thing I would invest in at payday is some test kits. Don't add anything else to the tank until you stabilize the temp, salinity and know what your parameters are. At first you can get away with ammonia, nitrite and nitrates test kits. As you get more comfortable you will get phosphate, DKH (alkalinity), calcium, and magnesium. When you get more advanced you will branch out into other things that aren't as important to monitor but are fun to know. You can actually take a sample of your water to a LFS (local fish store) right now and they will generally test it for free, so at least you will know what is going on. Ammonia and nitrites are toxic that is why they are the important ones right now, plus they will tell you whether you tank is cycled and how long you will have to wait until adding more livestock.

Just so you know what you are getting into, a saltwater reef tank is not a cheap hobby. It doesn't have to break the bank but there are always things you will need and always upgrades you will want. In case of a disaster I keep enough salt mix onhand to change out the whole tank 3 times (everything I do is in 3's). You never know when you are going to accidently drop a whole container of fish food in the tank, or you get preoccupied while doing a water change and siphon out half of the water (yes these have happened to me), or something more severe like you tank or plumbing fails and you need more saltwater immediately (fortunately these have not happened to me) but being prepared is key. You will probably eventually want to buy a skimmer and change out that sump to something better. As you get more and better corals, you will want better lighting, dosing pumps, reactors and on and on...... My suggestion is Read Read Read. I have been in the hobby for over 6 years now (I know I am still a newb) but probably still spend about 2 hours a day reading on forums like this and other sources. Don't take any one persons advice as gospel, but read as much as you can, gather the information then apply it to what works for you. The more you know the easier it is and remember, slow and steady wins the race

 

[recess62]

I would recommend slow down and start reading everything you can on this forum before you purchase anymore livestock. If you have limited funds this advise will save you a lot of $ in the short and long run. A marine aquarium is a much more complex ecosystem to maintain. Go slow. Learn as much as you can. Purchasing livestock and having it perish because of lack of knowledge is not fair to the live stock. Happy reefing

 

[stede]

Gotta be honest it makes no sense to start an saltwater tank now with what im reading...i dont wanna be rude but youll need some knowlege ,some money and some patience first ... this will never end well and will drain your money kill the animals and discurage you from having an aquarium and that would be sad. Read up on it , watch youtube and buy what is nessesary

 

[Paula C Owens]

Please Don't take offence to anything I say, I am only trying to help. The old saying "Slow and steady wins the race" is true in many things in life but it is essential in the reefing hobby. Did you say that it was a 150 gallon tank? The picture doesn't look that big but pics can be deceiving. I think your biggest problem right now is your temperature. Salinity will rise and fall based on temp (I don't think that much but it will change), so the first thing you should do is get the temp stable. That's the first thing I would invest in is a good heater or 2. I use 2 smaller ones on mine that are set about .5 of a degree apart. In the meantime before you can buy a heater there are some things you can try that might or might not work. Like someone mentioned turn the heat up in your house. The tank will remain pretty steady to what the ambient air temp is around it (usually a couple of degrees lower due to evaporation which cools the tank). Also leave your lights on as much as possible. T5's don't generate a lot of heat but they do generate some so that too will help heat your tank. Leaving your lights on might cause other issues though (algae outbreaks and whatnot) so that is at your own risk.

A reef tank should have a salinity of 1.026 (35 ppt). You have to remember that its not just Sodium chloride in a reef tank salt mix, its a mixture of many other elements that corals need to thrive. Fish are much more adaptable than corals so they can usually do well in lower salinities (because they don't need these other elements as much as corals do) so in pet stores you will find they keep their salinity in the 1.020 range to save on costs and to prevent disease outbreaks. When you mix to lower salinity you are also lowering things like calcium, magnesium and other trace elements that are vital to corals. You should never mix your salt in your tank. always mix it in a separate container. This doesn't have to be fancy or expensive. I use a 30 gallon brute garbage can to mix mine. Most salt mixes recommend 24 hours of mixing before adding to the tank. Before you add it to the tank you should match the temp and salinity. By the way what salt mix are you using? As someone already stated anytime you take water out of the tank you add saltwater back in, anytime you are just topping off water (due to evaporation) you add freshwater. Salt does not evaporate so over the course of time, if you don't top off with freshwater you salinity will rise (which isn't good either). Speaking of topping off, on a 150 gallon tank you are probably going to be in the neighborhood of 2 gallons a day. This is crucial since you have a sump because the water will Lower (evaporate ) from you sump chamber and you don't want your return pump going dry. This is why most people get an ATO (auto top off) because adding water to the tank everyday gets a little tedious and you won't be able to leave the house for more than a few days at a time . When you do get some salt this is how I would raise my salinity. I would mix up a higher salinity batch of salt (1.30) and add it through the top off process. This way its a slow and steady raise of system salinity. Monitor the salinity it the display tank often until the 1.026 is reached.

The next thing I would invest in at payday is some test kits. Don't add anything else to the tank until you stabilize the temp, salinity and know what your parameters are. At first you can get away with ammonia, nitrite and nitrates test kits. As you get more comfortable you will get phosphate, DKH (alkalinity), calcium, and magnesium. When you get more advanced you will branch out into other things that aren't as important to monitor but are fun to know. You can actually take a sample of your water to a LFS (local fish store) right now and they will generally test it for free, so at least you will know what is going on. Ammonia and nitrites are toxic that is why they are the important ones right now, plus they will tell you whether you tank is cycled and how long you will have to wait until adding more livestock.

Just so you know what you are getting into, a saltwater reef tank is not a cheap hobby. It doesn't have to break the bank but there are always things you will need and always upgrades you will want. In case of a disaster I keep enough salt mix onhand to change out the whole tank 3 times (everything I do is in 3's). You never know when you are going to accidently drop a whole container of fish food in the tank, or you get preoccupied while doing a water change and siphon out half of the water (yes these have happened to me), or something more severe like you tank or plumbing fails and you need more saltwater immediately (fortunately these have not happened to me) but being prepared is key. You will probably eventually want to buy a skimmer and change out that sump to something better. As you get more and better corals, you will want better lighting, dosing pumps, reactors and on and on...... My suggestion is Read Read Read. I have been in the hobby for over 6 years now (I know I am still a newb) but probably still spend about 2 hours a day reading on forums like this and other sources. Don't take any one persons advice as gospel, but read as much as you can, gather the information then apply it to what works for you. The more you know the easier it is and remember, slow and steady wins the race

TY jaws so much for your input and advice!!!! We are getting the thermometer and more salt today!! God answered my prayer!!!! Anything worth having and investing in costs money and that's a good thing. What we bought came with a lot of water treatments coral foods diff conditioners etc but we didn't realize the test strips were expired. In time we will have everything we need!!!! I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to help me out!!!!!!!! God Bless You!
Paula the newbie

 

[Paula C Owens]

Gotta be honest it makes no sense to start an saltwater tank now with what im reading...i dont wanna be rude but youll need some knowlege ,some money and some patience first ... this will never end well and will drain your money kill the animals and discurage you from having an aquarium and that would be sad. Read up on it , watch youtube and buy what is nessesary

TY for your input and advice and it's appreciated. As far as the money goes we have it just not since we paid off all bills then ran across an amazing buy on this tank , bought it then new lamp, light bar and bulbs and a few other things. We are researching everyday to learn more and get better acquainted with what's needed and how to care for what we are looking at buying down the road. Thanks again for everything
Paula the newbie

 

[Paula C Owens]

I would recommend slow down and start reading everything you can on this forum before you purchase anymore livestock. If you have limited funds this advise will save you a lot of $ in the short and long run. A marine aquarium is a much more complex ecosystem to maintain. Go slow. Learn as much as you can. Purchasing livestock and having it perish because of lack of knowledge is not fair to the live stock. Happy reefing

TY for your input and advice!!! We are doing research watching videos and aren't planning to buy anything else for awhile as far as coral or fish go. God knows I do not want to be the cause of ANYTHING dieing!!!! We are working on fixing temp and salinity levels now and things will be much better soon!!!! God Bless
Paula the newbie

 

[recess62]

TY for your input and advice!!! We are doing research watching videos and aren't planning to buy anything else for awhile as far as coral or fish go. God knows I do not want to be the cause of ANYTHING dieing!!!! We are working on fixing temp and salinity levels now and things will be much better soon!!!! God Bless
Paula the newbie

Don't get discouraged. This is an amazing hobby. There is an endless amount of information here and the folks on this site are super helpful. Don't give up. Go slow and most importantly have fun

 

[Paula C Owens]

Don't get discouraged. This is an amazing hobby. There is an endless amount of information here and the folks on this site are super helpful. Don't give up. Go slow and most importantly have fun

No sir! I am CERTIANLY not a quitter we all make mistakes when starting out and learning! As long as we learn from those mistakes it's a good thing!! Got a heater and temp is set at 78* We replaced 18 gals of the tank with 18gals of new saltwater with a salinity level of 1.050 and our salinity level in tank is now still only at 1.020. Was at 1.015. Got an ammonia test kit and it's between 0 and 0.25. Still have to get the salinity up so will do another saltwater add tonight I guess We will get there

 

[Paula C Owens]

QUOTE="stede, post: 3221279, member: 72613"]Gotta be honest it makes no sense to start an saltwater tank now with what im reading...i dont wanna be rude but youll need some knowlege ,some money and some patience first ... this will never end well and will drain your money kill the animals and discurage you from having an aquarium and that would be sad. Read up on it , watch youtube and buy what is nessesary[/QUOTE]

I am CERTIANLY not a quitter we all make mistakes when starting out and learning! As long as we learn from those mistakes it's a good thing!! Got a heater and temp is set at 78* We replaced 18 gals of the tank with 18gals of new saltwater with a salinity level of 1.050 and our salinity level in tank is now still only at 1.020. Was at 1.015. Got an ammonia test kit and it's between 0 and 0.25. Still have to get the salinity up so will do another saltwater add tonight I guess We will get there

 

[Paula C Owens]

Please Don't take offence to anything I say, I am only trying to help. The old saying "Slow and steady wins the race" is true in many things in life but it is essential in the reefing hobby. Did you say that it was a 150 gallon tank? The picture doesn't look that big but pics can be deceiving. I think your biggest problem right now is your temperature. Salinity will rise and fall based on temp (I don't think that much but it will change), so the first thing you should do is get the temp stable. That's the first thing I would invest in is a good heater or 2. I use 2 smaller ones on mine that are set about .5 of a degree apart. In the meantime before you can buy a heater there are some things you can try that might or might not work. Like someone mentioned turn the heat up in your house. The tank will remain pretty steady to what the ambient air temp is around it (usually a couple of degrees lower due to evaporation which cools the tank). Also leave your lights on as much as possible. T5's don't generate a lot of heat but they do generate some so that too will help heat your tank. Leaving your lights on might cause other issues though (algae outbreaks and whatnot) so that is at your own risk.

A reef tank should have a salinity of 1.026 (35 ppt). You have to remember that its not just Sodium chloride in a reef tank salt mix, its a mixture of many other elements that corals need to thrive. Fish are much more adaptable than corals so they can usually do well in lower salinities (because they don't need these other elements as much as corals do) so in pet stores you will find they keep their salinity in the 1.020 range to save on costs and to prevent disease outbreaks. When you mix to lower salinity you are also lowering things like calcium, magnesium and other trace elements that are vital to corals. You should never mix your salt in your tank. always mix it in a separate container. This doesn't have to be fancy or expensive. I use a 30 gallon brute garbage can to mix mine. Most salt mixes recommend 24 hours of mixing before adding to the tank. Before you add it to the tank you should match the temp and salinity. By the way what salt mix are you using? As someone already stated anytime you take water out of the tank you add saltwater back in, anytime you are just topping off water (due to evaporation) you add freshwater. Salt does not evaporate so over the course of time, if you don't top off with freshwater you salinity will rise (which isn't good either). Speaking of topping off, on a 150 gallon tank you are probably going to be in the neighborhood of 2 gallons a day. This is crucial since you have a sump because the water will Lower (evaporate ) from you sump chamber and you don't want your return pump going dry. This is why most people get an ATO (auto top off) because adding water to the tank everyday gets a little tedious and you won't be able to leave the house for more than a few days at a time . When you do get some salt this is how I would raise my salinity. I would mix up a higher salinity batch of salt (1.30) and add it through the top off process. This way its a slow and steady raise of system salinity. Monitor the salinity it the display tank often until the 1.026 is reached.

The next thing I would invest in at payday is some test kits. Don't add anything else to the tank until you stabilize the temp, salinity and know what your parameters are. At first you can get away with ammonia, nitrite and nitrates test kits. As you get more comfortable you will get phosphate, DKH (alkalinity), calcium, and magnesium. When you get more advanced you will branch out into other things that aren't as important to monitor but are fun to know. You can actually take a sample of your water to a LFS (local fish store) right now and they will generally test it for free, so at least you will know what is going on. Ammonia and nitrites are toxic that is why they are the important ones right now, plus they will tell you whether you tank is cycled and how long you will have to wait until adding more livestock.

Just so you know what you are getting into, a saltwater reef tank is not a cheap hobby. It doesn't have to break the bank but there are always things you will need and always upgrades you will want. In case of a disaster I keep enough salt mix onhand to change out the whole tank 3 times (everything I do is in 3's). You never know when you are going to accidently drop a whole container of fish food in the tank, or you get preoccupied while doing a water change and siphon out half of the water (yes these have happened to me), or something more severe like you tank or plumbing fails and you need more saltwater immediately (fortunately these have not happened to me) but being prepared is key. You will probably eventually want to buy a skimmer and change out that sump to something better. As you get more and better corals, you will want better lighting, dosing pumps, reactors and on and on...... My suggestion is Read Read Read. I have been in the hobby for over 6 years now (I know I am still a newb) but probably still spend about 2 hours a day reading on forums like this and other sources. Don't take any one persons advice as gospel, but read as much as you can, gather the information then apply it to what works for you. The more you know the easier it is and remember, slow and steady wins the race

I am CERTIANLY not a quitter we all make mistakes when starting out and learning! As long as we learn from those mistakes it's a good thing!! Got a heater and temp is set at 78* We replaced 18 gals of the tank with 18gals of new saltwater with a salinity level of 1.050 and our salinity level in tank is now still only at 1.020. Was at 1.015. Got an ammonia test kit and it's between 0 and 0.25. Still have to get the salinity up so will do another saltwater add tonight I guess We will get there

 

[Paula C Owens]

A good rule of thumb is that if you drain water, replace it with saltwater. Only use fresh water to make up for evaporation.

I am CERTIANLY not a quitter we all make mistakes when starting out and learning! As long as we learn from those mistakes it's a good thing!! Got a heater and temp is set at 78* We replaced 18 gals of the tank with 18gals of new saltwater with a salinity level of 1.050 and our salinity level in tank is now still only at 1.020. Was at 1.015. Got an ammonia test kit and it's between 0 and 0.25. Still have to get the salinity up so will do another saltwater add tonight I guess We will get there