Rbta help and any other words

nebraska reefer · Feb 10, 2018

Hello new here just popin in for some words of wisdom.
Tank is 8 months old water was pre aged for 13 months prior. But for the last month or so my RTBA has shut itself from the tank just dnt look happy. I cnt figure it out my levels stay consistant water change 1 a month due to low fish count. And also my hermets keep popin up out of the shell and dead ? My bta is also bleaching i think i added sum more rock and gave sum more shade i will see if tht may have been the problem.But im not adding anything its all natural would like to keep it that way. Here are my perams.
Nh3-.25
No3- 40ppm
Po4- .25ppm
Dkh- 179ppm
Ph- 8.0
Salt- 1.024
Ca2- 420
Temp-77.2

Doing a 15% w/c after this post. Its not too soon is it?

Any info will help and be read thanks everyone.

Humblefish · Feb 10, 2018

#reefsquad

Brew12 · Feb 10, 2018

Your tank is 8 months old? It looks like it is 2 weeks old from the lack of growth on the rock.

Do you use RODI to make your water?

nebraska reefer · Feb 10, 2018

Brew12 said:
Your tank is 8 months old? It looks like it is 2 weeks old from the lack of growth on the rock.

Do you use RODI to make your water?

Thts becouse i just added tht rock. Hents no growth just added b4 the pic's. Do you not see the rock in the back right corner. Yes i use RODI. Everything would b dead otherwise. Can you tell me anything about what i posted for?

reef lover · Feb 11, 2018

If u have presence of nh3=ammonia...I would say something larger than a hermit has died or the tank isn't cycled yet...either way a WC will help get it down.

Brew12 · Feb 11, 2018

nebraska reefer said:
Thts becouse i just added tht rock. Hents no growth just added b4 the pic's. Do you not see the rock in the back right corner. Yes i use RODI. Everything would b dead otherwise. Can you tell me anything about what i posted for?

Did these problems start before or after you added the new rock?
If after, how did you treat the new rock?

Some people use tap water with no issues. Others use tap water and it causes minor issues. Some people use tap water and end up with clean looking rock and dead inverts because of chloramine. This is why I asked.

nebraska reefer · Feb 11, 2018

Brew12 said:
Did these problems start before or after you added the new rock?
If after, how did you treat the new rock?

Some people use tap water with no issues. Others use tap water and it causes minor issues. Some people use tap water and end up with clean looking rock and dead inverts because of chloramine. This is why I asked.

Sorry i wasnt trying to be a jerk. It all has been before the rock. I had other LR in before. But i wanted a better aquascape so i removed the 2 biggest ones and added the white ones you see. I left 2 old LR in tank. Now will that couse a cycle i need to watch for? The bed is older thn this tank it was sold to me with another cube i bought. And i did have a med 5" lawnmower blenny tht died yesterday morning i removed. But other thn a few hermits everything eles looks good. I gave the rock a dip in coral revive for about 20 min. And rinsed and dried it ovr night before adding to the tank.

John3 · Feb 11, 2018

Pretty sure you need to cycle new rock being added, especially if you removed old rock. That older rock was part of your biological filter.

Not sure where to go but it would be a good idea to add some Prime in case you have ammonia. If you have fish and crabs dieing you probably have some ammonia.

RELLIK-REEF · Feb 11, 2018

Was the rock dry?
If so yes it can cause another cycle also that could be why your phosphates are high.
If it was cured then leaving it out could have killed off some of the bacteria. I’d do the water change but I’d also pick up some bacteria and put it in the tank.

Brew12 · Feb 11, 2018

nebraska reefer said:
Sorry i wasnt trying to be a jerk. It all has been before the rock. I had other LR in before. But i wanted a better aquascape so i removed the 2 biggest ones and added the white ones you see. I left 2 old LR in tank. Now will that couse a cycle i need to watch for? The bed is older thn this tank it was sold to me with another cube i bought. And i did have a med 5" lawnmower blenny tht died yesterday morning i removed. But other thn a few hermits everything eles looks good. I gave the rock a dip in coral revive for about 20 min. And rinsed and dried it ovr night before adding to the tank.

If the problems started before the rock change then it is unlikely the initial cause.

It is possible that it is causing more problems now. Most of your filtration is in the rocks. If you remove 1/2 your rocks your have removed half your biological filtration. If you add dry rock, even if it looks clean, it can have organic material inside the pores that can break down causing an ammonia/nutrient spike. It is best to do small rock changes at a time if possible. Otherwise, the best thing to do is soak the rock in a tub of salt water with flow for at least a week or two. This helps the organic material to break down outside the tank and starts the process of growing nitrifying bacteria in the rock.

Back to the initial problem..... Have you changed out your carbon filter on your RODI unit recently? Many communities are adding chloramine to their water supply since it disinfects like chlorine but is stable and stays in the water longer. It is also harder for RODI units to remove. And, just to make it more challenging, if chloramines are getting through your RODI unit they are non conductive so you will still read 0 TDS. Chloramines are removed by the carbon filter in a RODI system which is why it is very important to change them routinely if you live in a city that uses chloramine. And if that isn't enough of a problem, the byproduct of the chloramine being absorbed by the carbon filter is ammonia. Ammonia will also not be detected by a TDS meter. A quick check would be to test for ammonia in your RODI water.

nebraska reefer · Feb 11, 2018

Brew12 said:
If the problems started before the rock change then it is unlikely the initial cause.

It is possible that it is causing more problems now. Most of your filtration is in the rocks. If you remove 1/2 your rocks your have removed half your biological filtration. If you add dry rock, even if it looks clean, it can have organic material inside the pores that can break down causing an ammonia/nutrient spike. It is best to do small rock changes at a time if possible. Otherwise, the best thing to do is soak the rock in a tub of salt water with flow for at least a week or two. This helps the organic material to break down outside the tank and starts the process of growing nitrifying bacteria in the rock.

Back to the initial problem..... Have you changed out your carbon filter on your RODI unit recently? Many communities are adding chloramine to their water supply since it disinfects like chlorine but is stable and stays in the water longer. It is also harder for RODI units to remove. And, just to make it more challenging, if chloramines are getting through your RODI unit they are non conductive so you will still read 0 TDS. Chloramines are removed by the carbon filter in a RODI system which is why it is very important to change them routinely if you live in a city that uses chloramine. And if that isn't enough of a problem, the byproduct of the chloramine being absorbed by the carbon filter is ammonia. Ammonia will also not be detected by a TDS meter. A quick check would be to test for ammonia in your RODI water.

The rock was in salt water but it had no light on it and just a air stone in a 75g it was growing sponges in tht tank i think. Sounds like i should add one of the original big rocks bck. And remove sum of the new. Its only been 24hr 36hrs and w\c would i still need to add anything. Also sounds like i need to check my h2o source and maybe switch or get my own rodi setup. Thanks i will post mor pics asfter i do these things if they sound like the rite moves. Thanks everyone

Brew12 · Feb 11, 2018

nebraska reefer said:
The rock was in salt water but it had no light on it and just a air stone in a 75g it was growing sponges in tht tank i think. Sounds like i should add one of the original big rocks bck. And remove sum of the new. Its only been 24hr 36hrs and w\c would i still need to add anything. Also sounds like i need to check my h2o source and maybe switch or get my own rodi setup. Thanks i will post mor pics asfter i do these things if they sound like the rite moves. Thanks everyone

I wouldn't put any old rock back in at this point. That can cause other problems if you haven't kept it in heated salt water. We often cause more harm trying to fix issues than letting the tank ride them out. Its a fine line to walk.
I would test for ammonia. If you are seeing some add Prime as a stop gap measure. I would then pick up a bottled nitrifying bacteria product, like Dr Tims One and Only, Stability, or Biospira. Lots of options out there. That will reseed the new rock fairly quickly.

nebraska reefer · Feb 11, 2018

I have the old rock in my QT it is heated with good flow and light cycled and good to go. At this point im thinking everything should be tossed in there its only half the size tho would tht be a better option

Brew12 · Feb 11, 2018

Are you seeing more than 0.25ppm ammonia in the tank right now?

nebraska reefer · Feb 11, 2018

Brew12 said:
Are you seeing more than 0.25ppm ammonia in the tank right now?

Im not home at the moment but it was at .30 last night i will check again asap. What would be best to do other thn 30% w/c. Should i rock swap or transfer living bodies to qt or just leave as is srry bout all the what to do's. But thank you very much for the time to help not much around here for reliable advice.

Brew12 · Feb 11, 2018

nebraska reefer said:
Im not home at the moment but it was at .30 last night i will check again asap. What would be best to do other thn 30% w/c. Should i rock swap or transfer living bodies to qt or just leave as is srry bout all the what to do's. But thank you very much for the time to help not much around here for reliable advice.

If you are using an API test kit, they can read 0.25ppm even if ammonia is zero.

A water change is almost always a good idea. I wouldn't move rocks around unless you have ammonia over 0.25ppm.