Salt, water tank problems

[KingVinny]

I’m glad to hear you’ve started treating the tank, what product did you end up going with? I’m sorry to hear your tang died that always sucks. As for your wrasse, when did it start breathing heavy? After you put in the copper? it’s most likely stressed out

It was before I put the copper in

 

[KingVinny]

I wouldn't be able to answer, those are soft corals, something I have no experience at all with... I can say, they don't look too healthy to me, but again, I have no experience with them. They look like the ones I see in petco all the time and they just look dreary...

To my knowledge, I think they’re called pink cabbage, leather, coral, and this picture was taken later on the night when I usually turn my light off, but I only turned it on to show that, but at night time I like shrinks and closes and when I have my light on directly to it, it opens up and looks a little bit better than that but that stuff on the bottom That’s on them That’s all new and also to my knowledge, I know this type of coral is more Hardy so we could take a lot but once again, I don’t know 100%

 

[KingVinny]

Also, quick question my water level is getting a little lower than usual. Do I add water to the tank? The only reason I ask is because I already started the copper treatment. I just don’t want it to mess up anything.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Also, quick question my water level is getting a little lower than usual. Do I add water to the tank? The only reason I ask is because I already started the copper treatment. I just don’t want it to mess up anything.

Yes, add pure fresh water to keep the level the same if it is lowering due to evaporation.

If it is low due to taking out something (water, an object, etc.) then add new salt water.

 

[KingVinny]

Yes, add pure fresh water to keep the level the same if it is lowering due to evaporation.

If it is low due to taking out something (water, an object, etc.) then add new salt water.

OK sounds good. I just want to be sure I was going to add water but wasn’t sure if it was gonna mess win copper treatment

 

[Tomb85]

Hi you was saying about your soft coral. To help that you need to raise your nitrates up from zero to 5ppm or 10ppm which is easier to manage for yourself. Running at zero will stress corals out due to no nutrients in the water for them and also run the risk of dino outbreak in the tank which you don't want at all. You have enough issues with dinos becoming an issue aswell.

 

[KingVinny]

Hi you was saying about your soft coral. To help that you need to raise your nitrates up from zero to 5ppm or 10ppm which is easier to manage for yourself. Running at zero will stress corals out due to no nutrients in the water for them and also run the risk of dino outbreak in the tank which you don't want at all. You have enough issues with dinos becoming an issue aswell.

How would one go about raising the nitrates

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

How would one go about raising the nitrates

Feed more is the easiest way, but you can also dose various forms of N: food grade sodium nitrate, calcium nitrate, ammonium chloride or ammonium bicarbonate.

 

[KingVinny]

Feed more is the easiest way, but you can also dose various forms of N: food grade sodium nitrate, calcium nitrate, ammonium chloride or ammonium bicarbonate.

OK sounds good. Thank you for that.

 

[KingVinny]

So is there a way to get copper out of rocks because I did spend a decent amount on these rocks that are in my tank and I know I messed up I kind of overreacted And I just wanted to get this parasite out of my tank I know high-grade, carbon, and seachem cuprisorb 100 ml we’ll get out most of it in time but I know rocks, absorb, copper, and stuff like that I’m most likely going to change the whole sand bed and also will the copper gets stuck on my filtration equipment and in the actual tank, like itself like the glass, the plastic and stuff like that

 

[Dburr1014]

That's a massive wall of text. I read most of it, but a lot of it was kind of incoherent.

I wouldn't bother with the UV Sterilizer, there's no real good place to put one in this tank anyways, they're mainly used to fight off parasites and kill certain bacterial blooms, and keeping the water clarity high.

For water clarity you can just run carbon (which is in Chemipure so you're good)

For Parasites, now that you have a quarantine tank, you're less likely to introduce them to the tank anyways.


As for removal of copper, I hate to say it, but if I was you, I would ditch the sand and rock. I don't trust that copper hasn't been absorbed into it and will leech out slowly over time. If you don't completely remove it, you'll never be able to have inverts again, so for me, I'd rather be overly cautious than buy some new CUC and watch it all die.

The skimmer thing has some merit to it... But mine runs 24/7... The only time it's off is when I feed frozen food, do a water change, or when I am taking it down for maintenance/cleaning. I would bet that most reefers are the same, skimmer just runs 24/7. That's not to say that there isn't any merit to running it only 8 hours a day, but for me, the benefits of keeping it running (great gas exchange and nutrient export) outweighs the savings you get by only running it 8 hours (saving electricity, maybe letting it be more efficient since it's letting organics build up first making them easier to strip).

If I think of anything else I'll reply again. Best of luck to you

For the rocks, this is true.
BUT, realize that new rocks and sand you will have to recycle the tank, OR, buy live rock. Real live rock not the "life rock" on the shelf.

 

[Dburr1014]

How would one go about raising the nitrates

Just feed more, break up the feedings. Morning, noon, night.

 

[KingVinny]

So do I have to get rid of the equipment where the copper was in or if I wash it very thoroughly with a copper come out

 

[KingVinny]

Just feed more, break up the feedings. Morning, noon, night.

Ohh ok

 

[KingVinny]

For the rocks, this is true.
BUT, realize that new rocks and sand you will have to recycle the tank, OR, buy live rock. Real live rock not the "life rock" on the shelf.

So I can still salvage the rocks

 

[Dburr1014]

So do I have to get rid of the equipment where the copper was in or if I wash it very thoroughly with a copper come out

That can be washed. Sponges and such stay with the QT.

 

[KingVinny]

The only reason I ask that is because I put the copper in the main tank because the QT wasn’t fully set yet

 

[KingVinny]

That can be washed. Sponges and such stay with the QT.

And I need all my stuff from the main tank for it to operate

 

[JNalley]

So I can still salvage the rocks

No, he's saying the rocks will leech out copper because they've absorbed it. To be candid here man, I would say chalk it up to an expensive mistake, replace the sand and the rock asap... Here's how I would do it:

Buy OceanDirect Live Sand from CaribSea, not the "AragAlive" nonsense. They make 2 grades of this, original which is unsifted sand harvested from the ocean floor, and the Oolite which is sifted so that you only get basically sugar-sized sand particles. Get whichever you prefer, but keep in mind, if you have decent power heads, you may have to turn them down a bit due to how shallow the tank is, if you go with the Oolite.

Buy the CaribSea Moani live rock, and maybe some of the South Seas shelf if you want the rock to rest firmly against the bottom of the glass.

All three of the above products are available at saltwateraquarium.com, I am not sure if BRS carries the Moani rock, I don't recall ever seeing it there before.

Buy a bottle of Fritz bacteria.

Once the stuff arrives, transfer your Shrimp and inverts to a 5 gallon bucket, transfer your fish to the QT, drain the display and dismount any of your coral. Give the coral a quick rinse under some RODI water, and place them in the bucket with your shrimp and inverts.

Drain the tank, chuck the sand and the rock somewhere.

Re-scape, add new sand, and fill with fresh saltwater. Add your bacteria. Wash your pumps and other equipment with some citric acid, place it all back in the tank, and let the water get to temp. Slowly acclimate your CUC back to the tank, while leaving your fish in QT and remount your coral to the new scape.

The bacteria from the sand, the spored bacteria from the rock, and the bottled bacteria should give you enough of a biological filter that the shrimp, snails, and hermits should be fine. Toss some food in there for the crabs and shrimp every couple/few days.

Once the quarantine is done, go ahead and move your fish back to the Main tank, you won't have to run a 6-8 week fallow period to get rid of the velvet because you've already replaced everything.


This is how I would handle it personally... I know you've already invested a bunch of money and lost some expensive things. I'm just trying to help you avoid making further mistakes.

 

[KingVinny]

No, he's saying the rocks will leech out copper because they've absorbed it. To be candid here man, I would say chalk it up to an expensive mistake, replace the sand and the rock asap... Here's how I would do it:

Buy OceanDirect Live Sand from CaribSea, not the "AragAlive" nonsense. They make 2 grades of this, original which is unsifted sand harvested from the ocean floor, and the Oolite which is sifted so that you only get basically sugar-sized sand particles. Get whichever you prefer, but keep in mind, if you have decent power heads, you may have to turn them down a bit due to how shallow the tank is, if you go with the Oolite.

Buy the CaribSea Moani live rock, and maybe some of the South Seas shelf if you want the rock to rest firmly against the bottom of the glass.

All three of the above products are available at saltwateraquarium.com, I am not sure if BRS carries the Moani rock, I don't recall ever seeing it there before.

Buy a bottle of Fritz bacteria.

Once the stuff arrives, transfer your Shrimp and inverts to a 5 gallon bucket, transfer your fish to the QT, drain the display and dismount any of your coral. Give the coral a quick rinse under some RODI water, and place them in the bucket with your shrimp and inverts.

Drain the tank, chuck the sand and the rock somewhere.

Re-scape, add new sand, and fill with fresh saltwater. Add your bacteria. Wash your pumps and other equipment with some citric acid, place it all back in the tank, and let the water get to temp. Slowly acclimate your CUC back to the tank, while leaving your fish in QT and remount your coral to the new scape.

The bacteria from the sand, the spored bacteria from the rock, and the bottled bacteria should give you enough of a biological filter that the shrimp, snails, and hermits should be fine. Toss some food in there for the crabs and shrimp every couple/few days.

Once the quarantine is done, go ahead and move your fish back to the Main tank, you won't have to run a 6-8 week fallow period to get rid of the velvet because you've already replaced everything.


This is how I would handle it personally... I know you've already invested a bunch of money and lost some expensive things. I'm just trying to help you avoid making further mistakes.

To be honest with you, I was contemplating redoing the whole thing for a little bit and a couple hours ago. I came to the conclusion it would probably be a lot easier and more efficient and probably better in the long run honestly to redo the whole tank and that’s what I’m planning on doing. I ordered some things I’ll show you guys exactly what I ordered so you guys can tell me if it’s good or not. I know you told me what to get and stuff like that and I’m definitely gonna get that stuff. But I also want your opinion on the stuff I got. and I can use the citric acid in the tank itself because I want to make sure everything is clean and there’s no traces of any bad bacteria or velvet or anything. and I’m mostly going to start this project. Saturday and Sunday because that’s the most time I am free and I have no other commitments to do and also that will get rid of any copper residue that’s in the tank correct and please correct me if I buy anything then I shouldn’t and I just want to say thank you so so much for that detailed step-by-step on how to fix and proceed forward, it does really mean a lot. And yes, I know I made a very expensive mistake but I’m very passionate about this hobby, and I’m willing to fix this, to the best of my ability.