Tank crashing?

skipb1956 · May 17, 2016

This may be a bit long I apologize, but want to give as much background as possible.
This morning my neon dottyback, red wrasse and banded coral shrimp were found dead in my tank, and my 2 clownfish seem a bit sluggish.
I have a 36 gall tank that has been running for 8 months. I have been wrestling with high nitrate and phosphate issues for months. I didn't worry to much as all my fish and corals seemed happy and healthy. I do have issues with algae and in an attempt to get rid of them I started dosing vodka about 2 months ago and didn't notice any change in my parameters.
About 2 weeks ago I started dosing with AZ-N03 Absolute zero nitrate and Micro bacter as well. As the algae was growing and killing some of my coral frags. I also added Chemi pure to my canister filter.
I had been testing with API which I know is not very reliable and got about 40 for Nitrate and .25 for phosphate. My LFS usually got my nitrate at between .4 and .12 and phosphate always at .05.
I recently got a hanna checker for phosphate and have been getting it at .02 to .07.
Is it the additives I've been putting in or is something else going on with my tank?
I am going to stop dosing the Az-N03. Should I also stop the vodka and micro bacter?
I had been doing 15% water change every week, but lately doing a gall a day trying to get levels down.

I have a protein skimmer, canister filter and about 50 lbs of live rock, my lights are Orbit Marine Pro Leds.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

cjd · May 17, 2016

personally I would stop dosing anything for the moment . I would do a few large water changes over the course of a couple of days . Hopefully you are using RODI water when you make up your salt water. Canister filters are known for being nitrate factories , so make sure you clean that out every few days to get nutrients under control. water changes are always a good idea when things go south especially when additives are in question.

Tahoe61 · May 17, 2016

If you do not have a skimmer get one and take the canister off line.
You're dosing a lot carbons that will up the bacteria numbers but you can over do it.
I would stop the No3, and the Microbacter7 ( I love MB7) and then wean down the vodka.
Where is your elevated phos level originating is the question.
Honestly I am not a huge fan of the Orbit Marine Pro Leds, I have never had one, but I see numerous post with tanks using the fixture regarding corals not thriving and algae growth.

Wilsoni · May 17, 2016

Tahoe61 said:
If you do not have a skimmer get one and take the canister off line.
You're dosing a lot carbons that will up the bacteria numbers but you can over do it.
I would stop the No3, and the Microbacter7 ( I love MB7) and then wean down the vodka.
Where is your elevated phos level originating is the question.
Honestly I am not a huge fan of the Orbit Marine Pro Leds, I have never had one, but I see numerous post with tanks using the fixture regarding corals not thriving and algae growth.

Haha he has two threads on this... Is there any way to merge them @Tahoe61

Wilsoni · May 17, 2016

Tahoe61 said:
If you do not have a skimmer get one and take the canister off line.
You're dosing a lot carbons that will up the bacteria numbers but you can over do it.
I would stop the No3, and the Microbacter7 ( I love MB7) and then wean down the vodka.
Where is your elevated phos level originating is the question.
Honestly I am not a huge fan of the Orbit Marine Pro Leds, I have never had one, but I see numerous post with tanks using the fixture regarding corals not thriving and algae growth.

This is almost word for word what I said. I'm glad we agree

Wilsoni · May 17, 2016

Oh wait... I take that back, 3 threads...

Duke4Life · May 17, 2016

Wilsoni said:
Haha he has two threads on this... Is there anyway to merge them @Tahoe61

3 lol

Wilsoni · May 17, 2016

I think the only thing left to do other than what has been mentioned so far is breath... Nitrates reading 40 are not terrible, problematic algae can be solved.

Less can be more, so don't over do it

Tahoe61 · May 17, 2016

I will let Randy address the thread within his forum.

Sometimes when are tanks are about to drive us to the breaking point we seek out all assist. I will see if I can merge the threads, but I agree one thread is better then multiple, it's hard to decipher assist when it's coming from too many threads.

Duke4Life · May 17, 2016

Only thing I differ is the lights oddly enough. I think these would be plenty on a smaller tank like this depending on how its placed, as they do pack enough juice. On bigger tanks these aren't that great.

skipb1956 · May 17, 2016

cjd said:
personally I would stop dosing anything for the moment . I would do a few large water changes over the course of a couple of days . Hopefully you are using RODI water when you make up your salt water. Canister filters are known for being nitrate factories , so make sure you clean that out every few days to get nutrients under control. water changes are always a good idea when things go south especially when additives are in question.

Yeah I had read that somewhere about canister filters. Was actually wondering if I could get rid of it?

skipb1956 · May 17, 2016

Wilsoni said:
Haha he has two threads on this... Is there any way to merge them @Tahoe61

Not sure where the elevated level is coming from, I'm sure i am not overfeeding.

recess62 · May 17, 2016

You had an oxygen crash

The AZ-NO3 (Absolute Zero - NitratesTM) product works entirely by aerobic Cellular Respiration on the target Nitrate molecule, which is then removed by the Protein Skimmer. The oxidoreductases necessary for these processes are the chemical mechanism of an enzyme action.

In the most simplest of explanations, AZ-NO3 can be considered an essential food, required by the active enzyme maltase that functions as a cellular respirator. The manufacturing process renders this product as an undesirable food to certain detrimental enzyme (amylase and invertase) that could uncontrollably proliferate in the aquarium.

Our product utilizes a specific enzyme in the maltase group to activate the oxidoreductases necessary to reduce nitrates by cellular respiration in the aquarium. The product itself does not contain this enzyme, but can be thought of more like a seed, a seed contains the germ (plant) and the food for the plant to grow. The mature plant then becomes the basic food product utilized.

The active ingredient in our product is Cozymase which functions in the oxidation of proteins and of many other compounds important in the intermediary metabolism and the resulting active enzyme Maltase in the aquarium. The Massecuite is food for both the Cozymase to develop and the resultant Maltase to thrive.

skipb1956 · May 17, 2016

Thanks everyone for the advice and taking the time to respond. Sorry bought the 3 threads but wanted to get max exposure and replies.

skipb1956 · May 17, 2016

recess62 said:
You had an oxygen crash

The AZ-NO3 (Absolute Zero - NitratesTM) product works entirely by aerobic Cellular Respiration on the target Nitrate molecule, which is then removed by the Protein Skimmer. The oxidoreductases necessary for these processes are the chemical mechanism of an enzyme action.

In the most simplest of explanations, AZ-NO3 can be considered an essential food, required by the active enzyme maltase that functions as a cellular respirator. The manufacturing process renders this product as an undesirable food to certain detrimental enzyme (amylase and invertase) that could uncontrollably proliferate in the aquarium.

Our product utilizes a specific enzyme in the maltase group to activate the oxidoreductases necessary to reduce nitrates by cellular respiration in the aquarium. The product itself does not contain this enzyme, but can be thought of more like a seed, a seed contains the germ (plant) and the food for the plant to grow. The mature plant then becomes the basic food product utilized.

The active ingredient in our product is Cozymase which functions in the oxidation of proteins and of many other compounds important in the intermediary metabolism and the resulting active enzyme Maltase in the aquarium. The Massecuite is food for both the Cozymase to develop and the resultant Maltase to thrive.

Thanks, thats helpful.

brandon429 · May 17, 2016

I debate six of those 'ases but pretty close

agreed oxygen crashing is likely culprit from details given so far

Need pics, they're more important than any test reading here.

skipb1956 · May 17, 2016

brandon429 said:
I debate six of those 'ases but pretty close agreed oxygen crashing is likely culprit from details given so far

Need pics, they're more important than any test reading here.

here are a few pics from my phone though they are 3 days old

brandon429 · May 17, 2016

that was powerful

see that opened fanworm on the right, means you have no ammonia

sick trick. it means you had a transient spike and its not crashing currently, if that pic was recent. whatever remedies you've done are working, that looks awesome so far. not even sure the original losses can be attributed to a crash, but it looks arrested at least so far. all those corals are opened nicely, true sustained low level ammonia doesn't appear to be happening at least as of now

CodyRVA · May 17, 2016

So much hate for those canisters, they only work if you know how to use them!

skipb1956 · May 17, 2016

brandon429 said:
that was powerful

see that opened fanworm on the right, means you have no ammonia

sick trick. it means you had a transient spike and its not crashing currently, if that pic was recent. whatever remedies you've done are working, that looks awesome so far. not even sure the original losses can be attributed to a crash, but it looks arrested at least so far. all those corals are opened nicely, true sustained low level ammonia doesn't appear to be happening at least as of now

Thanks for the input Brandon