Water chemistry-need HELP!

[VTek]

Hey fellow reefers, I am seeking some help on my water chemistry or SOMETHING ELSE. I'm am seeking more help than 'your alk is high". Please state more than the obvious and what kinda of actions you purpose to help fix the situation!

First, let me explain my setup and livestock:
Currently have have a 90g reef with a 30g refugium. Lights are (2) EcoTech Radion XR 15w pros. They are programmed to the EcoSmart live 'deep reef' template with a maximum intensity of 60% for 11 hours a day. They are mounted about 9" above water level using EcoTech Radion tank mounts. I have a 30g Eshopps 3 chamber sump/refugium. I use an aquamaxx coneS skimmer in the left chamber. About 4" of live sand, small live rock and chaeto in the center chamber (refug), and finally my return pump in the final camber to push the water back into the DT. In the DT, I have about 100lbs of live Bali/Fiji rock. I have never dosed my system, ever(although I do have BRS 2 part dosing material . I do not have any reactors, yet..the only thing I have put in my system is 2 caps of marine snow twice a week (turning skimmer off for an hour) and 2 caps of KENTS iodine one a week. 2 hydor 1000gph powerheads.

Anyways, looking at my tank, everything looks good but I am not happy with it. I have lost about $1000 in coral in the last year slowly losing specimens. Something is off and I am seeking some help on finding it!

Here are my water parameters:
Mg=1100ppm
Ca=406ppm
dKH=14(Red Sea), 11 (API)
pH=8.2
PO4=1ppm
NO3=20ppm
NO2=0
Salinity= 1.024/33ppt
Ammonia=0
Temperature=79.3

This is what I already know about my parameters:
Mg=low
Ca=low
dKH=higher than hell
pH=good
PO4=high
NO3=high
NO2=good
Salinity= good
Ammonia=good
Temperature=good

I get all my top off RODI water from my LFS whom has been into saltwater marine tanks for 40+ years. I do I 24g water changer every other week. I get my mixed water change water from him as well. I have taken my water results to him and he thinks there is nothing I need to worry about.

But THERE HAS BEEN SO MANY CORAL THAT DOES NOT DO GOOD IN MY TANK AND IM GETTING FRUSTRATED. For example, I have had my open brain for about a year, one day it completely stopped opening up, I then took it back to my LFS for it to get some health back. Within a week of it being back at the LFS, it was looking 100%. I took it back home and put it in n my system and hasn't opened back up since. what the heck is goin on, we have the same water for crying out loud! He runs LEDs, as do I. My LFS thinks it's my lighting, but after a bunch of research I do not feel like running Radions at 60% should be the culprit.

Here was my system 11 months ago:

As you can see my open brain on the bottom right side is completely open and happy.

Here is my system currently:

My Individual corals:

Open brain that I was talking about that won't open

So that's all the coral I have left. Some is doing well and growing such as the candy canes, Miami hurricane and zombie eye but the Montis are not happy. SPS does not do well. My file fish had just smashed through my zoa colony(he has now been removed from the system). My Duncan used to be super big and happy but now rarely opens up and looks very poor.

GUYS, I'M GETTIN SO GOD DAM FRUSTRATED ON FINDING MY PROBLEM! I NEED HELP!

I know my alk is high, how do I get it down without reducing pH? I just did water change yesterday. From my research everyone says water changes, water changes, water changes. I have also read that certain salt mixes usually have a high dKH such as reef crystals, and some other brands. I think my LFS uses reef crystals for his salt mix.

what the heck do I need to do guys?!? HELP!!

Ps. I cannot even grow chaeto, it just withers away.

HEELLLLPPPP!!!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Do you consider that any corals are growing and thriving? Which ones?

Raising salinity to 35 ppt will boost both calcium and magnesium.

I would not use water changes to reduce alkalinity, unless it is a low alk salt mix.

 

[VTek]

Randy, yes. I think my candy canes are growing well. Miami Hurricane has been growing as well as my mummy eye. Hammers have remained neutral.

It's when I think about what I have already lost and not doing well which bothers me. I have lost a plate coral,a few monti's, my open brain has been closed for months as well as my Duncan. I have lost about 8 heads of recordia mushroom (1 remaining about the size of a pencil eraser) and my green star polyps have 0 polyp extension. So, in the big picture, everything is on the downhill.

 

[bknapp]

Do you know what salt mix your LFS is using? Your system is unbalanced.

I honestly think getting your own RO/DI unit and mixing your own salt (and therefore the parameters) would improve your tank.

And as Randy said raising your salinity would help as well.

 

[VTek]

I would love to do this but with living in a townhouse, I really don't have the room for this! But if need be, I guess I'll have to figure something out!

 

[trido]

My first two thoughts........ You have five very large fish in your 90. Removing a couple of them will help reduce your Ammonia, and nitrates. Also I have two RW-15s in my 90G frag tank. Both set at full speed, one on wave and the other on reefcrest. In my opinion, you need at least twice as much flow. Your LPS will be fine with more flow.

Another thing, your coral beauty might be a nipper. I find the dwarf angels are tricky and will nip when your back is turned. They are very sneaky about it sometimes.

Edit: I used to for years have a Dkh of 11 with my Ca. at 370 with low Mg. I use IO and Reef crystals. Now days, I don't test Calcium and only worry about keeping my DKH stable. If your not dosing and doing regular WC's you shouldn't have problems with your parameters getting too far out of whack between them. I don't think chemistry is your problem, unless its too high of Nitrates and Phosphates from over feeding your large fish.

Also, some tanks simply cannot grow cheato. I gave up on it after five years and now grow feather calurpa with great results.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Lighting. Get or borrow a meter. par or lux. Compare it to the LFS. A lux is cheap. intensity says a lot.
It does feel like water .. Hows your corraline and then any brown or green algae on the glass? Colors and details are pretty tough to see.

 

[trido]

I cant get over the flow in your tank.... 2200GPG in a 90G is only 24x turnover. In my 210 I run from 7000-10,000GPH for flow and my frogspawns, duncans, elegance, zoanthids and much more all are quite happy. In some cases, lack of flow can cause an LPS to retract. Try moving your duncan up in front of a powerhead and see how it responds. I think you will be surprised. FWIW, I also have an RW-15 in a 35G tank set on 75% wave. Corals like flow.

 

[VTek]

Lighting. Get or borrow a meter. par or lux. Compare it to the LFS. A lux is cheap. intensity says a lot.
It does feel like water .. Hows your corraline and then any brown or green algae on the glass? Colors and details are pretty tough to see.

Whe I first set up my tank, I used to have much more corraline in the glass. I purchase a dozen snails from the LFS that seemed to take care of it pretty quick. I have also lowered the intensity of my lights to help reduce the growth and I clean the glass every couple days.

Good advise guys!!! Keep them coming!

 

[VTek]

I cant get over the flow in your tank.... 2200GPG in a 90G is only 24x turnover. In my 210 I run from 7000-10,000GPH for flow and my frogspawns, duncans, elegance, zoanthids and much more all are quite happy. In some cases, lack of flow can cause an LPS to retract. Try moving your duncan up in front of a powerhead and see how it responds. I think you will be surprised. FWIW, I also have an RW-15 in a 35G tank set on 75% wave. Corals like flow.

Thought about upgrading to 2 EcoTech MP40s, but didn't realize they were $350 a pop. I'd rather put that amount of money into a controller one day!!
What do you suggest for new pumps?

One mistake I made was getting a fine sand substrate. Sometimes, even with the pumps I currently have will move the sand pretty quick. [emoji17]

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Randy, yes. I think my candy canes are growing well. Miami Hurricane has been growing as well as my mummy eye. Hammers have remained neutral.

It's when I think about what I have already lost and not doing well which bothers me. I have lost a plate coral,a few monti's, my open brain has been closed for months as well as my Duncan. I have lost about 8 heads of recordia mushroom (1 remaining about the size of a pencil eraser) and my green star polyps have 0 polyp extension. So, in the big picture, everything is on the downhill.

That's an odd mix. Green star polyps are usually quite tough.

Have these corals ever thrived in this tank with these lights and rock?

 

[trido]

A Pair of Jebao RW-15s will cost $200 and will be all the flow you need for that size of tank even if you switched to full SPS. You can turn them down if you need and can also sync them together if you need. They can also be hooked to an apex in the future. The down side is, they are not Tunze's or Vortech's. They wont last as long as the more expensive pumps but your should still get 3-4 years out of them

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I doubt low flow is the issue for green star polyps.

 

[trido]

Whe I first set up my tank, I used to have much more corraline in the glass. I have also lowered the intensity of my lights to help reduce the growth and I clean the glass every couple days.

Lowering the intensity of the lights to slow down algea growth also slows down coral growth. What do other radion users keep their % at over a 24" deep tank?

 

[trido]

I doubt low flow is the issue for green star polyps.

I dont. Low flow = low oxygen exchange and lack of food. IME even softies like plenty of flow. Although, I havent kept GSP in nearly a decade.

 

[Sabellafella]

Its not your lights its not your nutrients, if its not pest or fish nipping at corals then all i have to say is, i understand your sick and tired, i also understand you think your lfs is reliable but you do not kno what is in that water , ive gotten water from a sponser on here that rarely changes their filters and learned the hard way, i cannot stress this enuff, it is a must to have an rodi unit for topoff and mix your own saltwater . Fortunatly my tds is only 35 were i live but the phosphate measures 2.0 so you never kno unless you mix and test yourself, also ditch the iodine, if you cant test for it dont use it, its the deadliest available supplement you can dose if you dont dose correctly(edit and its not flow, if you ever go diving majority of lps and softys sit in stagnent and relativly slow moving water from time to time and you have 2 seperate powerheads witch is more then enuff)

 

[VTek]

That's an odd mix. Green star polyps are usually quite tough.

Have these corals ever thrived in this tank with these lights and rock?

They have thrived for a bit. What really throws me is that I have purchased everything from my LFS who is always willing to help with anything. He even calls me from his personal cell phone occasionally to make sure things are going well and offers any assistance when needed (even after store hours). Super nice guy.

When I got everything from him, it was all healthy and thriving in his tanks and looked good in my tank for about a month then look to suffer.I get my SW from him that 'come right out of his water systems' as well as my RODI top off water. He uses LEDs over his tanks as well but are not EcoTech Radions like mine. I am not sure if the brand he uses.

Here's what my green stars look like right now:

Compared to this 11 months ago:

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Whe I first set up my tank, I used to have much more corraline in the glass. I purchase a dozen snails from the LFS that seemed to take care of it pretty quick. I have also lowered the intensity of my lights to help reduce the growth and I clean the glass every couple days.

Good advise guys!!! Keep them coming!

I ask about the corraline and algae because when I had a bad rodi prob, the corraline growth was limited, little cyano, but odd glass algae growth, browns greens. like I never clean the tank(@2 months). qiuck to come back too.
And yes, I got it from the LFS who also used it and still had coral growth in some species but not others. Another indicator was as much as he loved sponges, he couldns keep them.
I switched sources and it came back into balance in les than a month. Algae and sponge growth is a good indicator of tank health.
Im not a chemist but if your on well water is it possible it has high mineral (dkh prob) content plus chlorine?
Any fish losses?

 

[VTek]

A Pair of Jebao RW-15s will cost $200 and will be all the flow you need for that size of tank even if you switched to full SPS. You can turn them down if you need and can also sync them together if you need. They can also be hooked to an apex in the future. The down side is, they are not Tunze's or Vortech's. They wont last as long as the more expensive pumps but your should still get 3-4 years out of them

Sorry, I just double checked my powerheads and they are 1500gph units.

 

[VTek]

I ask about the corraline and algae because when I had a bad rodi prob, the corraline growth was limited, little cyano, but odd glass algae growth, browns greens. like I never clean the tank(@2 months). qiuck to come back too.
And yes, I got it from the LFS who also used it and still had coral growth in some species but not others. Another indicator was as much as he loved sponges, he couldns keep them.
I switched sources and it came back into balance in les than a month. Algae and sponge growth is a good indicator of tank health.
Im not a chemist but if your on well water is it possible it has high mineral (dkh prob) content plus chlorine?
Any fish losses?

In the 13 months my system has been running, I have lost only 3 fish. A pairs of clowns (just disappeared, never found) and a powder blue.