Weekend Ruined! Lesson Learned!

specialk · Feb 12, 2017

Buzz Kill. BIG TIME!

Started dosing stump remover to get Nitrates to 5ppm or around there.

Had a bad test kit. Giving me wrong readings. Bottom line .. dosed WAY to much and Nitrates now at 100 !!!

SPS starting to bleach at the tips and everything. Already lost a strawberry shortcake 2 inch frag. I am AMAZEDhow quickly things went downhill. In a matter of a few days!

I am currently changing out 50% of water on a 125 gallon system (145 gallons all together) in an effort to get the nitrates down ....

What a MORON I am

recess62 · Feb 12, 2017

Oh no. I feel your pain. Sorry for the trouble. Fwiw I am a moron as well

ebushrow · Feb 12, 2017

We all we all makes mistakes! It doesn't make you a moron! Just keep working on removing the nitrates/stump remover and this should bounce back....test kits are often the our best and worst tool for reefing! Great when they work....terrible when they get too old or break down.

specialk · Feb 12, 2017

ebushrow said:
We all we all makes mistakes! It doesn't make you a moron! Just keep working on removing the nitrates/stump remover and this should bounce back....test kits are often the our best and worst tool for reefing! Great when they work....terrible when they get too old or break down.

Thanks! Never a good feeling when you see expensive SPS starting to stress and you realize you ... really did it this time and caused the problem. Gotta love this hobby.

specialk · Feb 12, 2017

After the sps are bleached (totally white) they are DEAD correct and will NOT bounce back... correct?

Flippers4pups · Feb 12, 2017

Sorry to hear this. If there is tissue left, there's hope even if they turned white.

How much Kno3 did you dose?

Alfrareef · Feb 12, 2017

Not a moron, just a regular reefer.
Most of us already had a bad test result and the important thing is learning that when we get strange values the best to do is to retest and/or test the water with a different test. I always use my LFS to sort those things out.
About the white sps, it's possible that some parts come to life. You'll notice when that happens or when the algae start to colonize the skeleton.
God luck and go ahead.

recess62 · Feb 12, 2017

Bleaching is different from tissue recession. If only bleached they can recover. The main concern is whether the nitrate swing will induce STN

When I first started my Biocube I went 3 months with nitrates of 0 on an API test. Well after I Started to become curious about why I had 0 nitrate without no other means of nitrate export other than water change. So I took one of my test trips that I use for my fresh water tank. The test strip turned a color I have never seen. After some reading I figured out I was doing the test wrong. When API says to vigorously shake a reagent they mean vigorously. Well after vidorously vigorously shaking the API test came out off the chart. As ebrushnow said we all make mistakes

specialk · Feb 12, 2017

Flippers4pups said:
Sorry to hear this. If there is tissue left, there's hope even if they turned white.

How much Kno3 did you dose?

Around 15 - 20 ml of spectraside a day for 3 days. In researching I had read that many systems that are ULNS, will REALLY eat the nitrate up when you dose it so you may have to dose more then usual.

Flippers4pups · Feb 12, 2017

Was that total? (In other words, all at once or over the course of days?)

Was is in solution when you dosed? (Mixed with RO/DI water when dosed?)

And last, do you know what you no3 was at before dosing?

15-20 ml isn't much. What's you total water volume?

Sorry for the questions, believe me I know from experience how it feels to make mistakes. We all have those days! Hang in there.

specialk · Feb 12, 2017

Flippers4pups said:
Was that total? (In other words, all at once or over the course of days?)

Was is in solution when you dosed? (Mixed with RO/DI water when dosed?)

And last, do you know what you no3 was at before dosing?

15-20 ml isn't much. What's you total water volume?

Sorry for the questions, believe me I know from experience how it feels to make mistakes. We all have those days! Hang in there.

Oh believe me I dont mind the questions AT ALL! greatly appreciated.

I dosed (in actually looking at the ml cup, about 30 ml every day for 3 days. My total water volume is 145 gallons.

I mixed the spectraside in RO/DI water. Mixed 2 tablespoons with 250 ml of RO water.

Also I was previously running ROX carbon and GFO. Have since stopped. I previously had a TON of chaeto macroalgae in my sump that WAS thriving ... then I checked one day and realized (about a month AFTER I started up the GFO and carbon) that about 50--60% of it died off -- an indication that I did not have any nitrate or p04 for it to "eat". I WAS testing with API and getting 0 ppm. This is when I started dosing. I also was having issues with my sps and their color ... which lead to to look into ULNS and how nitrates are a good thing for sps at a low level, so I started the dosng.

Flippers4pups · Feb 12, 2017

In my system, I've done it this way:

I use this calculator :http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/calculator.htm

I select total water volume at:
200 us gallons

Then I put in amount to add in grams : 453 (calculated as salt, 1 pound of Kno3 converted to grams)

Amount of water to mix with: 3785 ml ( 1 gallon of water is 3785 ml)

Depending on how many ml's of solution you enter, it tells you how much it raises you no3.

So if I put in 20ml of Kno3, it only raises no3 1.94!

I keep a gallon of Kno3 solution at a time and use this calculator when I dose. Works every time.

So, I know this is a freshwater calculator, but it applies to saltwater equally. So no worries there.

This is why I questioned only 15-20ml.

Flippers4pups · Feb 12, 2017

specialk said:
Oh believe me I dont mind the questions AT ALL! greatly appreciated.

I dosed (in actually looking at the ml cup, about 30 ml every day for 3 days. My total water volume is 145 gallons.

I mixed the spectraside in RO/DI water. Mixed 2 tablespoons with 250 ml of RO water.

Also I was previously running ROX carbon and GFO. Have since stopped. I previously had a TON of chaeto macroalgae in my sump that WAS thriving ... then I checked one day and realized (about a month AFTER I started up the GFO and carbon) that about 50--60% of it died off -- an indication that I did not have any nitrate or p04 for it to "eat". I WAS testing with API and getting 0 ppm. This is when I started dosing. I also was having issues with my sps and their color ... which lead to to look into ULNS and how nitrates are a good thing for sps at a low level, so I started the dosng.

If I calculated correctly and what you stated, at 30ml mixed solution added in one day, that's 5ppm of no3, x 3 days would only be 15 ppm.

Something's off. What's you alkalinity at?

Flippers4pups · Feb 12, 2017

specialk · Feb 12, 2017

Flippers4pups said:
If I calculated correctly and what you stated, at 30ml mixed solution added in one day, that's 5ppm of no3, x 3 days would only be 15 ppm.

Something's off. What's you alkalinity at?

Yah something is off. My alk stays steady at 8.0

specialk · Feb 12, 2017

So just changed about 35 gallons of water ... tested the nitrate about 30 minutes after I did the change. Small improvement but still not good. Looks as if it is between 50 and 100 somewhere in the middle there ...(testing with Salifert)

Im guessing I am going to have to do an even bigger water change tommorrow? Maybe like 50 gallons?

Or should I run some sort of nitrate remover media?

specialk · Feb 12, 2017

actually I just found some NOPOX laying around that I forgot I had .. I think that should help slowly bring these nitrates down

GoVols · Feb 12, 2017

ebushrow said:
We all we all makes mistakes! It doesn't make you a moron! Just keep working on removing the nitrates/stump remover and this should bounce back....test kits are often the our best and worst tool for reefing! Great when they work....terrible when they get too old or break down.

+1