What am I doing wrong?

[Hitman]

I started dosing B-Ionic Alk, Ca, & Mag on Aug 14th. Everything was looking good that day but I was starting to introduce 3 Hammer Frags as they finished their month QT tank time and I hadn't checked these levels in my DT. Before I started dosing these were my levels. All verified by LFS other then salinity which I used my hydrometer.
Salinity 1.025 ( I've replaced this junk with a refractometer this week )
PH 7.8
NH3/NH4 0
NO2 0 ppm
NO3 10 ppm
Alk 8.3 DKH
CA 400
Mag 1200
Temp 77
Time. 1530
I started dosing that afternoon with 5ml of Alk followed by 5ml of Ca 30 minutes later then 45ml of Mag 30 minutes after that. I did this for 12 days before my RBTA and Devils Hand shrunk up. My levels when I noticed this were as follows:
Salinity. 1.27
PH. 7.8
NH3/NH4. 0
NO2. 0
NO3. 5
Alk. 8.8
Ca. 415
Mag. 1350
Temp. 76.7
Time 1300
I stopped dosing
Over the last few days I've been slowly getting my salinity down to 1.024 as I now have a calibrated refracto. Nothing other then replacing saltwater with RO/DI water has changed.
Tonight my levels:
Salinity. 1.024
PH 8.2
NH3/NH4. 0
NO2. 0
NO3. 2
Alk. 10
Ca. 400
Mag. 1200
Temp. 76.6
Time. 1900
My tank looks very cloudy now.
The Hammers look great but my Devils Hand that just finished shedding 2 week ago is as ***** as a 2 year old in a toy store being told no. He is all green and shrunk up.
Tank and equipment are as follows
13 months old
Bio Spira used at original set up
55 gallon DT
40 breader sump 1/2 refugium with chaeto
Reef Octopus Classic 90 Skimmer
BRS GFO / Carbon dual reactor ran by a sicce 1.5
Sicce Syncra SDC 9.0 main return pump
2 x 48" ATI T5HO bulbs ( 1 Blue + and 1 True Atinic ) over DT on from 9am to 5pm
48" Current USA Marine Pro over DT on from 7:30 am to 6pm first and last hour sun up and sunset. Followed by 4 hours moon light ( Blue lights only )
300w Mars Hydro plant LED over refugium ( grows chaeto like fire ) on from 8pm to 8 am
65 lbs live rock
60 lbs Bahama oolite sand ( I hate it my Diamond Goby makes a heck of a mess )
IO salt
RO/DI water only used for day one
1 Diamond Goby ( we have a love hate relationship)
6 Clowns
1 Yellow Wrasse
1 Purple Back Pseudochromis ( he is a jerk )
6 blue leg Hermit Crabs
1 Emerald Crab
1 Red Mathrix Crab
1 Pom Pom Crab
25 Nusarrius Snails
12 other snail can't remember what kind they have fancy glass looking shells
2 Turbo Snails.
3 Branching Hammers
1 Blasto Merletti
1 Mini Max carpet
1 Rainbow Rose Bubble Tip
1 toadstool ( was ***** a few days but looking better when I finished lowering salinity )
1 Devils Hand
All test kits are Salifert with expo dates of 2022

I was dosing by the supplied dose cups.
What am I doing wrong?
Should have not stopped dosing?
Is 5ml of Alk and Ca a day to much at one time?
Was 30 ml of mag a day to much?
Changing out 6 gallons of saltwater with straight RO/DI water really change my Mag and Alk that much?
Am I running to low on nutrition?
Sorry for all the info but I'm just at a loss of what's going on.

 

[Mr.Rocc]

What is your Phosphate levels? My LPS shrunk when I started to get too much algae from high Phosphates.

 

[Hitman]

I don't have a phosphate test kit. I have little if any algae in my DT.

 

[Hitman]

Oh and I only feed 1 cube of frozen Mysis shrimp every other day. And I have a big copepod and amphipod pop in my sump I just restocked it with 5,000 plus 2 weeks ago.

 

[Mr.Rocc]

With all your levels being decent I would say check your phosphates. Have you been feeding heavy?

 

[Mr.Rocc]

Oh and I only feed 1 cube of frozen Mysis shrimp every other day.

Yup I would say Phosphates!

 

[Hitman]

I'll swing by the lfs tomorrow and get a test kit. Do you see anything else I'm doing wrong or should change? This is our first saltwater tank and every person I talk to locally tells me something different but can't explain why so I'm kinda lost.

 

[Mr.Rocc]

Feeding once every other day means you introduce more food into your tank at a time. Meaning there will be more phosphates introduced to all the excess food brought into the tank. If you cant feed more frequently I would either feed twice in one day smaller amounts, or invest in GFO.

 

[Hitman]

Feeding once every other day means you introduce more food into your tank at a time. Meaning there will be more phosphates introduced to all the excess food brought into the tank. If you cant feed more frequently I would either feed twice in one day smaller amounts, or invest in GFO.

I have a GFO / Carbon dual reactor from BRS running.

 

[Mr.Rocc]

I'll swing by the lfs tomorrow and get a test kit. Do you see anything else I'm doing wrong or should change? This is our first saltwater tank and every person I talk to locally tells me something different but can't explain why so I'm kinda lost.

Get a Phosphate test kit for sure whether that's the issue or not. Second the only thing from reading this is that you changed your Mag fro 1200 to 1350 i believe... that's a huge jump but im not sure the span of days it took to get to that higher level.


Here is my advice. Test the phosphate and try to change your feeding from once every other day. Once that happens get your params at a stable place but in a range. Dont shoot for specific numbers. Your alk even took a huge jump. Try to keep your tank as stable as possible. Test your alk and calc today or tomorrow. Wait 24hours and test again. Find the difference in PPM. Example. on 8/27 my tank read 8.5 today it read 8.0 when I tested it. That will tell you how much your tank is using per day. I think B Ionic has their own calculation on how much to does per DKH or PPM. Dont sweat Mag. LOL im rambling. Stability is the key my friend but everyone goes through these struggles. Take a look at my build in my signature and you will see.

 

[Hitman]

Thank you for your help sir. I'll definitely start doing a testing log.

 

[ciscomania]

if that's all the corals you have in your tank, I don't really see the need to be dosing alk,cal,mag at all. You can do fine just by doing water changes imo.

 

[Mr.Rocc]

if that's all the corals you have in your tank, I don't really see the need to be dosing alk,cal,mag at all. You can do fine just by doing water changes imo.

Also this!

 

[bellasdad0911]

I think besides the phosphates, raise that temperature up to 78-80 range. 76 is a tad cool in my opinion. Also bump up the calcium a tad to 460. Your nitrates look low for a softy lps tank as well and looks like it dropped. Start feeding once a day at min. Lps like " dirty water " so don't be afraid to keep it a little higher. Your coral always tell the tale, watch the signs.

 

[Hitman]

I guess my little fatty clowns that act like they are starving may have been telling my I'm starving my tank. Thank you all.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I don't know what the problem is as I haven't seen anything mentioned that is likely to explain the shrunken organisms, but I cannot see how it would be related to the calcium and alk dosing.

 

[Hitman]

Thanks Randy as that's the same thing my lfs said. I lowered the water level in my sump as there was 1 stainless steel hose clamp in the water to see if by chance it is not truly stainless and is leaching something in the tank. I'll take another sample into them tomorrow to check for metals just incase.