Long story short, thought high levels of tin per Triton test (42.5) in November 2014 was from steel stand rusting out and pieces falling into my tank. I covered the sump, no more pieces falling into sump, lots of water changes and three months later. Sps still perishing, STN. New water test, tin even higher, (57). Just to note, no tin levels at all in make up water or nano reef. It's somehow only in my main display and it is all I can put my finger in that could be killing off my sps. Most of other corals are just okay, growing slow but not perishing, fish are fine. Any ideas? I'm not even sure where to go from here. All I know is that when I moved corals to a holding tank they all healed and started to grow. I feel like my tank is poisoned by the tin.
Where would Tin be coming from in my reef?
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I had the same problem, high tin. My theory was that solder from DIY LEDs was falling into the tank. I ended up siphoning all the sand out as well and doing 700 gallons of water changes over several weeks. Things look really good now, but I have not re-tested yet.
Any chance some of that metal from your stand is in your substrate or rock?
Good luck on your hunt, it is frustrating to chase down.
Any chance some of that metal from your stand is in your substrate or rock?
Good luck on your hunt, it is frustrating to chase down.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Most people with elevated tin can't tell where it is coming from, but metal parts would be the first thing to check.
OP
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I figured it might be leached into the sand and rock, but I am surprised to see it higher than three months ago. I did remove 1/2 the sand bed but in three different chucks so as not to disturb things too much. The fact that it is higher with all the water changes and covering my sump has me super stumped.
The one big thing about my rock is that I had a fellow reefer build a rock structure for me. He goes all around and builds these rock structures. I asked him if there was any chance the binding agent he uses is the culprit and he said no way. I forget what he used as the "concrete" to hold the rocks together. It starts with an 'E'. Just to be sure I am having a second test done on my holding tank as I had him build me a small rocks scape for all of my sps pieces I moved into that tank. Its been about a month or 6 weeks since I added that rock structure. It will be interesting to see if any tin shows up. If it does then I'll be able to really say its the rock. If not, back to square one.
I dose alk and calcium with BRS Dosers, I also run a poly fliter in my sump, it doesn't seem to help a bit for the tin. Othere than that its a pretty simple reef. I have a couple of heaters, vortech, gyre pump, return pump, skimmer pump, and a few probes for Apex. That's it. Oh, and the rusting stand that is no longer falling into the tank.
KoleTang
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Probably is Emaco cement. There are a few different variations of it though.
Not sure if its even possible, but could there be something in the air? Maybe try running your skimmer line outside.
Not sure if its even possible, but could there be something in the air? Maybe try running your skimmer line outside.
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That's it, Emaco!! He does tanks all around so I really have a hard time believing that is it. I have pulled all of the equipment in the past and checked for things like a bad pump, split magnets, etc. Maybe its time to just gut the equipment and start fresh. If I go that route I will pull all of the sand and cook the rock in muriatic acid. One smaller rock structure has my Colorado Sunburst nem on it so that one will have to miss the cleaning. We have made some adjustments with things like using hair spray in the hall 6 feet from the tank, not always but more often we do it with the door shut. I really doubt anything to caustic is in out air but I really love that you are throwing out all sorts of possibilities.
DFW
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My wife goes outside all year long to use hair spray, and no longer uses carpet fresh anywhere in the house. Air fresheners are confined to minimal use in the bathroom at the other end of the house. Disinfectant cleaners are used very sparingly in rooms near the tanks.
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It could be a potential issue for sure. We have an intake fan above the area where we use the hair spray but its not always on. Doors are always closed when any cleaning supplies are used. We have a fairly small house.
