Need some help with my tank

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Batman222b

Member
Hi all. I have an established tank that I am having problems with. I had a family emergency that took my out of state. Needless to say my tank took a dive. I’ve lost some corals and a few fish as my water parameters fell. My tank is now on the mend, but I cannot seem to get my corals to grow...this has been an issue for over a year. Anyone feel like help me out, I’d appreciate it!!! I still consider myself new to the hobby and feel like I still have a ton to learn.
I have a 75 gallon:
Leather coral
Hammer that is struggling to stay alive
Acan
Mushrooms
Xenia
Zoas...never spread.
clown
Purple anthias
Lubbock wrasse
Baby hippo tang
Cardinal
Ruby red dragonette


Really would like to go in the right direction with my tank, but feel like I’m going backwards

Thanks!!!
 
GugsJr

GugsJr

TeamCR
Can you post your tank parameters?

Alk
Nitrates
Phosphate
Salinity
Calcium
Mag
Temp
pH

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Batman222b

Member
Last reading was the info listed below...did a 20 percent water change to lower the Alk. Last night

Alk-14.7
Nitrates-20ppm
Phosphate-1.89 ppm Hanna Checker. Using phosguard as of last night
Salinity-1.026
Calcium-440
Mag-1200-last reading...added after the reading...should be higher today
Temp-78
pH-8.3
 
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Illinijoe

TeamCR
Biggest red flag to me is your alk if you can slowly work it down to 8 that would be better for your hard corals. However that wouldn’t explain why your fish are dieing. What’s your wc schedule? Provide ammonia readings
 
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Batman222b

Member
My dad passed away out in Michigan. I had to go home to take care of things. My PH dropped a ton as my tank was neglected for about 3 weeks.
 
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Batman222b

Member
Should I stop feeling corals until my parameters come back? Seems a little counterintuitive to feel if I’m trying to lower. I use reef snow, reed roids, and phyto. Have a fuge and my Cheeto looks bad. Crumbles a bit. Don’t think it’s fully dead
 
GugsJr

GugsJr

TeamCR
Stop feeding, let your phos, and nitrates lower with you're alk.

This would explain corals, not sure on fish.

Do yoy have a grounding probe?

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E

ESH

Premium member
Can you tell us more about the equipment you are using on your tank?
-Whats your filtration system consist of? (are you using a sump or hang on the back type of filtration? Skimmer? What type of mechicanical / biological are you using)
-What lights are you using and whats the schedule (hrs of operation)?
-What are you using for water movement / flow in the tank?
-What are you doing for water top offs from evaporation?

Couple of other Q's,
-Do you know what the tap water's pH is at your house?
-Do you have windows open or is the AC running in the house with windows closed? Are they newer windows or older (Newer homes, or ones with new windows tend to be more sealed up resulting in less 02 in the house) Lots of people living in the house or not really?
 
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Batman222b

Member
Can you tell us more about the equipment you are using on your tank?
-Whats your filtration system consist of? (are you using a sump or hang on the back type of filtration? I use a sump with socks and a fuge. Have two tubes coming from filter box into two socks in my sump.

Skimmer?-No

What type of mechicanical / biological are you using)-Socks and plastic cylinder filters in my box to catch large debris. Change every 3 days.

-What lights are you using and whats the schedule (hrs of operation)?10 hours on 14 off.
Lightimetunnel LED Aquarium Light， 165W. Have 2 of these.

What are you using for water movement / flow in the tank? 1 Jeboa TW25 and 2 Jeboa 10s.
-What are you doing for water top offs from evaporation? RODI water

Couple of other Q's,
-Do you know what the tap water's pH is at your house? Use RODI
-Do you have windows open or is the AC running in the house with windows closed?AC runs...tank in finished basement.

Are they newer windows or older (Newer homes, or ones with new windows tend to be more sealed up resulting in less 02 in the house) Lots of people living in the house or not really? 4 in the house. Approximately 3200 SQft house not including the basement....basement is good size.
 
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ESH

Premium member
Thanks.
More questions for you. Do you dose anything to the tank and if so do you do it by hand or with programed dosing pumps, and what kind of salt do you use? Some salts have higher alk levels. I suggest the next time you mix a batch to test it before putting it in your tank to get a baseline.

I'm not familiar with the lights you are using so I cannot help you there. Looks like standard chinese black boxes that Ive seen though. Depending on what setting you could have either too much or not enough light going on in your tank. Too much can cause things to stay closed. Too little, things like zoa's will tend to be reaching upwards.

If you don't dose anything, only thing I can think of is with you being away for those 3 weeks, the change from your previous maintenance routine was part of the cause- you said you were doing 10% weekly but then missed on 3 weeks, and you change filter socks every 3 days. I

Keeping Alk stable is important. If you are not dosing then Alk wont stay stable.
Higher phosphate isn't going to kill your fish but your corals might not like it.

To keep Ph up, make sure you have good surface agitation. That will help with 02 exchange.
Basements are typically more sealed up then the rest of the house, especially if its a poured concrete and finished type.

Im not sure what would cause your tank to drop into such low pH levels. If your house was empty for those 3 weeks with no one checking on the tank, it has been pretty hot recently so maybe there was an issue the AC being off and your home heating up. Basements tend to stay cool, but still something to consider.

Last idea, might sound crazy, but whens the last time you had your HVAC looked at? I had to have a secondary condenser replaced on mine because of a crack, which was resulting in a slow c02 leak into the house. Nothing major but not something you want for your own health, let alone now you have lower 02 levels. .
 
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Batman222b

Member
I am using corallife marine salt....will check the Alk.

I think the lights are fine as my zoas do open. Just don’t spread....never have. I’ve had them for about 4 months....maybe I’m too impatient....or phosphates have just been too high. They have always run high.

My hammer is currently closed up and has been for 2-3 weeks....probably because of the Alk????

I manually dose. MG and CAL....nothing more.

HVAC is newer. Was replaced about 2 years ago.

How long would you estimate until my levels come back down?

Thanks for all the input....I appreciate the help.
 
GugsJr

GugsJr

TeamCR
Can you post your parameters again?

Have you lost any more fish? Hows the tank looking now?

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Batman222b

Member
Follow up-Tank is looking better. Parameters are coming back to normal aside from Phosphates. They run high. Just posted tonight. Trying how to get them less than .03. I’m at 1.25....water changes happen weekly. 🤷‍♂️
 
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AquariumOverload

Premium Sponsor
Batman222b said:
Follow up-Tank is looking better. Parameters are coming back to normal aside from Phosphates. They run high. Just posted tonight. Trying how to get them less than .03. I’m at 1.25....water changes happen weekly. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
Are you using RO/DI water? Have you checked your phosphate levels in your newly made saltwater? I had a weird issue where my new water was actually high in phosphates and when i was diing more water changes my tank was actually getting more algae.
 
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