HELP!Newbie in trouble!

S

Somethingirish

AC Members
Apr 1, 2007
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Im three months into my 24gallon Nano and things are going downhill quickly.

I have 20lbs live rock that used to be full of coraline. The live rock is now crumbling and the coraline is disappearing. I presently have a pseudo and a ocalaris in the tank along with two extremely small button polyps. Extremely small meaning three per group. Those are now disfigured and oddly shaped.
I also have a clean op crew that is dying quickly also.

AS far as water quality..the shop that I buy from has said that the quality is fine in all aspects. The temp is kept at 81 degrees and the light is only kept on 8 hours a day.

What could I be possibly doing wrong? I am extremely dilligent on the water changes topping off. All done with RO water.

Please help me!
 
ok, we shall try our best to help you sort this..

To start off, please post your current water test results of the tank, and also post test results of the RO water that you are using...need to see these to give us a base line of what we are working work here...

By test results, we need to see ( at a minimum ) pH, Ammonia, nitrITE, nitrATE and calcium.

What is the salinity of the tank?

And after all that, just want to give you a warm welcome to Aqauria Central and to let you know your in the right place. There are a lot of knowledgable people on here and we will do all we can to help you.

Niko
 
First off THANKYOU! for taking the time to reply and help me in this endeavor.

salinity 1.026
pH 8.0
calcium 500...was told that was high but not a real issue/concern

And this is where I suck as an enthusiast because that is the only levels the LFS gave me yesterday. When I asked for more(as far as numbers) they said everything is is fine.

Im actually waiting for them to open this morning to go buy my own test kit. I know I know shame on me I should have one already on hand.

They sold me marine kent buffer along with purple up and a phospate control and was intstruced to start using them.
 
Ok, get the test kits ASAP..if the LFS will not give you the water parameters it would make me very suspect indeed...if there is nothing wrong with them why not tell you...Saying something is "fine" does not cut it with me...lol

So, stop using the buffers....throw the Purple-Up in the bin..phosphate control is dependable on the test results...

Here is a list of the tests that you should ideally have..

1) pH
2) Ammonia
3) NitrITE
4) NitrATE
5) Phosphate
6) Calcium
7) Alk
8) Mag

They are the ones you should at least have..There are loads of different test kits available on the market, but, you NEED them..Dont buy test strip test kits though..Kits like AP or salifert are very good test kits to buy..

What salt are you using?

I am tempted to say that your water is out of wack rfom what you have said so far...

Niko
 
You need to be checking just about everything daily on such a new tank. Sounds like you added things too quickly, especially without knowing about your water. The LFS gave you some bad advice. Stop adding anymore chemicals. Do some water changes, and lower your salinity to 1.022 to1.024. Let us know what your readings for the rest are:)
 
Im totally embarassed! Im a viking when it comes to freshwater...I realize that means squat when it comes to saltwater and I should have known better as far as those test kits goes.

Ive gone to the LFS for numerous years for freshwater and the tech told me he would hold my hand through the saltwater realm and all I would have to do is bring in a water sample every week and he'd test it and tell me what would need to be done. I should've known better.


I'm using instant ocean as far as salt.
 
you might find that changing your sakt to Reef crystals will give you bettre results than instant ocean..OC is fine for Fish only tanks, but i dont think its good enough for a tank that has corals in..When i was using OC, i was always buffering to get the pH correct, and since switching to RC, i have never had to do it...

Just an opinion of course..

Niko
 
dont be embarrassed, everyone makes mistakes and dont think your the only person who has had lfs lie to you just for their benefit.
 
atnixon said:
you might find that changing your sakt to Reef crystals will give you bettre results than instant ocean..OC is fine for Fish only tanks, but i dont think its good enough for a tank that has corals in..When i was using OC, i was always buffering to get the pH correct, and since switching to RC, i have never had to do it...

Just an opinion of course..

Niko
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i agree with niko there. also the temp is a bit high i wouldn't go above 79 because if there is a heat spike outside the aquarium the tank can rise very high and kill ur organisms. also a specific gravity of 1.023-1.025 would be better for top off reasons. i agree that u need to be testing weekly for qualities and at least every-other-day for salinity.
and to everyone out there never ever trust a fish store when they say their water is ok.....they lie ive test every store round here and also when i worked in one they wouldn't even test it with anything but a strip test....always only trust urself lol. and dont feel embarrassed at all some times the best way to learn is through some mistakes:)
 
Germanman said:
i agree with niko there. also the temp is a bit high i wouldn't go above 79 because if there is a heat spike outside the aquarium the tank can rise very high and kill ur organisms. also a specific gravity of 1.023-1.025 would be better for top off reasons. i agree that u need to be testing weekly for qualities and at least every-other-day for salinity.
and to everyone out there never ever trust a fish store when they say their water is ok.....they lie ive test every store round here and also when i worked in one they wouldn't even test it with anything but a strip test....always only trust urself lol. and dont feel embarrassed at all some times the best way to learn is through some mistakes:)
Click to expand...


Spot on - I've learnt loads through my own (huge) mistakes and through reading the articles on here (granted I've not read all of them yet!!!)
 
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