jmgre1991
New Member
Hey everyone, so this thread is a bit of a discussion around some troubles I have been having and how I am going about resolving it.
I have made some mistakes along the way, but I trust this to be a safe space and my goal is to help others learn from my mistakes.
My hope is that I can share the journey, but also gain some insights and tips.
About 3 weeks ago I passed the 6 month mark and thought yay, I will celebrate with a beautiful magnifica anemone (yes I know they are not easy) which my LFS had. My water parameters have been stable (weekly testing [NO3 + PO4] + 10% water change) and my 4 month old BTA is doing well, but the clown fish only kinda like it.
Fast forward a week and it is doing amazingly, the clowns love it, it moved a bit but settled in a nice spot and all was well.
I also purchased a small acro frag to see how it does in the tank along with an ICP test.
Last Thursday I sent off the ICP test and come Sunday the Acro frag was a skeleton, it had shed itself. The Magnifica was dead and my Goniopora and BTA, which had been thriving in the tank for months, were as unhappy as can be.
First thing I did was throw out the red sea tests I use and got myself Hanna checkers for NO3 and PO4. I see my phosphate levels are actually high 0.32. I have an Algae reactor which I thought was keeping it down, but clearly not doing enough. So I purchased a media reactor and added the Triton AL99 PO4 Remover.
As the title suggests though, this was not entirely the culprit and the next day the ICP test results were in.
The smoking gun was in fact Tin. Not an insane amount like I see some people publishing, but enough to be a serious problem (3.00 µg/l) in combination with the high PO4.
I immediately went into overdrive, I checked all my equipment (~6 months old) and eventually I found it... a bit of rust on a door hinge next to my ATO reservoir.
I took the door hinges off, completely emptied the reservoir and cleaned it out.
60% water change and another 20% yesterday (2 days leter) for good measure.
Another ICP test has been sent off, this time also checking my RODI source to be extra safe.
Practically overnight my BTA and Goniopora are their old happy selves.
I will continue to test daily to ensure my PO4 is going down, currently at 0.23 and keep this thread updated when I get the results of the next test.
In the meantime any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I have made some mistakes along the way, but I trust this to be a safe space and my goal is to help others learn from my mistakes.
My hope is that I can share the journey, but also gain some insights and tips.
About 3 weeks ago I passed the 6 month mark and thought yay, I will celebrate with a beautiful magnifica anemone (yes I know they are not easy) which my LFS had. My water parameters have been stable (weekly testing [NO3 + PO4] + 10% water change) and my 4 month old BTA is doing well, but the clown fish only kinda like it.
Fast forward a week and it is doing amazingly, the clowns love it, it moved a bit but settled in a nice spot and all was well.
I also purchased a small acro frag to see how it does in the tank along with an ICP test.
Last Thursday I sent off the ICP test and come Sunday the Acro frag was a skeleton, it had shed itself. The Magnifica was dead and my Goniopora and BTA, which had been thriving in the tank for months, were as unhappy as can be.
First thing I did was throw out the red sea tests I use and got myself Hanna checkers for NO3 and PO4. I see my phosphate levels are actually high 0.32. I have an Algae reactor which I thought was keeping it down, but clearly not doing enough. So I purchased a media reactor and added the Triton AL99 PO4 Remover.
As the title suggests though, this was not entirely the culprit and the next day the ICP test results were in.
The smoking gun was in fact Tin. Not an insane amount like I see some people publishing, but enough to be a serious problem (3.00 µg/l) in combination with the high PO4.
I immediately went into overdrive, I checked all my equipment (~6 months old) and eventually I found it... a bit of rust on a door hinge next to my ATO reservoir.
I took the door hinges off, completely emptied the reservoir and cleaned it out.
60% water change and another 20% yesterday (2 days leter) for good measure.
Another ICP test has been sent off, this time also checking my RODI source to be extra safe.
Practically overnight my BTA and Goniopora are their old happy selves.
I will continue to test daily to ensure my PO4 is going down, currently at 0.23 and keep this thread updated when I get the results of the next test.
In the meantime any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
