Fish Keep Dying

[j.falk]

Personally I would drain the tank and refill it with all new good to go water. Partial changes you're just diluting what is already in the tank...not removing the problem 100%.

Drain it, take out all of the rock you don't want in there, add in the new rock (after rinsing it off really well) and start the refilling process. Once that's done, get the temperature where it needs to be, add some cheap livestock and your live bacteria and see how it goes for a month.

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

I'm not sure I'm following here.

Is the 2100 TDS your well water (very uncommonly high but not at all unheard of), or is your permeate (RO water) 2100 ppm TDS?

Russ

 

[Rifken]

j.falk

Can't really do the whole complete drain and fill thing. I could take the 2 damsel that are in there to my LFS but not the Snowflake. I do have the other tank but Frosty can't go in there because there is another eel in there. I will keep doing water changes and while not as quick or complete as a full change the water quality will improve each time

Russ,

The 2100 TDS is the output of the RO system. I changed the membranes in January.

I am going to Culligan today or tomorrow (to get more water, bought a quarantine tank this weekend) and I am going to bring a sample of my well water and have that tested so I can see exactly what the "water treatment system" is actually doing.

-Bob

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

If 2100 is your permeate... What is the TDS of your untreated well water?

In post No. 33 you said your RO water was
"... 70 grains of hardness and I had them test the TDS. The TDS was 2100ppm." So your RO is not functioning.

70 Grains per Gallon of hardness is 1197 ppm. Sweet mother of pearl.

Your water has some serious issues. Feel free to give us a call.
Right off the bat we'll ask you for lab results re your well water. We have to know exactly what we're starting with. If you don't have a lab analysis of your well water, then order this:

Drinking Water Test

At Buckeye Hydro we specialize in providing the highest quality water filtration systems and accessories for every potential need.

www.buckeyehydro.com

Hopefully no one sold you $6,000 in water treatment gear without analyzing the water.

We're going to need to understand what equipment you already have in place. Please email some pics and an explanation.

Russ Romme
[email protected]
513-312-2343

 

[Rifken]

Hey Russ, how we got here is a long story that I won't bore everyone here with but let's say we are into this system for well over six grand

I was finally able to make to Culligan again. I had the straight well water tested and it was at 196 grains of hardness and a tds of 3,250.

I can send you pics and information sometime fairly soon, just can't say exactly when. I'm very interested to see what you think; I've just got a lot going on right now.

Did I mention the other 40 lbs of base rock came in? I need to get that in the tank and I'm getting a quarantine tank set up for new fish. Seems like I have been going to the water store every other day lately

-Bob

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

I'm assuming you also have high iron and manganese, among others.
Let's connect when you can. You have my contact info.
Russ

 

[Reefing Qs]

I read through and haven't seen this answered yet and you've asked a few times:

A good TDS number coming out of your RO/DI system is ZERO!! TDS doesn't tell us what the makeup mineral/contaminant-wise of that ~2000ppm but it is literally thousands of percent more than it should be for water being used to mix with salt.

I think you are on a good path replacing the rock, but I would absolutely address the water issue as well. You may need a second RO/DI system for tank water, thankfully they only run a few hundred at most not thousands.

 

[Paul B]

..things have progressed quite a bit in recent years. The way the tank is set up now is old school. I haven't seen anyone set up a tank this way in years (sorry Paul! ). The people who still set tanks up this way are the ones who have been keeping tanks since the 70s/80s/90s...old school people who refuse to change because what they do still works for them and it's what they know.

LOL. I hate those people who set up their tanks in the the 70s 80s, and 90s and they are still running with no problems. Thats not what we should strive for.

It's diseases and crashes that make this hobby run.

This book is free on Kindle:

OOOooooHHHH NNNNooo. FREE!!!!. No wonder I haven't made any money on it!!!!

That being said, there are many ways to set up a saltwater aquarium...things have progressed quite a bit in recent years

I kind of figured that I shouldn't have slept through all the recent years.

 

[Rifken]

It's been some busy times. The tank now has 80 lbs of Carib Sea South Sea rock in it... I will do one more 30% water change (it'll be the second one) today or tomorrow then I will be adding the Dr Tim's. Frosty the snowflake and the two damsels seem to be fine with the new tank decor.

Russ, I just sent you the water story to your email

Thanks,
-Bob

 

[Rifken]

Just a quick follow up.

The tank seems to be doing well since all the changes I did which were mainly changing out the rock to Carib Sea's South Seas rock, a large initial water change, and adding Dr Tim's One and Only followed by water changes. The fish guy changes some when he cleans monthly and I follow up with 20 more gallons of RODI water two weeks later. No ammonia or nitrite and the nitrate is around 50, which is far from the 500 (or higher) readings from before. Frosty the snowflake and the two damsels seem happy and are doing well.

It all came down to the water. When I think about it, it was just silly of me to believe that the water coming out of any RO system is great water. Not so in my case: it was a lot better than the water going in but still not that great of a final product.

I have recently bought a HOB Aquamaxx skimmer that I am adding to the tank. It doesn't fit the 1 inch rim well but I have come up with a fix for that. Now I just need to cut a few holes in the plastic strip for the intake and outflow tubes to finish the install.

Some of you that have followed along and read all the post know we have another 125 gallon set up the same way. It has the Pale-nosed Moray, a Maroon Clown, 2 Pajama Cardinals and 2 Banggai Cardinals in it. We were not having as many problems with it as the tank I mainly talked about but I have done all the same changes to it and all those fish are doing well. I bought the same skimmer for it and it'll be installed once I do the modifications to it. I just want to make sure the modified skimmer works on the other tank before I modify a second one.

-Bob

 

[j.falk]

Hooray! That's great news!

 

[blecki]

What's the story on the water? Is your well pumping it directly out of the sludge pond of a local mine?

 

[C4ctus99]

Just a quick follow up.

The tank seems to be doing well since all the changes I did which were mainly changing out the rock to Carib Sea's South Seas rock, a large initial water change, and adding Dr Tim's One and Only followed by water changes. The fish guy changes some when he cleans monthly and I follow up with 20 more gallons of RODI water two weeks later. No ammonia or nitrite and the nitrate is around 50, which is far from the 500 (or higher) readings from before. Frosty the snowflake and the two damsels seem happy and are doing well.

It all came down to the water. When I think about it, it was just silly of me to believe that the water coming out of any RO system is great water. Not so in my case: it was a lot better than the water going in but still not that great of a final product.

I have recently bought a HOB Aquamaxx skimmer that I am adding to the tank. It doesn't fit the 1 inch rim well but I have come up with a fix for that. Now I just need to cut a few holes in the plastic strip for the intake and outflow tubes to finish the install.

Some of you that have followed along and read all the post know we have another 125 gallon set up the same way. It has the Pale-nosed Moray, a Maroon Clown, 2 Pajama Cardinals and 2 Banggai Cardinals in it. We were not having as many problems with it as the tank I mainly talked about but I have done all the same changes to it and all those fish are doing well. I bought the same skimmer for it and it'll be installed once I do the modifications to it. I just want to make sure the modified skimmer works on the other tank before I modify a second one.

-Bob

Thanks for the update! Glad you’re getting it worked out

 

[Rifken]

I like this thread so much it's time for a new post to keep it going Well maybe not really but I took a pic last night that I just want to share.

The tank continues to mature and everybody is doing good.

You can see Frosty's tail to the left under the rock. He really enjoys making his own little spots. Now and then you'll see crushed coral "flying" thru the water. It's him moving it around with is tail. He is the only survivor from the "Dying Days".

Elvis the Damsel is right over the blue coral. He has been in the tank since we changed out all the rock and water following the "Dying Days". He was added to get the tank cycling along with another Damsel that we called Convict to get the tank going again. He can be a little pushy at times but he's not too bad.

Fang, the Red Tooth Trigger is right out front being a ham as always. Convict the Damsel gave him a hard time at first but Fang didn't care. He is doing great in the tank

Lips the Naso Tang was added next. He is by the smaller blue coral on the left. Convict tried to give him a hard time too but Lips just whacked him around a bit and Convict left him alone. Lips is our first ever tang and is a very cool fish.

The latest addition, Bozo the Clown Trigger is by Frosty's tail. Bozo is not as large as Convict who was being a total butt with him. He is fitting in very well. I wasn't planning to get another Clown as my re-introduction into saltwater began with Frosty the eel and Ronald the Clown. We lost Ronald during the "Dying Days" and I thought he would be the last Clown. Then my wife and I saw Bozo and he just spoke to us.

Convict the Two Stripe Damsel is not in the picture as he is doing time back at the fish store. His probation was revoked for being bad. Maybe they can get him into rehab or something.

Anyways, just though you might enjoy seeing how it's coming along.

-Bob