Still having trouble-dont know what to do

[Jennduhh]

Hey all,
I'm still having issues with the "new" tank. Ever since the old established one popped a leak, ive been having issue after issue.

My problem now: algae bloom & dying corals.
My star polyps are THRIVING. Everything else? Not so much.
I lost a galaxea & a hammer today, al9ng with my conch snail & nasarrius snail(granted both were about 5 years old). The algae bloom started before they passed, & I pulled them and put them in individual temp tanks as soon as I realized they were dying. So I know that's not my issue.
I did a 2gal water change (its only a 16gal biocube), & tested params.

Salinity 1.026
Ph 8.4
Ammonia 0ppm
Calcium is lower, I've been dosing every day but can't seem to get it to come up paT 380. Rn it's at 350ppm
Ni 0ppm
Na 10ppm
Phosphate .3ppm
Temp 78°
Flow approx. 120gph
Par varies depending on location. Highest point (no corals) is approx 400, lowest is about 70 in shadowed areas.

I never have the lights at 100%

I'm finding out that a smaller tank was NOT the way to go & is 100x harder to keep correct than a larger tank, so I think I'm going to start cycling a larger tank tomorrow.
For the sake of this tank tho, & all of my corals-any recommendations?

I use distilled water, with dosed mag, alk & calcium.
Inhabitants include 2 clowns, a neon goby, watchman goby, sea hare, & anemone crab since my snails died. Oh & a tuxedo urchin.

You can tell in the pic that it's cloudy from the algae bloom & how unhappy my corals are. Theyre normally open & beautiful, but have been closed for 3 days. Even my zoanthids are closed.

 

[Reefering1]

For starters, ensure surface agitation and/ or add air stone- could be a bacterial bloom that can suffocate fish. How are you achieving 8.4 ph? What is your alk? I would change much more water to get parameters where they should be and feed more/ dose nitrate to get n03 up off zero.

 

[goosemans]

If I were in your shoes I’d change 5 gal of water every other day 3x. With zero tds rodi water, if you can’t that, look into getting distilled water from Walmart. Did you recently change the water when the tank water started to become cloudy?

 

[Jennduhh]

If I were in your shoes I’d change 5 gal of water every other day 3x. With zero tds rodi water, if you can’t that, look into getting distilled water from Walmart. Did you recently change the water when the tank water started to become cloudy?

I used distilled water now. Don't have access to RODI atm.
No, the cloudiness started about 48hours ago, the picture is from then. It's about the same now, cleared a bit after the water change.

I'm so frustrated I could cry. I had so many gorgeous corals and as of right now, it looks like I'm going to lose at least 2 more. They've started to peel.

For starters, ensure surface agitation and/ or add air stone- could be a bacterial bloom that can suffocate fish. How are you achieving 8.4 ph? What is your alk? I would change much more water to get parameters where they should be and feed more/ dose nitrate to get n03 up off zero.

The filter head itself provides my surface agitation. Then I have a 20gal powerhead about 1/3 of the way down the glass. That being said, the algae IS longer directly in front of the power head, if that has any bearing.

Also, I always thought Nitrites were supposed to stay at 0?
I test & dose magnesium & alk every few days. I dose calcium daily. Everything I've read said that was the best way to slowly bring up the calcium levels without shocking anything. Am I doing things totally backwards?

 

[Jennduhh]

@Reefering1 What other params are off? I know the calcium is low & phosphate is still a little high. Aside from the Nitrites am I confused on those too? ‍

 

[VintageReefer]

What is the alkalinity?

There is no coral in that tank that needs 400 par. That’s high end sps level. I see lps and zoanthids. 200 max par

 

[rtparty]

Nothing looks terribly off. What is your alkalinity? I didn’t see that listed.

You can bring calcium up rather quickly. 50ppm a day is no issue.

Flow is on the low side for sure. Giving direct numbers or answers on flow is tough but you should be looking for 25-40x. You’re not even at 10x

 

[Jennduhh]

Nothing looks terribly off. What is your alkalinity? I didn’t see that listed.

You can bring calcium up rather quickly. 50ppm a day is no issue.

Flow is on the low side for sure. Giving direct numbers or answers on flow is tough but you should be looking for 25-40x. You’re not even at 10x

Oh, dang. I am only accounting for the actual filter & not what the powerhead provides. Does that make a difference?

Alk was sitting around 9dkh yesterday, which was the last time I tested.

What is the alkalinity?

There is no coral in that tank that needs 400 par. That’s high end sps level. I see lps and zoanthids. 200 max par

I do have a couple that I'm not 100% what they are as they were given to me from someone that entered the hobby & only tried for a month or so before they gave up.
That being said, I'm not 100% what they actually are, but im pretty sure they're SPS.
I'll post pictures of all, just a sec.

 

[john/]

Hey all,
I'm still having issues with the "new" tank. Ever since the old established one popped a leak, ive been having issue after issue.

My problem now: algae bloom & dying corals.
My star polyps are THRIVING. Everything else? Not so much.
I lost a galaxea & a hammer today, al9ng with my conch snail & nasarrius snail(granted both were about 5 years old). The algae bloom started before they passed, & I pulled them and put them in individual temp tanks as soon as I realized they were dying. So I know that's not my issue.
I did a 2gal water change (its only a 16gal biocube), & tested params.

Salinity 1.026
Ph 8.4
Ammonia 0ppm
Calcium is lower, I've been dosing every day but can't seem to get it to come up paT 380. Rn it's at 350ppm
Ni 0ppm
Na 10ppm
Phosphate .3ppm
Temp 78°
Flow approx. 120gph
Par varies depending on location. Highest point (no corals) is approx 400, lowest is about 70 in shadowed areas.

I never have the lights at 100%

I'm finding out that a smaller tank was NOT the way to go & is 100x harder to keep correct than a larger tank, so I think I'm going to start cycling a larger tank tomorrow.
For the sake of this tank tho, & all of my corals-any recommendations?

I use distilled water, with dosed mag, alk & calcium.
Inhabitants include 2 clowns, a neon goby, watchman goby, sea hare, & anemone crab since my snails died. Oh & a tuxedo urchin.

You can tell in the pic that it's cloudy from the algae bloom & how unhappy my corals are. Theyre normally open & beautiful, but have been closed for 3 days. Even my zoanthids are closed.

Sorry to hear.. I would suggest a ICP. In mean while do a 20 water change a week.. that icp is should tell you something looks like to much light maybe a flow issue and looks dirty.. hope this helps .. but do ICP ATI one to test your RODI

 

[Jennduhh]

Sorry to hear.. I would suggest a ICP. In mean while do a 20 water change a week.. that icp is should tell you something looks like to much light maybe a flow issue and looks dirty.. hope this helps .. but do ICP ATI one to test your RODI

Well, my husband bought the new light for the tank, and I've been wondering but even more so now if it's TOO MUCH for a tank this size. He started our first saltwater about 5 years ago, which is what all this stemmed from, but stopped taking care of it so I took it over & I'm struggling to say the least.

 

[Jennduhh]

What is the alkalinity?

There is no coral in that tank that needs 400 par. That’s high end sps level. I see lps and zoanthids. 200 max par

Okay, so the first 4 are the ones I'm not certain of. I was told #1 is a galaxea? And that #2 is a chalice. #3 I have no clue, along with #4.
The rest are:

• Torch (which is starting to peel)
• Zooanthid (closed 2 days ago & expelled some zooxanthellae, opened for a couple hours and then went back to this. It IS currently growing a new "head", idk if that would make it close entirely tho)
• Zooanthid colony (also has been closed over 24 hours, no zooxanthellae expulsion)
• A candy cane coral that seems to still be alive, but is fighting for its life
• A dead Hammer (was fine yesterday, fully open & then like this when I came home from work)
• Another "galaxea" that has also just died in the last 48 hours.

I have the first 4 closer to the top of the tank because from what I've understood sps need higher par, with lps being middle level & soft being lower.

I'm about to just hire someone to come fix it & show me how to maintain it.

I guess, if nothing else, my fish seem happy, but who really knows.

 

[Jennduhh]

Well, woke up this morning & have lost my torch entirely. It's just a stalk of calcium at this point.

 

[Jennduhh]

@kevgib67

So long story kinda shortened: we've had a marine tank for 5+ years. Hubby had it, started having problems, gave up, I took it over & got it settled & it was fine for about another year. Being it was an estblished tank, it was fairly easy to upkeep & i didnt gain much knowledge in doing so l. Fast forward to 4 or 5 mos ago, I wanted to start a 2nd tank from scratch & LEARN, but life had different plans. The OG tank sprung a HUGE leak & was unsalvageable. All inhabitants, water, filter media, substrate, rock, etc that was usable was moved from old tank to the new one to save what we could. It went thru a small cycle with the environment change & then was great.
Fast forward till approx 1.5months ago & something happened that I can't figure out & it's all gone to crap.
I lost a GORGEOUS torch & hammer overnight last night. Just completely melted away. None of my corals are happy. Except the star polyps, they're just chillin. You can clearly see there's an algae bloom just by how cloudy & green the water is. My fish are fine. The urchin is happy. I lost a nassarius & conch snail yesterday, but both were approx. 5 years old.
I just can't put my finger on what's causing all of my corals to be upset/dying. & it's so frustrating because everything I do to try to fix it just seems to make it worse.
I don't want to keep throwing money at it without having a good solution/game plan. I'm already out a good chunk from all of my corals I've lost.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Your tank has a high bioload, with minimal filtration and minimal water movement.

120gph flow in a 16 gallon is not even the recommended minimum of 10x flow.

I would also agitate the water surface a lot more than that to help with more gas exchange. Excessive algae depletes oxygen levels at night.

No algae on the sand tells me the lights are likely set too low, if algae can't grow on the sand then neither can corals. This might explain why the corals are suffering.

Your corals might also be suffering from lack of flow and oxygen.

I would also increase the water changes until the algae problem is resolved. 10% weekly changes is the recommendation for regular weekly maintenance. When you have a problem, increase the water changes

IMO your running your tank on minimal equipment and expecting a bit too much from it. I would upgrade the filtration, add more flow, and increase the lights.

Just my 2 cents, good luck

 

[kevgib67]

@kevgib67

So long story kinda shortened: we've had a marine tank for 5+ years. Hubby had it, started having problems, gave up, I took it over & got it settled & it was fine for about another year. Being it was an estblished tank, it was fairly easy to upkeep & i didnt gain much knowledge in doing so l. Fast forward to 4 or 5 mos ago, I wanted to start a 2nd tank from scratch & LEARN, but life had different plans. The OG tank sprung a HUGE leak & was unsalvageable. All inhabitants, water, filter media, substrate, rock, etc that was usable was moved from old tank to the new one to save what we could. It went thru a small cycle with the environment change & then was great.
Fast forward till approx 1.5months ago & something happened that I can't figure out & it's all gone to crap.
I lost a GORGEOUS torch & hammer overnight last night. Just completely melted away. None of my corals are happy. Except the star polyps, they're just chillin. You can clearly see there's an algae bloom just by how cloudy & green the water is. My fish are fine. The urchin is happy. I lost a nassarius & conch snail yesterday, but both were approx. 5 years old.
I just can't put my finger on what's causing all of my corals to be upset/dying. & it's so frustrating because everything I do to try to fix it just seems to make it worse.
I don't want to keep throwing money at it without having a good solution/game plan. I'm already out a good chunk from all of my corals I've lost.

Okay, I’m going to try and address everything but if I miss something please let me know. What salt are you using? What does the box say the calcium should mix to? Have you tested a fresh mixed water to see if it mixes to what it says? Two gallon a week water changes should maintain your parameters especially with the amount and type of corals you have. When was the new light introduced as compared to when the tank took a turn for the worse? My stock lights have grown softies, lps and easy sps very well. If you did loose your cuc for the same reason as your coral I would consider a contaminant may have made it in your tank and I would add activated charcoal if you haven’t already. Do you have scented candles or air fresheners in the room? A UV sterilizer should clear up the algae bloom in your water column. I suggest phosphate at .05-.1 and nitrate at 10-15. That being said I got tired of bringing mine down and just have it rise again. Mine has been running at phosphate.25 and nitrate 25 for most of 3 1/2 years. An ICP has already mentioned, it’s a good idea.

 

[Jennduhh]

Your tank has a high bioload, with minimal filtration and minimal water movement.

120gph flow in a 16 gallon is not even the recommended minimum of 10x flow.

I would also agitate the water surface a lot more than that to help with more gas exchange. Excessive algae depletes oxygen levels at night.

No algae on the sand tells me the lights are likely set too low, if algae can't grow on the sand then neither can corals. This might explain why the corals are suffering.

Your corals might also be suffering from lack of flow and oxygen.

I would also increase the water changes until the algae problem is resolved. 10% weekly changes is the recommendation for regular weekly maintenance. When you have a problem, increase the water changes

IMO your running your tank on minimal equipment and expecting a bit too much from it. I would upgrade the filtration, add more flow, and increase the lights.

Just my 2 cents, good luck

I've already changed the light from the light that came in the tank. Does it need to be even bigger?
And do you have any recommendations in upping the filtration on a biocube?

 

[Jennduhh]

Okay, I’m going to try and address everything but if I miss something please let me know. What salt are you using? What does the box say the calcium should mix to? Have you tested a fresh mixed water to see if it mixes to what it says? Two gallon a week water changes should maintain your parameters especially with the amount and type of corals you have. When was the new light introduced as compared to when the tank took a turn for the worse? My stock lights have grown softies, lps and easy sps very well. If you did loose your cuc for the same reason as your coral I would consider a contaminant may have made it in your tank and I would add activated charcoal if you haven’t already. Do you have scented candles or air fresheners in the room? A UV sterilizer should clear up the algae bloom in your water column. I suggest phosphate at .05-.1 and nitrate at 10-15. That being said I got tired of bringing mine down and just have it rise again. Mine has been running at phosphate.25 and nitrate 25 for most of 3 1/2 years. An ICP has already mentioned, it’s a good idea.

I use Instant Ocean salt, always have. I kic myself, but I premix 5 gallons at a time. Salinity stays 1.025-1.026 & I always double check it before adding to the tank.
The algae bloom started about 72hours ago at this point. The new light has been on the tank approximately a month.
As for the corals, they started dying about 2 mos after moving everything over. I lost 2 or 3 to start, did some research & was told the stock light in a BioCube wasn't enough for corals, so I got the bigger light & things just got worse. The light is a 20watt Fluval Nano Marine, recommended by the guy at the LFS in Columbus.

 

[Jennduhh]

Okay, I’m going to try and address everything but if I miss something please let me know. What salt are you using? What does the box say the calcium should mix to? Have you tested a fresh mixed water to see if it mixes to what it says? Two gallon a week water changes should maintain your parameters especially with the amount and type of corals you have. When was the new light introduced as compared to when the tank took a turn for the worse? My stock lights have grown softies, lps and easy sps very well. If you did loose your cuc for the same reason as your coral I would consider a contaminant may have made it in your tank and I would add activated charcoal if you haven’t already. Do you have scented candles or air fresheners in the room? A UV sterilizer should clear up the algae bloom in your water column. I suggest phosphate at .05-.1 and nitrate at 10-15. That being said I got tired of bringing mine down and just have it rise again. Mine has been running at phosphate.25 and nitrate 25 for most of 3 1/2 years. An ICP has already mentioned, it’s a good idea.

I just changed the charcoal bag yesterday & I ordered an algae scrubber today. No candles or air fresheners anywhere near the tank. Closest one is approx. 20 foot away.

 

[braaap]

Run carbon and do a water change. That is a bacterial bloom. Tank looks young as is. Phosphate is high and could be causing all of these issues.

 

[kevgib67]

I use Instant Ocean salt, always have. I kic myself, but I premix 5 gallons at a time. Salinity stays 1.025-1.026 & I always double check it before adding to the tank.
The algae bloom started about 72hours ago at this point. The new light has been on the tank approximately a month.
As for the corals, they started dying about 2 mos after moving everything over. I lost 2 or 3 to start, did some research & was told the stock light in a BioCube wasn't enough for corals, so I got the bigger light & things just got worse. The light is a 20watt Fluval Nano Marine, recommended by the guy at the LFS in Columbus.

Instant Ocean is probably the most popular salt and unless you got a bad batch you are good. As for the Biocube light not being strong enough to grow corals my tank disagrees.