nbgen12

News is going from bad to worse. I can't figure out what is going on, at all. Parameters still stable, did a 15g waterchange yesterday....almost every coral is looking like total poop. I honestly have no idea what is going on, I never had any problems like this whatsoever on my 55g reef tank I had previously. It's like day by day it is going downhill. Fish are still ok and eating. Stray voltage maybe? Does anyone have any idea what the culprit may be? I'm totally stumped. At this point, whatever happens, happens. Just time to roll with the punches I suppose. Fish and inverts seem ok. At this point, I'm exhausted from school, work and now have this problem on top of it, which I cannot figure out the solution. I changed TDS meters. still 001 on the exit of the RODI. At this point, I don't have the time nor the energy to combat this mystery meltdown. If you want coral to see if you can save the corals I have, they should be salvageable. My number is 703-507-0652...otherwise I don't have other options at this point. I want to go to marine scene and get my water tested, but for what?? I've got all the tests, I've got the rodi with good water quality to mix saltwater. I made a post on Curtis's silicon thread wondering about the silicon I used, but it doesn't state anywhere about having anti mold stuff in it, and I let it cure for about 2-3 days. Soooooooo lost right now

Thanks ryan....definitely plan on following your advice Nick- my sand bed is only about 1". Been stirring the sand about twice a week since the end of the cycle to keep anything bad suspended. Hopefully time is the answer right now. At least that way i won't be dumping in money lol. I think its time to just get the fish into QT and sit back for a while. I like ryans plan of just maintaining until the next wamas meeting and see how things go from there. I appreciate all the opinions and help, keep it coming if anyone has good stuff to add Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks man! Ive got a few birdsnests which are doing well so far(maybe they are tolerant of the new tank) but for now ill just do several weeks of observation and see how the cookie crumbles Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

And yeah salinity dropped, but only 2 extra gallons got pumped in. About all of the coral doing badly was introduced after these accidents.<br /><br />Just reread what you wrote steve. You're definitely right...tank is technically a month and half - 2 months old old excluding cycle time<br /><br />I will make sure to keep the the foot off the gas pedal. I appreciate having you guys taking the time to reread from the start.<br /><br />Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2<br />

Steve-- tank is 3 months give or take a week and has been cycled for almost 2 months. <br /><br />Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2<br />

Surf......could be that the tank is too young at the moment. It's still a week or two from the 3 month mark. My phosphates have been reading 0 with hardly any nuisance algae to suck it up. Steve - the situation you had sounds WAY too familiar to not be a coincidence. I'll make time to do a waterchange tonight and see what happens. If things don't look a little better after a couple 15% waterchanges, I'll drop the ALK back into the 8-9 range and see how the sps reacts. I'm thinking maybe all this will help. If it doesn't, I'll have to go back to the sterlization of the tank plan, to just kill off the bryopsis and black ich, and re-cycle the tank for a month.

Sounds like we could possibly be narrowing some things down right now lol. I thought tech-m was suppose to be reef safe even in higher doses??? Welp, I've stopped it as of a couple days ago, and it was much higher than it is now. More than my salifert test which goes to 1600 I believe. Although, once it read more than 1600, I basically didn't add much more than small amounts every couple days because I wasn't sure exactly where it was at.

Thanks guys. I have an ATC refractometer which I use a 35ppt refractometer calibration solution to calibrate. I also have the Neptune apex with the conductivity probe, and everything seems to read right around the same exactly salinity. Even the swinging arm hydrometer reads close to the same spot. DerABT-The STN is going from the base up on basically all pieces. My alkalinity has been in the 9.9-10.5 range consistently for about 2 weeks or so. PH swings from about 8.1 in the day, to 7.94 at night consistently. I upped calcium from 410 to 440 over that time. I've also been putting in tech-m for bryopsis to no avail over the previous 3 weeks, and I stopped that several days ago to basically give up that battle for now(its only on the back glass because i've been toothbrushing it off the rock). I don't have a grounding probe....that may be something worth looking into now that you mention it. I'll have to take some pictures and upload them once I get done with some exams this week. I just really suck at taking photos of stuff in the reef tank. I don't know of I just take terrible macros, or my camera is terrible for macros. Either way, I'll do the best I can come thursday night to get some stuff on here. STEVE-I would definitely do what you did, but with black ich and a looong 3 month fallow period, along with bryopsis that won't die from tech-m, I'm thinking I just need to go ahead and sterilize the DT once I throw all the livestock I can into my spare tanks. I'm definitely thinking of going the barebottom route in the DT, maybe even the fuge also like you said.

frustration=100% Each passing day, I'm becoming more and more frustrated everytime I come home to the tank. You can add expletives in there wherever you'd like. Today I get home from a long day of seminars, class, etc to see the a couple of the sps are beginning to STN. I cannot figure out what is going on(add more expletives). Fish have parasites, can't keep SPS alive(other than birdsnests)....thank god the zoas and LPS still look great and are growing....otherwise i'd be about ready to tear this thing down for good and go find something else to spend my time on. Sometimes I wonder why I love this hobby so much when I come home from a stressful day to only get more aggravated. Here are the parameters of this god forsaken tank. Salinity: 1.025 PH: 8.1 Alk: 9.9 Ca: 440 Mg: 1500 Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 2 TDS of RODI water: 001 Additional info: All the SPS I've gotten has been over the last month or so, which I started with only 2 bulbs on for the duration of my 10 hr photoperiod for the first 7 days. After that, I've turned on all 6 for 1 hour for the next 5 days, followed by 2 hours for 5 days.....I'm currently at 4 hrs and should be moving up to 5 hrs tomorrow. I don't think they are getting burnt by the light...is there too little light? I've inspected all of the STN'ing corals( 2 milles, 1 garf purple bonsai, 1 pocillopora) for any flatworms....anything at all. Nothing. I cannot figure out for the life of me what the deal is, all I know is it is really upsetting for the amount of effort I put in. Originally, I planned on just tearing down the aquascape, moving the fish to QT and getting them treated while leaving the DT fallow with the coral still in there. After this evening, I'm leaning in the direction of putting the fish in the 20g QT, putting the corals into the 40 breeder I have laying around, and nuking the tank with hydrogen peroxide, and just start this thing over. No parasites. No nothing. Going to pull the sand from the DT and fuge, and go with new sand in the fuge, and possibly either a very, very tiny amount of medium size sand...or possibly barebottom. I could really use some opinions, ideas, and thoughts about this situation right now. It would certainly be appreciated

Me too man. I grabbed a cleaner shrimp on saturday, but I haven't seen him take any interest in the fish yet.

I appreciate the help surf&turf

It sure sounds like a possibility, it is just really hard to tell because there is only about 2 small spots on the firefish, and 2-4 spots on the dark colored tribal blenny(makes it very hard to tell). I'm not 100% sure what I'm dealing with here, but I do know I'm ready to move all the rocks out of the DT in order to catch these fish. I can't keep watching them(especially the blenny) itch the way they are. Will a 20g QT tank be sufficient to hold the 3 fish I have?(yasha goby, tribal blenny, and purple firefish) I also have a 40 breeder but was don't really want to taint it with any medications in the event I want to use it. If you think I should though, I'll do what I've gotta do.....it makes me feel terrible just watching them itch.

On my build thread i mention about my blenny and firefish itching. I didnt see any white spots. While i was looking at both the firefish and the tribal blenny, i noticed each one has a few small dark spots. Is there ich with dark spots? What is this? Im done watching these fish itch and want to make some moves asap, before the fish get worse. Im down to shred the aquascape....whatever. i just need to figure out what im really treating for before i start hauling rock out of the tank Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

I would just get the clear mesh from BRS....but everything else is at hd or lowes and i think it is cheaper. Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

Those are perfect tank dimensions.... Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

Nope none of either.... Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

I'm not sure about the smell, because I used everything I had bought and have none left laying around. I had it cure for about 48 hours or so. I want to assume everything is OK since I've used it since day 1 on this tank, and the only coral I've lost is from an alk nuking. It's just nice to get a little reassurance before I sit down and assume everything is good.

Really sorry to hear it Curtis. Is this silicone OK for aquarium? This is what I used, and am now worried of the same thing Curtis is experiencing. GE 2.8oz silicone sealant I hope you don't mind me posting on here about this Curtis. Again, don't mean to hijack, it just happened to hit a subject I had no knowledge of. Neil

Oh wow. Not to hijack this thread, but I used a Home depot silicon in a squeezable tube.....I have coral which looks healthy right now, but should I get rid of my DIY sump ASAP?? Is it just a matter of time before the water becomes too toxic and I will be going through the same thing Curtis is going through?

So, I still see the blenny and firefish itch on the sand/rock from time to time during the day(more than a normal fish). Not seeing any other symptoms really. I'm beginning to wonder, could this be flukes? No white spots showing up, no nothing. It's tough to try and treat fish you have no idea what you are trying to treat them for.......any thoughts?

How long has this thing been running? Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

I would keep the torch and just put it on the sand bed...that way you can just add that nice blue mille Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

Tank tours over NFL sunday? you guys are dedicated...if it was a saturday i'd love to see some local guys tanks

What would you recommend for a 75g tank + 29g sump setup? I definitely want to get one I will be happy with, and will be effective when I eventually upgrade to a 120 - 150g tank down the road.

LOL