dam this hobby!!! ill i dont even know where to start- i read and read and read every- one has something to say some agree some disagree i try to go with the popular vote sometimes it works sometimes it dont understandable. but when u get to the point where u have tried every thing and it still dont work then what give up or try again from square1.so heres my dillema personally im by far not rich but not poor i purchase my ro/di water from the culligan machine at my local wal-mart for 33 cents a gallon not bad. now please correct me if im wrong this water is suppose to be the best water to use. now for some reason or another i can not keep at all any corals or anemones alive for more than a week at all what so ever point blank period ext ext ext theres my frustation. i have no lie and no joke been through damn neer $1000 over this 2 year escapade on these !@#$%^&%$#@%^ creatures thats more than my whole set up cost me. now fish thats a difrent storie never ever die always eat always play shit i sometimes feel i have them trained to do what i want hell i could probally pet them if tried... but anything else i mean anything i might as well set up a thirty gallon cemetary instead of the dam hospital tank hell that only gets used to acclimate before my display tank.so i suppose ill end 4 now and wait to hear from lets just say top three guesses saltwaterpimp - snow boss - and maybe dickheaders they seem to be in evey post and have been very useful thusfar-and i will gladly answer any?? so i can hopefully correct this problemof mine sorry for all the bad spelling and the length
72 gallon bowfront-75lbs of live florida rock filled with clams sponges and cucs $8.50lbs at lfs 80 lbs of live indo-pacific sand 760 watt lighting system 2-250watt current 14000k hqi 4-65 watt corallife atcitnic blue - 12 lunar lights. Fluval 405, 2 aquaclear70 powerhead and aquaclear 70 heater, seaclone protien skimmer, whisper dual air pump-1 24 in air wand attached. Kent Essential Elements -Kent Iodine - Kent Iodine - Kent Iron Kent Tech CB - Part a and b -Kent Tech M- Kent Pro Buffer DKH and purple up are all chems i own- rt now i only use tech cb part a and b only latest info given to me. foods are all kent products as well zooplex- micro-vert- phyto-plex and frozen foods are mysis brine bloodworms and daphnia. inside my fluval is bio- zorb fluval ultra max and denitrate by seachem.parameters are 1.21 sal- 8.0 ph (got told dont use proper ph 8.2)--- but it works gonna start using again. amonia 0 nitrate 40 - 60 nitrire 0 phosphate 1.0 calcium 480. water - changes i need to buy stock in culligan at first once a month then once every 2 weeks now im doing15 - 20 gallons weekly lets not forget estimate of 5- 10 gallons top off weekly.now the only thing i see i am missing is a chiller though heat dont seem to be much of a problem 80 degrees by lights out 76 when lights come on now i know heat shouldnt raise and drop but come on now if this is the problem y such healthy fish???? and the chiller will be coming but they r a nice price hopefully when the stimulis check comes. once again sorry 4 the length but all help is apreicated
novack i agree only use the 2 part .try sechem reef buffer the powder to keep ph around 8.3 to 8.4 your morning ph drop should only be about 8.0 also your test kit should read zero for nitrate/nitrite i would say there is some kind of imbalance there or mabie over feeding. i would slow down with all the foods.also i would adjust your heater with a target of 79 to 80 not leting it drop below 79 ever.if your tank does not get hotter then 80 you wont need a chiller. make sure your salinity is right. have your lfs test it or buy a new refractometer. i went to my local fish store and pulled 6 of them off the shelf only 2 read the same out of 6. also i would slowly raise the salinity 2 around 1.024 if it was my tank.how much sand do you have in your tank? how old are your bulbs and when is the last time you changed them.. also when you put corals in where do you put them when you get em?
im gonna sit back and watch this one....pimp is the invert man for sure....I also have similar problems at the time....maybe i can pick up some help also....but i wanted to let you know I saw this post and apprieciate the props from ya.....but pimp and Dick Headers will probably be more help to you in this situation .......good luck my friend, Snowboss
thanx 4 your time once again. my heater is not plugged in due to the lights being 30 days old if that. the seachem powder i agree does work when i ran out i bought the proper ph8.2 i will go back to seachem. 80 lbs of live indo-pacific .is on my sandbed. could my light be to strong it is an avg of about 10.5 watts per gallon and when i add any corals i always start them on the very bottom so they dont get burned but they never make higher than 2-4 in off the sand bed b4 there downfall last victim was my xenia due to red spots which with help from you on my post (red spots) i found out what it was, still 2 late. i guess with patience and a liitle more luck i will achieve what i want
on second thought......lol i see you have sea horses? if so can i assume you don't have crazy amounts of current in the tank as they would blow around like leaves? - - current is a big thing, especially in a relativley large tank....you could have "toxic" dead spots that are affecting different areas in the tank..............just a thought, Boss
you live rock should be on the bottom of tank and sand around it or it will produce very toxic conditions.have you fixed the flat worm problem? that was the red spots right? you coral placement has to be right on with that much light. and could take almost a month to acclimate them to the right spot. what kind of corals have died on you?you could also try a uv steralizer to kill any harmfull bacteria. also instead of geting a chiller{unless u realy need one} buy a lux meter. i think dr foster and smith has one for 100 bucks or so that way you could find the right placement for all corals
hi there,ws there a typo in yr salinity. if not it is way too high
[quote]estimate of 5- 10 gallons top off weekly[/quote]
also,hope u are topping up with FW. if not that will account for yr high salinity.
one last thing,maybe it's just me but can leave some spaces/paragraph your postimgs? kin of hard to read especially if it's a lenghty post. no offence meant,JMO.
to start thanx to every one with all the fast replies. ok now my seahorses are in a seperate 10 gallon long due to the high current in the 72 they r only dwarf seahorses 2 in full grown.
Lighting comes on around 8am blue actinic----11am----3pm halides run with blue actinic 3--8 just blue. Less halide time keeps my heat down.
top off water is always fresh ro water never with salt..
yes my salinty quote was a typo its 1.021.
now as far as my live rock there is a problem when i first started i didnt have all the rock i have now so it is not on tank glass then sand around it. but as far as i knew that was so fish and sand dwellers could not undermine rock work and cause a collapse . so how can live rock cause toxic conditions????
as far as corals that have died include everthing from maxim clams 2 waving hands never tried no leathers though. i dont know if i fixed the flat worm problem but i dont see them i turkey basted for a week.
ill stay tuned for more info
depending on how much area your live rock covers, it could compact and house bad bacterias iunder the rock as there is no movement or filtration under there - -i think thats where Pimp is going with that question...but yes definately fish can undermine it and inverts as well........i think it was angus telling me he has a hermit crab that has moved a 2-3 lb piece of rock because he aparently didn't want to walk around it...lol
