Is "cooking" the rock really going to help your algae problem?

If I had to guess, your algae (and other problems) is coming from the bad habit of using tap water. I think everyone would agree with killing the culprit from the start.

I would suggest leaving all as is, get your water chemistry back to where it needs to be with several large water changes (using RO/DI water) and leave your lights off for a week or more as you go through a new cycle from the die off; and see if that gets everything back in line before "cooking" the bacteria out of your rock.

Thanks for the advice. The thing that confuses me is that there are allot of people expecially at some LFS that state that Edmonton water is pretty darn good the way it is (and they would even swear by it).

I wasn't actually going to boil the rock I was just going to put it in a dark container with a heater and change the water every couple days. I'm assuming leaving my tank lights off for a week would not make the few corals I have happy. With that said, I've ordered an RO-DI Filter at JLaquatics and plan to start using it once it comes in.

If your gonna take your rock out to cook it I wouldn't suggest buying more cause chances are they might have more bryopsis on it and you would be starting all over again....I think if you take out half and cook it then put it back in your tank, then take out the other half and cook it and you should be good to go!!..

Also You should stop using Kent PH Buffer up, you PH should be at 8.1/8.2 not 8.2/8.4....you will find that if you stop using this product your ph will balance itself at 8.2

i suggest as Untamed did, do not add any more chemicals and correct water parameters by using RODI water and high quality salts.

It is a very very rare occurance that your tank will be O2 depleted. again, i suspect NH3 spike (tank organics immaturity) - from abnormal water conditions.

i have never add ANY dechlorinator or cycle products to my tanks, and it is just fine.

My opinion is go slow, do NOT add any fish or inverts until you are SURE that water chemistry/organics are optimal. your LR CAN build up proper N cycles on their own.

The hair algae CAN be control by using Tangs/Rabbitfish/Physical removal/chemical control (PO4 resins). i don't suggest you boil you rock as this casue more damage to your tank ecosystem longer term.

i know im putting in my input pretty late in the thread but i see a couple of culprits in the killing.

1) you said you use warmer water to aid in the disolving of the salt for the changes. warm tapwater is lower in oxygenation than cold tapwater. warmer water has less of an ability to hold onto oxygen. By allowing the water to cool overnight as in previous times you allowed the water to reoxygenate. so i dont believe the skimmer was the issue at all.

2) You added the salt and allowed the water to cool. exactly how long was the salt mixing in the water before being added. partially disolved salt is very harsh on the gills of the fish (i believe its quite accidic?)

3)dechlorination possibly bad. the overnight mixing method would definately have given more of a chance to offgas chlorine, whereas this change was possibly quite chlorinated, even if the dechlorination product you used removed part of it.

all of these things kinda lead to the same conclusion though. The waterchange was probably at fault in some way or another. one of those items alone would definately stress your fish out and cause bad things, but the combination of 2 or more of them could have caused such widespread casualties.

as for your algae problem, i definately agree with your decision to go RO/DI, silicates in the water cause all sorts of nasty algae blooms. thats part of the reason we chlorinate, to kill biological matter in the water.

anyways.. just my point of view.


and dont give up, i just lost everything too, maybe not as much, but an empty tank for a few weeks is better than no tank at all.

Hi Thanks for the advice. Highly appreciated. Thats where my God forsaken obsessive compulsive thing came into play. I couldn't feel that I could go to sleep until I had done the water change .:redface: If I had waited one extra day I might not even be posting this thread.

Well I checked my ammonia levels today and they are down to 0.1! didn't realize that it can change that drastically in such a short time. I'll have to check my nitrates and nitrites in the next little while. I'm going to take half of the problem rocks out tonight and cook them.

With people using RODI do you temper your water before you put it through the filter?

Thanks

Reggie

Yeah, I have to admit I buy just about anything the LFS reccomends to use. The Cycle dosing weekly was carried over from when we had freshwater in the tank.

Be aware that there is absolutely NO point in cooking your rocks unless you're testing for phosphates. Do weekly 100% waterchanges with RO/DI water (of 0 tds) making sure to swish the rocks in fresh saltwater to clean them off during the waterchange. You should have a good test kit by Salifert or Elos to test for phosphate. Once those those test kits read 0, then you should use a high sensitivity phosphate kit like the MERC one (these are about $80). Once this test kit also reads 0, then you can add the rock back to your tank. This process can take 12 weeks or sometimes much more. If you're not willing to do this, then you may as well leave your rock in your tank because a partial cooking will be a moot point.

One more thing Reggie,

Don't give up man!!! :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

Being a keeper of marine life can be a tough job, and a learning experience; but never forget your love for the hobby! It has its ups and downs at times!

^ Good advice!!! :D