EMERGENCY!! Please HELP

[Myka]

Fyi, once you get to 1.020 the corals should be ok. Not to say they won't have been damaged/stressed by the lower salinity. What I mean is once you get to 1.020 there is no need to rush to get that last bit in. What was your specific gravity originally at? How are things looking today? Any ammonia?

[doobiej]

thanks for all the advice,

i have been raising .002 per day and am now at 1.023.

my fish/inverts are all fine and look great and are eating like nothing ever happened

my corals on the other hand have not faired so well. I have lost 5 so far.
(I apologize I dont know the proper names) my rather large open brain, my pulsing(clapping?) xenia, my kenya, and my pink cauliflower corals (2) had to be removed.

my candy cane colonies seeem to hanging on, my huge cup coral looks like he is starting to come out again, but my GSP and branching hammer coral havent come out and dont look good either but I am holding out to see if they recover.

I have checked all my other parameters, and everything is normal.

ugh.

[doobiej]

i have noticed my ph has been dropping though.

I normally sit around 8.15/8.2 during the day and it can dip to 8.05/8.1 at night.

I noticed this morning it was down to 8.02, I added a bit of buffer to bring it up a little bit.

could the PH swings be causing troubles for my corals?

[ALang]

I'd take it slow with all your additions/subtractions of your overall parameters.
8.0 is not bad at all for pH. Let things settle a bit before you start all the adjustments.
Your corals had a huge shock, they are going to go through the next little while at a slow limp. So keep your other parameters steady, keep an eye on the pH, but don't panic over it, either. Keep quality of water up, and wait.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by doobiej

i have noticed my ph has been dropping though.

I normally sit around 8.15/8.2 during the day and it can dip to 8.05/8.1 at night.

I noticed this morning it was down to 8.02, I added a bit of buffer to bring it up a little bit.

could the PH swings be causing troubles for my corals?

Don't adjust pH, especially not for that minute difference. Messing with pH will cause more stress than anything. The drop in pH could be an effect of the low salinity (pH can be slow to react), or it could be an increase in organic breakdown within the tank (loss of corals, loss of microfauna, etc). I think once you get to your target salinity you're best off leaving the tank alone for awhile with no more water changes. Do keep a close eye on ammonia. Otherwise, get back into your regular dosing/testing schedule.

I'm glad to hear the fish and inverts are doing well. The corals may take some time to "come out" again, the fact that their flesh hasn't fallen off yet is a good sign. Euphyllias (frogspawn, torch, hammer) can be really fussy and not come out for many days or even a week.

[doobiej]

thanks,

Im not gonna mess with anything else for now until my salinity is back to 1.025/26.

my ammonia has been reading steady at or near 0. I havent seen a spike at all. nitrates/trites all at or near zero, and P04 is negliable/0.

I normally keep my tank at 1.025.

my livestock seems to have weathered the storm nicely. wish I could say the same for my corals :-(

I just hope I dont lose anymore.

[doobiej]

for what its worth, i've been pulling 10 gallons out adding salt to it and putting it back in as per myka recommendation and it has taken half a pail of salt so far to get it up to 1.023.

[doobiej]

ok

salinity 1.025
temp 79.5
ph 8.17
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
Po4 0
calcium 380-400
magnesium 1000
dkh 11.5

where do I go now?

livestock:
i noticed my kole tang has some white(clear?) banding on his left fin, but no signs of ich or any problems. My hippo is looking good but noticed the spotting on the nose around the eyes was a little more pronounced than usual but looks good otherwise, no signs of ich. my clowns are .... well they are bulletproof. my yellow tang looks really good. my diamon goby and dottyback are looking great. overall everyone is eating and seem happy. just noticed the white/clear banding on my kole tangs fin today.

corals:
well my green cup coral ( i call it that, its a pagoda i think) has come out and looks better. my candy cane colonies are starting to "puff" out a little more. my branching hammer coral is gone I think. my GSP hasnt come out yet. my purple mushrooms look better but I lost some. my other hammer coral doesnt look good either, I can see some skeleton. and I have one other coral Im sorry i dont know the name but he looks good. ill try and post some pics.