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#31
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![]() [quote=kien;884709]Remember to tip your server and take a taxi if you've been drinking. And I'm really starting to think the drinking is a good idea...
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I have to go out and buy more snails for my hermit crabs. |
#32
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Doug |
#33
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![]() Quote:
http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/r...phosphate.html |
#34
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![]() any updates?
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http://plentyoffishandcoral.proboards.com/index.cgi |
#35
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![]() The only update I have is that I'm probably done with reefing. I've lost about a third of my colonies, the rest are on their way. Even the few that seemed to have avoided the initial round of damage are now falling apart. Cyano has taken hold everywhere dead skeletons are exposed, and the tank generally looks like garbage.
I was never able to do a 100% water change, I'm just not set up to do that logistically. Starting today I'll be doing 50 gallon water changes every day until I've replaced the total tank volume 3 times over. I don't know what else to do. I can't make sense of my test results. When this started, my alk spiked up past 9. I thought maybe that was why the tips were burning, though now I think it was a symptom, not a cause. I reduced the rate at which I dose alk solution by 40% over the next couple of weeks and my alk has stabilized at exactly 8. However, my calcium simply will not budge. One of the changes that preceded this carnage was a switch to bulk calcium that I picked up from Eli. I'm now dosing 180 ml of that dissolved at 1 cup/gallon day, which is 20ml more per day than I was dosing when my tank was robust, healthy, and growing rapidly, but the calcium levels won't move above 355ppm. Mag is 1300. So, while these levels aren't perfect, an alk of 8, calcium of 355, and mag of 1300 should not also equal this much carnage. Even a swing of alk from 7 to 9 or 9 to 8 shouldn't be enough to slow motion kill an entire aquarium. Quote:
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Whether this has been the result of parameters swinging or getting out of whack in ways that I haven't been able to test or figure out, or a contaminant of some kind, the problem is either with something in the water, or something I'm adding to the water. Today I'm taking my GFO reactor, my biopellet reactor, and my dosing pump offline. I'm throwing out all the new additives that I've been using and going out and buying the more expensive brand name versions of everything. I'm going to do 50 gallon water changes every day until either this improves, or the majority of my corals are so far beyond any hope of saving that this will become a FOWLR tank until I can find new homes for the fish and organize the trades to turn the tank space in to a closet. If this does improve, I'll add back elements one by one. Starting with a dosing pump dosing brand name "big three" chemicals, followed by brand name GFO, followed by biopellets. What sucks the most is knowing that with this amount of damage, my tank's recovery will be measured in years (if ever), and that's longer than I'm going to live in this house. And thanks everyone for chiming in. 50% of my unresponsiveness is that I'm too busy to eat most days, and 50% because even thinking about my tank makes me feel sick to my stomach right now. |
#36
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![]() sorry to hear Adam. This hobby can be a rough roller coaster ride of extreme ups and downs. I've been through coral die off a few times.. Most recently just a month ago where my DI had exhausted and I was dumping in poisonous water into my tank for weeks before I figured it out. An immediate removal of my DI and a couple of 50% water changes did the trick in stopping a complete wipe out this time around. But it's still painful.
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#37
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![]() My own personal experience with bulk chemicals is that I have no personal experience with bulk chemicals
![]() If you're using a quality brand of salt, it should test pretty well for the big three parameters. Just buy doing frequent large water changes hopefully that can dilute the contaminants and maintain your values. I'd suggest you get back to dosing with commercial products as soon as possible though to promote some stability. The good thing about this hobby is that once you get knocked down, fellow reefers are usually happy to help you out with frags, etc. to get you back on your feet. Good luck! |
#38
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![]() I sympathize for your situation!!
I tried to save few bucks and used HC-GFO and with a Hanna tester I was able to prove that the same levels of PO4 that went in to that reactor also came out!!! I have switched back to Rowa and we are back on track with total success!! Sometimes the name brands cost more but they seem to be predictable.... |
#39
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![]() Really sorry to hear things haven't improved Adam. Can't imagine loss on that scale.
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I doubt properly working gfo knocks the levels down noticeably with one pass. I always thought it would take a small amount out (too small a change to detect) but it's the continual running of water through it that brings the overall level down in a measurable manner over time? Last edited by lastlight; 03-16-2014 at 10:19 PM. |
#40
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![]() Surely there must be someone local that has the knowledge and experience to go to your home and assist with this situation while you attend to your studies?
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