Added a sump, now tank isn't looking so good

[06strom]

I have been wanting to added a sump and a RDSB bucket to my 33 long for a while, and have been collecting parts to do so - picked up the wood stand, overflow, made a 10 gal tank into a sump, etc. Finally collected everything, and did the deed Saturday night. Now my corals look awful! Nothing is dead yet, but some of them look like they're thinking about it.

I wanted the sump so I could move the skimmer down there, run the fuge off schedule with the main lights to reduce nighttime ph swings. I wanted to add the RDSB both as an experiment and for long-term nitrate control. Nitrate problems seem to happen over time, so I'm trying to take a preventative maintenance step.

So here's what I added:
-RDSB in a bucket - used 5 gal bucket, 40 lbs of new sugar sized aragonite, rinsed and 15 pounds of sugar sized "live" aragonite from the bag.
-10 gallon aquarium with added acrylic baffles. Has a return area, refugium area, and pump section. used ~10 lbs of 'live' aragonite in the fuge section, and moved all my chaeto balls to there.

Procedure was:
-mix new salt 8 hours in advance, temp match
-wait until the lighting cycle was done; all maintenance was done w/o main lights
-set new stand next to tank
-drain tank to 1/4 level, slide onto new stand, put into place & refill with same water
-plumb in new sump/rdsb & fill with new water
-turn everything back on
-change out filter floss and carbon in canister after ~12 hours

The move took about 10 minutes - it wasn't much longer than a regular water change. While I was preparing, I made sure there was a at least a powerhead or 2 keeping the water circulating in the tank, until I could get the whole system back online.

I removed nothing from the system - previous filtration was a canister and skimmer. They are still in use on the current setup. Tank had been set up at least 6 months previously with this set up, and all livestock was colored nicely and growing.

Parameters are as follows: (measured w/ non expired API kit & a refractometer)
ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/phosphate: undetectable
dKh: 9
Calcium: 430
Temp: 77.5
Salinity: 1.026

The temp didn't swing more than a degree or two in the process. Despite my best efforts, I did create a sand storm that took about 12 hours to clear up - it was clear before the next light cycle, however.

I'm at a loss - one of my acros is starting to bleach, one mille has bleached. Polyp extension is generally poor, xenias are clenched.

I'm debating whether I should just wait it out, or start doing fairly large water changes over the next couple of days. Suggestions? I'm at a loss... everything was doing quite well before.

 

[06strom]

The silicone cured 10 hours (labeling said approx 12 hours)before it was filled. I also rinsed the sump out with fresh water before finally filling it with saltwater. I know silicone releases ammonia and methanol as it cures.

The sand that was stirred up was the new sand - rinsed sugar sized aragonite, and some of the bagged "live" sand. My existing sand bed in the display tank was NOT disturbed.

The params I posted above were current as of about midnight last night.

Just did a retest on ammonia,nitrite, nitrate, ph
Ammonia: undetectable (using a seachem instant alert disk, and using a test strips)
nitrite: undetectable (using strips)
nitrate: undetectable (also strips)
ph: 8.2 (calibrated AC II probe)
temp: 77.5

I can retest the other params if needed, but they don't swing much in a 24 hour period

 

[drnecropolis]

Test strips are inaccurate at best from my understanding and those disks are known to give false readings as well...

Ive always heard if you can still smell the distinct smell from silly cone its not cured and dry yet...

 

[06strom]

Carbon and water changes it is. I think the silicone is a likely culprit, too. I shouldn't have hurried that part of the process. Lesson learned.

Hopefully I can get through this without losing too much live stock. Ugh.

 

[hackman72]

may just be me but I thought the ammonia alerts were FW only. I'm betting to the silicone is the culprit. If it's thick enough, it can take a while to cure. I've seen it on porches so thick the center never cured.

 

[06strom]

does one of the API titration kits count as a "good" kit? The alert disk state that it's for Salt and Fresh, btw.

I'll give the stability and prime a try, never used them, but I've seen a few threads about them. Willing to try about anything right now to try and minimize the consequences of a bad decision.

 

[cr500_af]

API seems to be hit and miss... some have checked them alongside "good" kits and they were fine... others have had WAY off results (I had an alkalinity kit that read about twice the true level)... while one read dKH and one in meq/l, even with the conversion it was off a lot. I checked it against another dKH kit, and while the API read 10-11, the other kit read under 6. I bought a Seachem kit and it confirmed my alk was very low.

I would try to buy something a little better, at least Seachem or Salifert.