help

[jntmcduffie]

having problems with all hard corals bleaching out....i checked water everything was good except calcium 560 and dk not even on the chart. have a 55 gal, mh, canister filter, protein skimmer 60. Any Ideas:shout:.

 

[tgray3]

I know you say their "good" but post the results anyway. What are you running in the canister filter? are you running any GFO? What corals specifically are bleaching? How long has the tank been set up? I'm no expert and may not be able to help but more info is needed.

 

[ralph atl]

I have a car not running good. It get's 25 miles to the gallon, and sounds good. I changed the oil filter and spark plugs, what's wrong with it? It weighs 5k and seats 5.

 

[jntmcduffie]

nitrate=5.0
high ph=8.4
nitrite=0.0
ammonia=0
nitrate=10.0

birds nest, ganapora red and green monapora. all of the softs are doing well. open brain open to the max. candycain open all the way. Tank set up for 1+ year. tank not drilled. only have a fresh water conversion...(cash flow) Had a carpet anemony but got to big was about 12+ in across was eating my fish...took him in for trade at the local fish store. sorry new to the hobbie

 

[jt955]

is your nitrate 5 or 10? either way not bad, was that supposed to be something else?

 

[jntmcduffie]

sorry nitrate is 10

 

[tgray3]

What's your Phosphate at? SPS hate high phos and that would be the first thing I'd look at.

 

[cr500_af]

And when you say "dk not even on the chart" do you mean your dKH is high or low? Either way and you can have trouble getting your other parameters in check.

 

[jntmcduffie]

phosphates is at 5.0 or below...eveything was below what was recommended by the test kit except the calcium and dk hardness. reall at a loss.

 

[jntmcduffie]

well dkh read yellow at the first drop...never even goes to the test color.

 

[cr500_af]

5.0 phosphate is high. REAL high.

According to my Salifert kit:
.03 (good)
.10 (critical)
.25 (coral growth retarded)

My kit won't even read above 3.0ppm.

 

[darren neil]

Whens the last time you replaced your bulbs. are have you put a new lighting system on the tank.

 

[jt955]

jntmcduffie;392947 wrote: well dkh read yellow at the first drop...never even goes to the test color.

is it a titration test, as in you add drops until it changes color?

 

[tgray3]

cr500_af;392948 wrote: 5.0 phosphate is high. REAL high.

According to my Salifert kit:
.03 (good)
.10 (critical)
.25 (coral growth retarded)

My kit won't even read above 3.0ppm.

+1
that's a problem that needs addressing. Look into running some phosguard or GFO in your canister. Introduce VERY slowly, like 1/4 of the recommended dose and increase a little each month until you work up to the recommended dose. If you introduce it too fast you could run into problems.

 

[jntmcduffie]

lights are getting about a yr old...put 400w mh last dec. and new actinic jan. (2 48"). sorry dkh was .5

 

[jntmcduffie]

yes the test kit starts with one drop will turn color blue. add drops until turns yellow.

 

[jt955]

dkh .5? that sounds like a phosphate number

 

[jntmcduffie]

first problem started about a month or so ago i lost the yellow leather you can see in the pic below my name on the right. one day it just died. went gray and collapsed. since then i have done a 75% water change and good cleaning. but hard corals keep bleaching.

 

[drnecropolis]

If I'm reading this right and the dKh is .5 that is the problem right there with out a doubt.. I keep mine around 9(when I remember to keep up my dosing) but the lowest it has ever dipped was around 6.5

 

[cr500_af]

Also, since you are using API...
My API dKH kit measured my water at 10dKH.
I checked it with a good kit, because I knew that with Seachem salt and no dosing, it shouldn't be that high.

It checked 5.9 with the good kit.