I'm in need of a bit of help

[saltyvixen]

OK so I haven't had any tests for awhile but I have been doing weekly water changes. I have had 2 fish go missing and my turbo snail can't hold onto the glass and is now sittibg in one spot half out its she'll, but still alive. Can some one please come test my water or meet me somewhere and I'll bring a water sample? Also any sponsors having a sale on test kits soon?

 

[mattgee87]

Most stores will test your water for free

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Jodi...you can get the basic test for free at almost any LFS. That'll give you ammonia, nitrate & nitrite. Probably pH too. For a small fee, most will give you Mg, Ca, Phos....anywhere from $2-4/test. If I was closer, I'd come test for you.

 

[kilralpine]

If your located near cumming/forsyth you can swing by and ill test it for you

 

[saltyvixen]

Im in atlanta, so im no where close to forsyth.
and i def need to see my alk, mg, & po3

 

[bulkrate]

My snails did what you describe when my alkalinity started dropping into the 5-6 territory. Band-aided by switching to using reefbuilder-laced topoff water. Slowly being fixed by catching up on a year+ of coralline scraping.

 

[lsu_fishfan]

I know Pure Reef does free testing.

 

[franciscosalazar]

I'm in Brookhaven if you decide to swing by

 

[jdavid]

I'm just going to throw this out there, I haven't tested my water in 6 months. Do a water change

 

[jdavid]

Temp, salinity, maybe pick up a color changing polyfilter for a few bucks. Carbon.

 

[franciscosalazar]

I dont remember when I last did a water change, I love Barebottoms!

 

[jdavid]

franciscosalazar;967706 wrote: I dont remember when I last did a water change, I love Barebottoms!

I'm getting annoyed with BB in my holding tank. Always siphoning. Different strokes for different folks

 

[saltyvixen]

its a 65 with a 29 sump so im gonna say atleast 80-90g volume. to make sure everything gets back evened out how many gallons should i change, i normally only do 5-7g.

 

[franciscosalazar]

I've got 4 koralias on the bottom, nothing settles. =)

 

[jdavid]

SaltyVixen;967711 wrote: its a 65 with a 29 sump so im gonna say atleast 80-90g volume. to make sure everything gets back evened out how many gallons should i change, i normally only do 5-7g.

I'd do 20

 

[lsu_fishfan]

JDavid;967719 wrote: I'd do 20

+1 20 or so gallons

 

[bulkrate]

I'd do your more normal 5-7 gallons, but every couple of days until things start improving. I find that once parameters get out of whack the swings from things changing suddenly towards "better" does almost as much damage as the low level of "whatever" in the first place.

Think of it as acclimating your whole tank.

 

[franciscosalazar]

^^^ +1

 

[camellia]

How long have the two fish been missing? Do you have something big enough to eat them if they got sick? If not then I would do my best to look for decaying fish. If they are in the tank decaying it will continue to kill your water prams.
Good luck

 

[mcphock]

If you're very deficient in Alk, doing a water change will help, but wont be as effectual as you might think. You'll be diluting the incoming water with a high level of Alk into a much higher volume of water deficient in Alk.

I'd test and target what you're missing, although doing a water change is never a bad idea.

TLDR; water changes are good, but may not solve your problem.