What am I doing wrong? Or am I just being impatient ?

[mandyplo]

My tank has been running for a year - did a move from my bfs house to mine 2 months ago - tank has finished cycling since the move and looks better than ever.

I am now using RO/DI for the first time (about 2 weeks now) and I have the dual carbon an gfo reactor from BRS (although I don't think it's working properly that's another story I'm trying to get that fixed)
I have my first sump ever running now and a protein skimmer but I haven't turned on the skimmer yet (wanted to make sure the sump system worked properly first).

Anyways I picked up a frogspawn colony 2 days ago and a favia frag and a derasa clam. These are the first corals/inverts I'm trying in the tank. (other than that I have a chromis 2 anthias a kole tang and a fire shrimp)

The frogspawn has 5 heads and has not opened up fully yet he looks very sad. The clam was more open on day 1 when I finished acclimating him than he is now.
I drip acclimated everyone for 2.5 hours.

I'm adding 5 ml of zoo plankton into the water once a day since I put the corals in. I have everyone at the bottom and the fellow I bought these corals from has the same led lights as me so I did not acclimate them to the lights.

An I doing something wrong? Should I get my protein skimmer working and see if that makes a difference ? Am I just being impatient and they take time to open up or am I missing something??

Thanks guys I'm just worried is all. I want to be successful at reefing it maks me so sad when I can't keep things alive in my tank :(

I can add pictures when I'm home from work so you guys can see and tell me what you think about the health of these guys.

[rhody605]

What's your parameters at?

Calcium, alkalinity

Phosphate? Nitrate.

Need some more info to source any issues.


Mike

[Aquattro]

As above, give full parameters. I'd also stop adding anything to feed the corals, you're not at that point yet where you need to worry about it. The tank timing sounds fine, so I'd be looking at water quality. The fish can take a lot poorer quality than corals can. If you have a skimmer, then yes, you should get it going

[Albertan22]

+1 on getting the skimmer running. It sounds like you've got a decent bioload in the tank to not have a skimmer going. Also, give the corals some time, 2 days isn't a great indicator for judging the happiness of your corals, they're probably still aclimating to your lights. You do have lighting that will support a reef right?

[mandyplo]

Hi here are my params. The only test kit I don't have is phosphate
Ammonia 0.00 ppm
Nitrate 0-2.5 ppm
Nitrite - 0.00 ppm
Magnesium 1300 mg/L
Alkalinity 11 dkh
pH 8.2
Calcium 400-410 mg/L
Salinity 1.024

[mandyplo]

+1 on getting the skimmer running. It sounds like you've got a decent bioload in the tank to not have a skimmer going. Also, give the corals some time, 2 days isn't a great indicator for judging the happiness of your corals, they're probably still aclimating to your lights. You do have lighting that will support a reef right?

I have a 55 gallon tank 48" wide, with 2 kessil A350W lamps hanging 1.5-2 feet over the tank (is that too far away?)

[albert_dao]

Alk is high. Are you vodka dosing or anything? High Alk + probiotic = lethal.

[mandyplo]

Alk is high. Are you vodka dosing or anything? High Alk + probiotic = lethal.

Hi no I don't dose anything. I am using RO/DI water why would my alkalinity be high and how can I bring it down and how can I prevent that from happening again?

[albert_dao]

Probably your salt mix. What brand are you using? Can you test the salt after you've mixed it overnight prior to adding it to your tank?

[rhody605]

I use this page as my basic guide.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

Any questions feel free to ask.


Mike

[chris121277]

Alk is high. Are you vodka dosing or anything? High Alk + probiotic = lethal.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree, I keep my Alk at 11 and have for years....granted I'm not using probiotic

[albert_dao]

I'm sorry but I have to disagree, I keep my Alk at 11 and have for years....granted I'm not using probiotic

... That's a fairly relevant exclusion wouldn't you agree? :P

High Alk + probiotic = lethal.

[Albertan22]

I have a 55 gallon tank 48" wide, with 2 kessil A350W lamps hanging 1.5-2 feet over the tank (is that too far away?)

That does seem pretty high to me, but then I run a T5 setup that only has 432W of light output compared to your 700W so you might be fine. Maybe check with someone more familiar with that kind of light setup to figure out an appropriate height (maybe that guy with the same setup you bought the coral from).

[mandyplo]

Probably your salt mix. What brand are you using? Can you test the salt after you've mixed it overnight prior to adding it to your tank?

Oh no :( I just bought two big 40lb tubs of Red Sea Reef Salt from BRS and thats what I've been using for my last couple water changes - before that, when I got the tank set up at my house from the move from my bf's I used Instant Ocean (I think the Reef Crystals was the one)

This exact stuff I am using now http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/red-sea-coral-pro-salt.html

How can I bring the alk down? Is that the only parameter that seems out of place/bad?

[albert_dao]

Well, to be honest, it's probably not your alk that's causing the issue since you're not running probiotic.

FYI, natural SW kh is between 7-8.

I don't have any beginner-friendly ways to bring down alk, so I'll just keep my mouth shut there.

In any case, test the freshly mixed (ish, 24 hour mix) water first and we can panic after.

[Reefer Rob]

Your tank is too new and unstable to be keeping invertebrates. I would try to get them into someones tank that is more mature.

First priority should be to get your skimmer hooked up, and don't use chemicals to control things like green water...Keep it simple and take your time.

[mandyplo]

Your tank is too new and unstable to be keeping invertebrates. I would try to get them into someones tank that is more mature.

First priority should be to get your skimmer hooked up, and don't use chemicals to control things like green water...Keep it simple and take your time.

Ok. As far as I know I'm not using any chemicals I don't know what you mean about that?

I thought my system was simple: dual carbon gfo reactor, water changes weekly, top of the line lights, no dosing, skimmer, RO/DI water. What am I doing wrong? :(

I feed 1 frozen cube of food a day, but I split it up into 3 different feedings throughout the day. This is literally all the maintenance I do with my tank, as well as testing with test kits and using a magnet cleaner...

[Aquattro]

I'm going to possibly disagree with Rob, I think if the tank has been running 14 months with a move 2 months ago, it's probably fine. Maybe not stable, but in a state that you should be able to keep what you have.
You mention you don't think the reactors are working right..why?
Also, get the skimmer going today, it's going to help a lot. Pics of the tank and corals will give us a better picture of what things look like. I don't see any chemicals, just the zooplankton..if this is a liquid food, stop using it for now.
What is the intensity of the light? Should be fairly high to cover than much tank.
What is your water change schedule? Changing to a new salt can sometimes throw things off a bit.

[reefwars]

Humm frogspawn and clam...two animals that react to flow, have you tried moving them around? What are u using for flow??

The clam will handle any volume of flow but may be ****ed while getting use to it.

Also what type of clam and where do you have it sand or rock??


Cheers

[reefwars]

Also get a phosphate test kit, its the only thing I test for these days and seems to be a good indication of changing media when my corals get mad;)

[Reefer Rob]

Ok. As far as I know I'm not using any chemicals I don't know what you mean about that?

I thought my system was simple: dual carbon gfo reactor, water changes weekly, top of the line lights, no dosing, skimmer, RO/DI water. What am I doing wrong? :(

I feed 1 frozen cube of food a day, but I split it up into 3 different feedings throughout the day. This is literally all the maintenance I do with my tank, as well as testing with test kits and using a magnet cleaner...

I say unstable because this (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=91619) was happening in your tank less than a month ago. You need to give this tank some time.

Definitely get something to test phosphate, a Hanna Checker would be best.

[mandyplo]

I'm going to possibly disagree with Rob, I think if the tank has been running 14 months with a move 2 months ago, it's probably fine. Maybe not stable, but in a state that you should be able to keep what you have.
You mention you don't think the reactors are working right..why?
Also, get the skimmer going today, it's going to help a lot. Pics of the tank and corals will give us a better picture of what things look like. I don't see any chemicals, just the zooplankton..if this is a liquid food, stop using it for now.
What is the intensity of the light? Should be fairly high to cover than much tank.
What is your water change schedule? Changing to a new salt can sometimes throw things off a bit.

I talked to the guys at BRS today they are sending me a new carbon canister - they think its faulty. I am having almost no flow coming out of the product line - its coming out drip by drip, and when I take the carbon canister out, the GFO tumbles perfectly and the flow is much faster, so any ways they're replacing the carbon canister for me hopefully that fixes the problem.

Okay so the lights came on this morning, everyone was looking much happier than yesterday. The clam was open a lot more its inhalent siphon wasn't gaping open, the frogspawn open a lot more, I could actually see the frogspawns mouths. A few hours later (now) the clam has closed up a bit a gain, its inhalent siphon is wide open (I don't know if this is a sign of stress but it seems that when the clam closes up and pulls its mantle in its inhalent siphon always seems to be wide open aswell) The frogspawn however still looks happy and a lot more open than yesterday.

the skimmer is now running. I have stopped using the zoo plankton I didn't use it yesterday or today at all.

I'm really sorry I don't know a whole lot about lights - I just read up on the kessils and saw great reviews about the A350W and was recommended to buy 2 for my tank so I did. Here is a site that talks about the intensity of the lights, but I can't really make out much from what they are saying, so maybe this link will answer your question regarding their intensity, sorry I couldn't be more helpful :( However I am now determined to learn about them to further my understanding about my lights and set-up as a whole. Keep in mind I have the A350W (wide angle lights) 2 of them.
http://blog.aquanerd.com/2012/04/kessil-unveils-a350-and-a350w-led.html

My water change schedule is once a week every sunday and I change about 10 gallons of water which would be almost 15% water change. Is this too much or too little, or is this amount okay? Could I reduce the water changes to once every 2 weeks with this amount, or is once a week better?

In the pictures attached in my album, tell me anything you think. Corals / clam look happy sad? Lights positioned ok? Anything else lol?

In the pictures, the first pictures are old (from yesterday) of the coral and clam when they looked unhappy. The pictures at the bottom (the newer ones) are from today, where the corals and clam look much happier and more open.

Note: In the third picture (the clam when I was drip acclimating) has what I think are sponges (2 different kinds) One large colony on the right and another large colony on the left - growing all over the clams shell. It also seems to have 2 barnacles on it, and as you can see some bubble algae, and on pics 6 and 7 you can see a bright pink thing on the top left part of the clam, could be another sponge not sure. Are these things that can irritate the clam? As of right now he is more open again and the inhalent siphon is not gaping anymore.

Update: The Frogspawn is even more open now than in the pic I took about an hour ago, looks way happier than yesterday.

[mandyplo]

I say unstable because this (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=91619) was happening in your tank less than a month ago. You need to give this tank some time.

Definitely get something to test phosphate, a Hanna Checker would be best.

It was only completely green at my boyfriends house - when we did the move, and I did the huge water change it has done nothing but improve since then and there is no trace of cloudy-ness / green water in the tank now.

[mandyplo]

Humm frogspawn and clam...two animals that react to flow, have you tried moving them around? What are u using for flow??

The clam will handle any volume of flow but may be ****ed while getting use to it.

Also what type of clam and where do you have it sand or rock??


Cheers

Hi I have not moved the clam or corals around since I first put them in the tank friday morning. The clam is on the bottom in a very low flow area for now, and is perched up on a few rock rubble pieces which are sitting on the bottom of the tank (his mantle was already attached to a piece of rock when I bought him) It is a derasa clam.

The frogspawn as you can see in the album pics is positioned 1/3 of the way up from the bottom in a very low-medium flow area.

I am using 2 Koralia Hydor 1050 gph power heads and my return jet from my sump.

[Aquattro]

You might be better doing a larger water change less often, say 20 or 25g every 2 or 3 weeks. Greater dilution. The skimmer will help too. It doesn't sound like you're in deep trouble, just need to tweak water quality and figure out your lights more. I think they have a dial or something to turn them up and down, not really sure how it's indicated for brightness/intensity.

[mandyplo]

You might be better doing a larger water change less often, say 20 or 25g every 2 or 3 weeks. Greater dilution. The skimmer will help too. It doesn't sound like you're in deep trouble, just need to tweak water quality and figure out your lights more. I think they have a dial or something to turn them up and down, not really sure how it's indicated for brightness/intensity.

Hi I see what you mean now about the lights - Yes the brightness/intensity is about 1/2 way up. They have 2 dials, one for brightness(intensity) one for how much tuna blue/white light you want.

So what do I have to change about my water quality exactly and how do I go about doing so? If these are my params
Ammonia 0.00 ppm
Nitrate 0-2.5 ppm
Nitrite - 0.00 ppm
Magnesium 1300 mg/L
Alkalinity 11 dkh
pH 8.2
Calcium 400-410 mg/L
Salinity 1.024

Is the Alk the only thing that is high? Everything else seems to be in the right range?

And thank you for the tip on the water changes.

Update: As the day progresses the clam and frogspawn continue to open more and more and look happier and happier. I am relieved, I think they just took a few days to acclimate but I do want to get on top of my water quality, any tips will help - and I will be picking up a phosphate test kit. Anything else I should be checking or are those all the essential parameters?

[Aquattro]

For water quality, it's more about dissolved nutrients than all the stuff you can measure. Get the skimmer running well, it will clean the water and likely raise pH a bit, add more O2 in, etc. And be patient :)

[mandyplo]

Whoah sorry guys I guess all the pics I linked earlier didn't work?

Here is my frogspawn yesterday when he was still ticked off

http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad61/mandyplo/9kVNw.jpg

Here he is today, much happier from what I can tell

http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad61/mandyplo/bm4Zu.jpg

Here is my clam yesterday not fully open (It is much more open today sorry I didn't get a pic of it today)

http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad61/mandyplo/DeP7q.jpg

My unknown Favia frag

http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad61/mandyplo/MkFP7.jpg

Here is my overall set up with lights over tank - some before/some after corals & clam were purchased (Are the lights too high?)

http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad61/mandyplo/IkGOX.jpg
http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad61/mandyplo/ioEjt.jpg
http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad61/mandyplo/zOjME.jpg
http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad61/mandyplo/yMsRg.jpg
Panda can has corals?
http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad61/mandyplo/Y3ryO.jpg

Edit: Please ignore the ugly mesh disaster DIY top :) It is being replaced asap......... lol

[MMAX]

I would say your lights are too high. I'm not familiar with these LEDs that you have but from the picture they seem like they're quite a ways away.

[Spyd]

I would definitely lower the lights more. I would say a good 6" or so. It is amazing how much that will increase your par levels at the bottom of the tank.

You have very little rock in there, but, that should not be a problem because you have very little livestock in there. If you do decide to start stocking heavier, I would suggest running bio-pellets to help with the denitrifying process. Your perameters look good though. ALK is a little high but everything else is in a good range. I doubt from the pictures that you have any phosphate issues as you would see some nusience algae by now. I would suggest purchasing a Hanna checker though when you get the chance.

Definitely stop feeding the zooplankton. Your corals and clam will get enough food from the fish food. Excess zooplankton can decompose and cause all sorts of problems.

It looks as though everything is back on track for you.

[Shifty203]

Looks like you're off to a good start.

I'd agree with lowering the lights. They'll probably work at that height, but you're probably wasting some power lighting the floor.

I notice you have a glass thermometer in there. Personally I'd remove it, as they tend to break, and can cause lots of issues if it does.

[mandyplo]

Thanks for all the input - I'll lower the lights tomorrow morning. Any tips on how to lower my Alk??

[Aquattro]

Any tips on how to lower my Alk??

I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over it. It should naturally come down as organics build up, although if it stays that high and bothers you, switching to a lower alk salt might be your only easy option.
But 11dkh is fine for now, certainly not the cause of your concerns.

[gregzz4]

I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over it. It should naturally come down as organics build up, although if it stays that high and bothers you, switching to a lower alk salt might be your only easy option.
But 11dkh is fine for now, certainly not the cause of your concerns.
Agreed
Try performing 10 instead of 15% weekly changes, or do 15-20% every 2 weeks
This will let your Alk level drop some through usage as you are most likely adding more Alk to your tank with WCs than your tank is using right now
Of course, this is barring you needing to change water due to Nitrate or Phosphate issues

Your corals and skimmer will let you know when you need to change water, so don't fret so much about doing weekly changes to start with
I notice I need to do a WC when my skimmer starts to act up/create less foam/overflow, or my LPS corals start acting as yours have with lots of clamping/closing
I'm not saying this is when I change my water, just that this is what I've noticed as I've gotten used to my tank

I also know when I need to do a carbon change for the same reasons as, when the organics from corals fighting builds up in my mixed reef, I start seeing signs such as less skimmate and clamped/closing softies/LPS, and new algae growth