HELP! NastayNatron's tank

[lo_yyc]

OK, first - thank you SOOOOO much!

I found activated carbon and a filter sock - will that work if I just fill up the filter sock and place that in the sump?

For dosing, there's calcium and alkalinity that both work on a dosing pump, but I'm not totally sure how that's set up. The display thing says that the pH is 8.6, but I don't know what it's supposed to be.

I think he has some salt water mixed, but I'm not 100% sure. I didn't know how else to test it so I tasted it and it tasted different than the RO water (I think, anyways) - but I'm not sure how salty it should be.

I think it's 125 gallons, but it's about 6 ft by 3 ft by 2 ft or so.

It was definitely cloudy like a bathroom mirror after a hot shower when I got home (before I took out the fish). I'm not adding anything to it except food.

Yesterday when I emptied the skimmer cup, the rest of the water in the sump was clean - I was just emptying it to be safe, so it shouldn't have overflowed into the tank. I just re-emptied it now to make sure as well.

So far I haven't seen the missing fish, but there's no way to see if they're behind the rocks.

As far as the fish I can name, the ones I can still see are:

-female square-spotted anthia
-copper banded butterfly
-tang - like Dory on Finding Nemo
-orange clownfish
-3 cardinals
-leopard wrasse (still alive)
-another tang, I don't know what kind, but it's black and yellow/white striped and has like flowy fins (sorry for the poor description)
-a third tang, it's the kind that either comes in blond or dark or whatever and has lipsticky looking lips
-flame angel fish
-coral beauty
-diamond goby
-black clown fish (can't find)
-male square spotted anthia (can't find)
-2 other, smaller anthias (can't find)

Hope that helps a little, I'm sorry I'm so clueless.

Thanks again

[Cal_stir]

ph 8.6 is high, sounds like too much alk, does he have a alk test kit?

[lo_yyc]

He does have an alk test kit - I just did it and it says the pH is 8.3, but I've never done the test before so I'm not 100% confident that I know how to do it.

[Cal_stir]

you mean 8.3 dkh? what kind of test kit is it, just follow the instructions, 8.3 dkh is not bad, maybe try the test again

[lo_yyc]

No, that's right - it's 8.3 dkH.

But..... now that I took out the dead fish it's actually looking like it's started to clear up a bit, I'm not sure if that's possible, but it sure is what it looks like.

And the fish are looking a little more active than when I first came home, so that's probably a good sign, right?

[Cal_stir]

yes, good sign.
make sure the return pump is running and all powerheads are on, do a water change if you can.
the high ph is a worry, what is it now?

[Cal_stir]

How is it going? is it clearing up?

[lo_yyc]

OK, so I tried some vinegar and so far nothing has happened, so I think I might just need to do a water change. the only problem there is that I don't really know how. I've seen Nathan do it a million times, but I don't know what I need to turn off and stuff before I do it. I'm also not sure if there's salt in the water downstairs, so I guess I might just need to mix it.

Would powerheads need to be turned off in order to do a water change?

[marie]

If you are unsure of how to do a water change then it is probably best to leave everything alone