Help. Can someone skilled in chemistry come help me?
- Thread starter JeremyAN7
- Start date
Greg Hiller
BRS Moderator
Generally the answer is simply to buy a LOT of snails.
what do you use for your water? (both, salt as well as top off). also you mentioned losing fish -- have you been losing fish the whole time or did that start recently? basically trying to figure out if there's something in your water that might be killing the fish and inverts, which would cause ammonia spike, which would kill more fish and inverts, and as ammonia turns to nitrates you'll have algae issues ...
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I think the problem is that we know two things without touching a test kit;
1- you have excessive nutrients. We could run a hundred nitrate and phosphate tests, but if the algae is growing the nutrients are available. Moreover, sometimes the algae is consuming the nutrients as quickly as they are produced so your levels may test zero or near zero, yet you still have the problem. Ie, a seasoned hobbiest with a suitcase full of test kits wont' be able to tell you anything more than that algae is already telling you.
2- You are losing fish. No test kit for that either. Disease, predator, toxin, or fish that are on the way out before you ever get them. No test kit for disease, no test kit for predators, and no test kit for fish that are already sick. You can test for some toxins, but if you don't know what you're looking for there is a pretty good chance you won't find it. *but running a poly filter will identify some toxins. I'd try that.*
Could you post a couple pics of your tank? I've done plenty of "visit my tank and help figure out what's wrong's", but none have yielded a single issue or answer. We may be able to help you here if you give it a try and work with us
1- you have excessive nutrients. We could run a hundred nitrate and phosphate tests, but if the algae is growing the nutrients are available. Moreover, sometimes the algae is consuming the nutrients as quickly as they are produced so your levels may test zero or near zero, yet you still have the problem. Ie, a seasoned hobbiest with a suitcase full of test kits wont' be able to tell you anything more than that algae is already telling you.
2- You are losing fish. No test kit for that either. Disease, predator, toxin, or fish that are on the way out before you ever get them. No test kit for disease, no test kit for predators, and no test kit for fish that are already sick. You can test for some toxins, but if you don't know what you're looking for there is a pretty good chance you won't find it. *but running a poly filter will identify some toxins. I'd try that.*
Could you post a couple pics of your tank? I've done plenty of "visit my tank and help figure out what's wrong's", but none have yielded a single issue or answer. We may be able to help you here if you give it a try and work with us
reefstarter
Non-member
Plus one to the poly filter
reefstarter
Non-member
it changes color depending on what is in the water I use one once in a while just as a " test" to make sure there is no Bad stuff in there
reefstarter
Non-member
change them a lot more than that . nitrate pads have a sort of resin that may or may not affect the fish . Poly filters are not your regular filter pad . They do remove nitrates as well . as for any type of "pad" filter . change them out no more than say 10 days . more often if you are having issues . any longer and instead of helping they will add nitrates to the water
Yup, they look like regular filter pads but are more expensive. The difference is the they turn various colors depending on what particular contaminants they are absorbing, and they come with a color table that tells you what color means what contaminant. They are by no means all inclusive, but they will tell you if you have levels of a number of things that are likely to be problematic in your tank. Kind of a filter and several test kits all in one.
So to try to help -
For the algae,
-what do you have for nutrient export?
-Do you run any mechanical filtration? If yes, how often does it get cleaned/changed out?
-Do you have sand, crushed coral or gravel of any sort? If yes, then how is it or is it not maintained?
-What do you use for make up water?
-did the problem develop gradually over time, or just kind of pop up and then not go away?
For the fish;
-How long have you had the fish you have lost?
-Do some fish seem vulnerable and others are fine?
-Do you see any symptoms before losing the fish?
-Have you had any power outages?
For the algae,
-what do you have for nutrient export?
-Do you run any mechanical filtration? If yes, how often does it get cleaned/changed out?
-Do you have sand, crushed coral or gravel of any sort? If yes, then how is it or is it not maintained?
-What do you use for make up water?
-did the problem develop gradually over time, or just kind of pop up and then not go away?
For the fish;
-How long have you had the fish you have lost?
-Do some fish seem vulnerable and others are fine?
-Do you see any symptoms before losing the fish?
-Have you had any power outages?
Ok. So everyone wants details. I'm going to try my best here... and thank you all for the help.. First of all, I just ordered the poly pad
I've attached some pictures of my filters, RO/Di systems, sand, GHA growing everywhere..
So a bit of background. I've had this 72g bow since 2001. It's had a couple major failures, including one recently in October while I was away on vacation, the primary heater failed, and took the heat controller with it. leaving the water temp to fall into the high sixties for 2 weeks. There was also a high electrical potential in the water, as the mode of failure for the heater (titanium) was simply to fall off the wire, leaving wires in the water. All the fish survived that.. but all the plate and other hard corals perished. Most of the soft / polyps lived. I spent a lot of time working on it. That was not when the GHA started but was certainly a new high for it. (it started about a year earlier). I took most of the rocks out and scrubbed with a toothbrush and removed most of the GHA at that time. I dose my tank (and have for years) with 2 part liquid which I mix from BRS basic kit. I would say I dose 1 "pump" of A+B per day into the 70 gallons.
My RODI is up to date with replaced cartridges, and indicates 0ppm on the TDI meter.
I use that for makeup and for making saltwater. I do about 15g change monthly. (sometimes longer)
the skimmer as shown is working, but sometimes the tiny hole near the needle wheel clogs with c
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I've attached some pictures of my filters, RO/Di systems, sand, GHA growing everywhere..
So a bit of background. I've had this 72g bow since 2001. It's had a couple major failures, including one recently in October while I was away on vacation, the primary heater failed, and took the heat controller with it. leaving the water temp to fall into the high sixties for 2 weeks. There was also a high electrical potential in the water, as the mode of failure for the heater (titanium) was simply to fall off the wire, leaving wires in the water. All the fish survived that.. but all the plate and other hard corals perished. Most of the soft / polyps lived. I spent a lot of time working on it. That was not when the GHA started but was certainly a new high for it. (it started about a year earlier). I took most of the rocks out and scrubbed with a toothbrush and removed most of the GHA at that time. I dose my tank (and have for years) with 2 part liquid which I mix from BRS basic kit. I would say I dose 1 "pump" of A+B per day into the 70 gallons.
My RODI is up to date with replaced cartridges, and indicates 0ppm on the TDI meter.
I use that for makeup and for making saltwater. I do about 15g change monthly. (sometimes longer)
the skimmer as shown is working, but sometimes the tiny hole near the needle wheel clogs with c
View attachment 111228
View attachment 111229
View attachment 111230
View attachment 111231
View attachment 111232
View attachment 111227
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