Water holding tank and high tds

[cilyjr]

Hi all
Since my crash a little under a year ago things haven't been going spectacularly. I have been having my share of STN issues. I switched salt to a brand with more "stuff" in it and I did not reduce my supplemental dosing enough so I got a ca and alk spike. So I was thinking that was it well still having some issues as I am still seeing some STN. I decided to test my 2 reservoirs 1 holds water for changes the other is top off. The top off tank tested at 0 as expected but the water Change tank tested at 127. So the crap in this tank is likely residue from salt mix but I am wondering if this is part of my troubles?

Also has anyone tested t he tds of their tanks? I did and got 52. I was wondering what others get from their displays......

 

[Marshall O]

That doesn't surprise me that your water change tank tested that high. There are a lot of dissolved solids in salt water, so I would have expected a relatively high number. I highly doubt that is your issue though. I would definitely lean more towards parameters being off (you mentioned calc/alk spikes).

Now testing your tank for TDS is pointless IMO. 52 PPM is not even close to the right number though, so something is wrong there. Mixed saltwater has a very high TDS since it is just that, dissolved solids. 1.026 salinity = 35ppt = 35,000 PPM

 

[cilyjr]

I've had no issues with calcium and alk for a while now which is why I am investigating further.

 

[cilyjr]

As far as the tank tds maybe the meter just can't read that high so it got confused.

 

[Marshall O]

As far as the tank tds maybe the meter just can't read that high so it got confused.

Correct. If it can read down to single digits, then no way it can read 35,000

So I guess you will need to continue searching for the answer unfortunately. Is it one type of coral being affected (i.e. just Acros), or all? If just one, I would lean towards a pest. If all, then water quality.

 

[cilyjr]

It is only acropora. Birdsnest and Millpora all seem fine. I have looked pretty closely at them and have not seen any pests. I'm not ruling them out though.

 

[Marshall O]

I would suggest dipping then (who knows, you may have AEFW). Bayer Advanced Insect Killer is recommended a lot and may be worth a shot. I can't see any other reason why only Acro's would be affected.

 

[cilyjr]

well i have dipped everything as it came in. but it is worth the effort. if they are in the tank wont it need to be acro free for some time before i can be assured they are gone?

 

[Marshall O]

I have never dealt with such pests, so I can't say for sure how long you would be looking at. I would still recommend dipping all Acros at the very least and monitoring. You many need to be on a dipping schedule (once per week, etc).

 

[cilyjr]

I have found red bugs. Not a lot but they are there. So I started the treatment with the tank with the last of my interceptor. I always dipped new corals with it but from I am reading people are doing 6 hrs min with it and I was doing 1/2 hour.
Still I don't think that is why I have been seeing the STN.

 

[dannyp02908]

I would lean to pests too. As for your water change bucket, anything you add to fresh water will read as TDS.

 

[cilyjr]

It's been almost a month since doing the interceptor treatment and things seem to be back on track. I don't know if red bugs were the cause but they were not helping for sure. I also cleaned the water change tank well and read that Red Sea coral pro salt recommends only letting the salt for 2 hours or so before a water change. I was letting sit for a day or more.
Things are growing again and I see no signs of STN. Thanks all who replied and Marshall and Jason401who replied in texts