is my tank gonna crash?

Cheeser

Cheeser

I Love Reefer
ok so...i recently tore down my 55 and upgraded to a 65. i started by getting new live sand for the 65 and i moved all my rocks and coral and fish. i used most of the water from the 55, and i mixed up the rest using ro di water.
i even used the same sump from my 55 in my 65 for about a week just so it wouldnt be too drastic of a change...
the sump is a 10 gallon and one of the reasons i upgraded was so i can have a bigger sump.
so i got a 20tall and built my sump. i let the silicone cure for a couple of days even though on the tube it says it cures completely in 24 hrs...
everything looked fine for the first week and when i added my new sump everything started to kinda take a turn for the worst...
i used all the live rock in my old sump for my new sump.
and i have fuge style sump and i used some sand from my 55 display tank for my new fuge/sump... i also added alot of dry rock in my fuge along with the live rock since i have more space for rock.
but after i got the new sump installed alot of my corals look like there dying...
i have 3 fish... a percula. a purple firefish and another gobie. there doing fine...eating good...
my clam looks good. my anemone looks good. but my shrooms are all shriveld and polyps are closed...
im pretty sure my xenias are dead, and my colt too.
my flowerpot looks like it has brown jelly...
i dont know what to do.
my water tests at
ammonia-0-5
nitrates-5-10
ph is a little low at 7.4 although its usually consistent between 7.8 and 8.0
ive been using ph buffer to help but i dont think its really made a difference...its only beeen a few days...
sanlinity is at like .025

also i had like a handful of turbo snails die, but i think its cuz theres not enough algae in the tank for as many snails as i had...and all my other snails seem fine .
i dont know what to do???
please help me!
 

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It sounds like your tank is going through a mini cycle & I bet the cause is the use of that old sand. If you didn't soak & rinse the hell out that old sand atleast 3 times for about an hour, you prolly stirred up then transported all the nasty stuff that builds up in your sand to the new tank. Test for phospates when you get a chance. You also need to get that ph in check, anything less than 8.0 is unacceptable in any reef tank...& then 8.0 is pushing it IME!!! One other thing...did you make sure that you used "pure" silicone?.. b/c an added chemical in the silicone could pose a problem as well!! It really worries me that your shrooms & xenia are on the fritz b/c those guys are tough as nails.I would stay checking that ph every other day, til you can establish a "dosing balance". I would also buy a bottle or two of "Bio-Spira" to speed that cycle along ! I really wish you luck.
 
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ok so i should probably start doing water changes weekly or biweekly?
and also should i take out the dying corals? and should i take my brain out? its been spitting up this white-ish mucus stuff.
and also would adding more live rock help my issues?
im gonna buy a phosphate test asap.
when i got home i had a light brown algae bloom all over the glass and sand.
my clam still looks good but the colors arent as intense. my nem is still alive but look a little pissed. my fish are still eating.
 
Well the brown stuff is probly diatom algae which is common in new started tanks, it will go away on its own. Your water change consistency depends on if that's pure silicone or not,but for now I would a void water changes as this may prolong your cycle. If it were me I would also toss the dying corals because they may contribute to poor water quality, but I would leave the brain coral for now.
 
If you have anyone in your area with an established tank, maybe see if you can get 10 gallons of water from them and set up a small temp coral tank with a power head, light, and a little rock while the big one does it's thing. A buddy of mine moved and had a small coral tank in my basement for a week while he got everything ready.
 
I agree. See is you can quarantine your corals until the cycling stops. I disagree with not doing any water changes since you do have life in the tank. Go ahead and start doing water changes to reduce the toxic ammonia and nitrite spikes. A little Prime would help to detoxify some of the ammonia as well. It could prolong the cycle a bit but IMO you should be more worried about the health of your critters.
If you know anyone with an established system, let them temp home as many of your fish and coral as possible.
Good luck, and sorry about your troubles :(
 
I only mentioned not to do water changes because I've already suggested to use the Bio-Spira which is live bacteria that will consume both ammonia & nitrite in less than 28 hrs. I've used it on a 29, 55, 150 & on my latest 220 gallon aquarium with ammonia levels dropping to 0 in 28 hours or less. I would NEVER suggest letting animals suffer for the sake of water parameters!!!
 
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Yea I got the big bottle for a 75. So far everything kinda looks the same. Ill probly wait a couple days and do another water change.
 
Yeah, each tank is different. I'd sit tight because that stuff doesn't take long to kick in. The very first time I used it, I dosed some ammonia in the tank 2 days after adding it because I didn't trust the product & it worked. So I used it on my next 3 tanks with impressive results. Did you stabilize your ph?
 
I think Chuck has got you covered... I bet it was re-using the old sand that did it. I would always recommend starting with new, clean sand if you move or change tanks. But I also think you should be doing daily water changes to keep those levels down.
 
ok so my nitrates read at about 20 a couple days ago. so i did a 5 gallon water change yesterday and this morning i added about 7ml of prime in my sump. im gonna test my levels again tonite. other wise my ph seems to be becoming stable...
all my dead corals are outa the tank and have since died.
my shrooms are looking better and my polyps are opening a bit more but its still not the same. ill see what my levels tell me tonite....
 
ok so this is where im at...
my ph is finally stable between 8 and 8.3 as long as i dose buffer about every 2-3 days.
ammonias at 0
nitrates were at 10 last nite


my shrooms are looking good finally...
my ricordeas died... i took em out the tank...:(
clams still good...
acans still good.
flame scallop is still good.
only some of the zoo polyps have opened up all the way but a little more do each day...
i bought some palys to see if any new corals would survive and i acclimated them slow and theyve been in the tank all day and now they look better than they did at the store.
so does this mean that my tank is gonna be ok? bad times are over? will the rest of my zoa polyps open?
should i start restocking?
 

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