something wrong please help

[rarecoral21]

what wrong with my reef some of my more rare coral like my fluoresce green toadstool has not opened for months whats wrong it seems to me nobody really knows i was kepping my kh at 12-14 i was told to bring it down so thats what i did to kh 10 and call 420-450 sag1.24 nitrate is always 0 phos is 0 also the only other change was 250 power compact to a 400watt metal hallide about the same time that the toadstool close i already tried to move all around the take it does nothing for the coral please help me oh my temp in the tank is always 76-78

 

[minireefer]

I would say it has to do with light shock of some kind.Normally when switching to halides you want to run the lighting for less hours to help with this.Maybe try to find a shaddy spot under some rock to and let it open and stretch itself to the light

 

[jhnrb]

buy some plastic light diffuser (egg crate) found in flourescent lite fixtures. put about 3 layers on top of the tank and off set abit on each one until you diffuse the light back to where you were and the corals open. once you have gotten back to where you were, remove one layer each month to reacclimate the corals and watch for the corals reaction. also you might consider a uv filter for the hallide if it dosnt have one or raise the halide futher up. hope something here helps. also read the helpful articles on lighting and coral acclimation. you will find this subject also addressed there. If the mh does have a bulb protector it is probably uv resistant, other wise you can purchase uv resistant aqrylic from a plastic wholeseller and make your own filter/bulb protector. also the egg crate will intensify light one direction and diffuse light the other, so make sure you put the narrow squares up. its slight but if you look closely you will see the slope on the side walls. good luck keep us posted.

 

[rarecoral21]

maybe i should use 250w metal hallide not 400w its been over 6 months since i put 400w metal hallide its about 9inchs of the water thats as high as i can put it i keep on for 6 hours

 

[jhnrb]

Yea seems to me a bit much on the light for a toad stool. do you have a sps corals loving the light. if you have corals that love the light then you will need to provide some shade for the toad stool. the toad stool should be at the bottom of the tank, and possibly partial shade. as far away from the 400 as possible. it will take the toad stool a bit of time to readjust. if the 400 is not needed for sps corals then you might go back to 250 w halides. unless the water collum is more than 29 inches deep. then the 400 might be a good idea. Also check out the lighting articles in the helpful article forum. good luck keep us posted.

 

[rarecoral21]

jhnrb thank u

i going to buy two 250 metal halide my next ? is i really like the blue in 20k bulbs and 14k bulbs does it make any difference and also how will this effect my hard coral like all my acropora is 250w enough thank for all the info jhnrb

 

[jhnrb]

If you have sps and they are doing good under the 400 watt, you will run the risk of the sps corals not liking the reduction is light. also you will want to keep the specturm close to what your corals have adapted to. 14000k is good supplemented with 6500k and atinic o3. you have corals that have very different needs for light, intensity, and spectrum, so, I really do not have a good solution for your particular situation. The 250 will definitely help the toad stool but the sps corals may have difficultly with the lower intensity. what ever you do you should do it slowly, the 250w need to run longer to start and then slowly cut back on the photoperiod watching your corals reaction (sps). or closer to water and raise slowly to acclimate coral to new light. good luck read the lighting articals and the acclimation articles in the helpful article forum. may just give you some insite on your project.

 

[minireefer]

try to find the shady spot tward the bottom that was suggested and let the toad stool adapt as needed

 

[rarecoral21]

i fond whats wrong its the ph i cant seem to bring it up no matter what i do i've tryed everything my ph always goes back down to 7.8 i've been to every fish store in california nobody has the answer because all my test all good

 

[jhnrb]

The answer to your question is in the helpful articles. there are several articles that address the low ph problem. see Raising pH in helpful articles on page 1. long article that should help you. I would immediately check the oxygen level of the system and if low correct that right away.

After thought:Lack of ventilation can also contribute to low pH levels. Surface biofilms, or cover glasses that fit too tightly without allowing for ventilation, can be the cause of low pH readings, because the CO2 present in the water (as a result of biological processes) is not allowed to escape. Be aware that a large gathering of people in a poorly ventilated room can contribute to decreased pH in your aquarium by putting unusually high levels of CO2 into the room's atmosphere.

 

[rarecoral21]

thank you now my ? is what is sodium carbonate and where do they sell it also i just got a calcium :frustrat: reactor for my tank will this help the ph balance out

 

[amonyia]

You can find at any saltwater fish store ,it will raise ph if not used correctly you should check out the helpful articals on page 2 and page 4 and if you are having problems with ph i would buy some ph buffer along with the sc.hope this helps

 

[jhnrb]

The 1st thing you need to do is determine why your pH is low. once that is determined, and only then, can you effect a long term solution. buffers are for short term adjustments but long term use can eventually throw your water parameters out of whack. just my thoughts. so let us know what your pH is 1st thing in morning, and at night just before lights out, test and post results for: oxygen, dkh/hardness, salinity, calcium. will try and help when you post more information. You need to be carful with the calcium reactor as you will be injecting co2 and co2 tends to lower pH, so you will need to set your flow rates correctly through the reactor. The calcium reactor will help with depleted calcium, minerals, hardness. good luck with your system. I watch for your future posts.

 

[rarecoral21]

my ph in morning is 7.8 and at night it is 8.0 my kh is 11 and by the way ph buffer will not work in my tank i can put the hole jar of it and it will always go back down the next day oh and salinity is 1.24

 

[jhnrb]

Your problem could be lack of circulation and surface water agitation, excess co2, if you do not have an oxygen test kit, take a sample to the lfs and have them test for oxygen. need to know.

 

[rarecoral21]

i will get my test kit today will let you know the results

 

[rarecoral21]

i went to fish store today they test my oxygen they said it was really good

 

[jhnrb]

So oxygen is really good. what was the reading?. just a thought look at your test kits you do have and check the expiration dates on the test kit. and if expired do not trust the test results. also if the cards have faded do not truss the results. Something is either wrong with the test kits and equipment or your chemistry is out of balance in your system keeping the ph low. 1st of all your Ph is low to start with. should be 8.2 at 75 degrees. also you can verify salinity by testing salt content and it should be 35%. The true specific gravity of seawater at 35% is 1.026. Note that the specific gravity of seawater decreases as water temperature increases so the 35% would be a constant but the specific gravity units 1.020 etc will not stay constant with temperature fluctuations. so by the gravity units it is possible to get the salinity to high or too low. I see if i can locate the conversion chart and post it in the helpful articles. watch for it there.

 

[rarecoral21]

i had the fish store test my water they said it about 400 they also said with all my equitment that i have on my tank theres no way its low or bad i have a g-2 skimmer 800gallon a hr overflow and a mag drive 700gallon return the only thing it mite be now is maybe my test kit is old its about 1 6month old could that be it i also have ph probe it says 8.0 it went up after i turned my fan on in my canopy i never turn on because its loud my tank is in my bed room i also notice that my temp was going from 76 in morning and almost 80 midday i know the problem is my lighting so i will tried to keep my fan on now thank you for all the help

 

[jhnrb]

on the oxygen I do not relate to the 400. sounds more like an orp reading. oxygen should be around 7 unless there is a different medium being used by the lfs. hmmmmmmmmm. well its fine for the lfs to tell you it should be fine and its another matter if it is fine or not. you have low pH due to your salt mix, infrequent water changes, inbalance due to additons you are adding, improper salinity, too much co2, etc. hard to say. so at this point go to the helpful articles and read the articles for beginner system, ph, other articles related to water parameters. as you read take notes of items that appear to addres your situation and when done review you notes and ill bet you will be able to establish a game plan. recommendations for you now is to make sure your fresh salt mix is at least 8.2 and has the proper salinity at 35%, and a hardness of 9+. good luck and keep us posted.