Think I found my problem....

[Melonbob]

I have been having intermittant deaths for a little while now. First a clown, then a shrimp, the odd coral here and there. I kept testing and everything was fine. They weren't all at once, so I was a little baffled. Last week I took a sample to LFS and they said my alk was critically low. They told me pretty much anything that molts right now will probably die. I've been dosing with Reef Carbonate 2X a day since saturday, so I'm going to do a test tonight. Question though, will this also raise my ph? I was told my ph was low too, I don't know why this didn't show on my tests, although I'll be honest and tell you I haven't been testing as often as I should....

 

[Rcpilot]

First of all, welcome to reefing. You ain't the first person to struggle with pH, alk or calcium and a few others. I went bonkers trying to figure out why my pH and alk were low. Then bonkers AGAIN trying to establish a maintenance dosing program that would keep the tank balanced without overdosing my alk and killing everything.

Start testing daily. Dose every day until the alk and pH are both where you want them to be. Test every day BEFORE you dose it. Testing 15 minutes AFTER a dose is guaranteed to give you a false reading. Dose the maximum daily amount every day until it gets as high as you want it. Then try dosing every third day or every other day. Test DAILY. Find oput where your levels are at when the tank has gone 48hrs or 72hrs after a dose. Then figure out how much you need to dose it and how often.

I dose on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I change water on Sunday. The tank never goes more than 48hrs between doses. It's more work, but my levels are more stable. I could just dose once a week, on Wednesday. My pH and alk would have to go sky high in order to last until Sunday for the next water change. Dosing smaller amounts less frequently will keep the tank more stable.

I've recently started dosing my pre-made water to get the alk up before I do the water change. I am using Oceanic salt and it's very low on alk and pH. I dose it with SeaChem Reef Buffer to bring my pH up to 8.5 and alk up to at least 4.00

 

[HAWKS12thMAN]

To be honest with everyone I havent tested or changed my water in 4 months. I run carbon all the time (I change it every 2-3 weeks) I clean my filter sock when it gets clogged, thats about the same time i empty my collection cup for the skimmer. I dose my tank with red sea calcium +3 once every 2 weeks. I feed 2 cube mysis every day and cyclopese(sp?) twice a week.










Guess what! My tank is in the best condition every. The more I used to mess with my tank the worst it became. My corals are out of controll.... coraline up the @$$! My fishare prettier tha ever!




Im sure i cursed myself for posting this!