Hear my story.

CyanoMagnet · 06/14/2008, 03:15 PM

Ok. Let me catch you up to my story as quick as I can. Please stay with me.

About a year ago, I moved to a new apartement. In the move I lost many corals and a few fish thanks to the moving company trying to illegaly do another move while my stuff was still in the truck (they lied to me and told me they were stuck in traffic at first, but when confronted as to why the truck was half empty now as to previously looking in it, one of them fessed up).
I was furious, got a big discount but there was nothing I could do short of pursuing legal action.

So now, after a year I want to start putting things in my tank again.

I want to go with alot of SPS this time around (last time was primarily lps).

My lighting is a 4 bulb t5 (2x 10k, 1x blue act, 1x super act).

I have a calcium reactor(knopp I think) , a bullet 1 skimmer, a 15 gallon sump, a 10 gallon hangon refugiun. My tank is a 72 gallon allglass bowfront.

I incorporate a DSB both in my tank and in the refugium. The sand has been changed 2x in the last 4 years.

My livestock as of today. A old torch coral, with only 8 heads now.

A green wall hammer (not too big, alot of it died off during the move as well) a purple clam (about 2 years old) and 3 mushroom rocks that the mushrooms spread to. I have 3 types of mushrooms. Blue, purple and green. 6 small green toadstools.

My fish. A powder blue tang (abour a year and a half old).

A blue hippo tang (2 years old).

A coral beauty (3 years old).

A maroon clown (4 years old).

The live rock itself is about 4.2 years old and thats when the tank was originaly cycled.

My water parameters are as follows, using salifert sest kit.

PH 8 (mid day reading).
DKH 4.8 - 5.00
Calcium 430-440
Nitrates 25 ppm (Pretty high for a DSB tank, my skimmer was out for a couple of months, perhaps this is why?).

Nitrites less than .025 (salifert test kits always seem to show a slight tint of pink on the 10x magnifier..always has, I have had different tanks and waterflow).

Phospates less than .03.. Could be 0 could not tell. A slight hint of blue on the test.

Magnesium 900-930 ppm.

So, is my water ok for SPS? Are my nitrates too high? Dkh too low? Ph too low?

And what would be the easiest route to fix it so I can start putting sps in my tank?

CyanoMagnet · 06/14/2008, 05:15 PM

Is this site dying? I remember back in the day you would get 10 replies in a minute. No replies in 6 hours...

Well. Shameless bump time.

tkeracer619 · 06/14/2008, 05:23 PM

I think you should dose some magnesium but other than that are ok. You also should do more water changes to bring the nitrates down.

06/14/2008, 03:15 PM	#1
CyanoMagnet Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Brooklyn ,NY Posts: 1,272	Hear my story. Ok. Let me catch you up to my story as quick as I can. Please stay with me. About a year ago, I moved to a new apartement. In the move I lost many corals and a few fish thanks to the moving company trying to illegaly do another move while my stuff was still in the truck (they lied to me and told me they were stuck in traffic at first, but when confronted as to why the truck was half empty now as to previously looking in it, one of them fessed up). I was furious, got a big discount but there was nothing I could do short of pursuing legal action. So now, after a year I want to start putting things in my tank again. I want to go with alot of SPS this time around (last time was primarily lps). My lighting is a 4 bulb t5 (2x 10k, 1x blue act, 1x super act). I have a calcium reactor(knopp I think) , a bullet 1 skimmer, a 15 gallon sump, a 10 gallon hangon refugiun. My tank is a 72 gallon allglass bowfront. I incorporate a DSB both in my tank and in the refugium. The sand has been changed 2x in the last 4 years. My livestock as of today. A old torch coral, with only 8 heads now. A green wall hammer (not too big, alot of it died off during the move as well) a purple clam (about 2 years old) and 3 mushroom rocks that the mushrooms spread to. I have 3 types of mushrooms. Blue, purple and green. 6 small green toadstools. My fish. A powder blue tang (abour a year and a half old). A blue hippo tang (2 years old). A coral beauty (3 years old). A maroon clown (4 years old). The live rock itself is about 4.2 years old and thats when the tank was originaly cycled. My water parameters are as follows, using salifert sest kit. PH 8 (mid day reading). DKH 4.8 - 5.00 Calcium 430-440 Nitrates 25 ppm (Pretty high for a DSB tank, my skimmer was out for a couple of months, perhaps this is why?). Nitrites less than .025 (salifert test kits always seem to show a slight tint of pink on the 10x magnifier..always has, I have had different tanks and waterflow). Phospates less than .03.. Could be 0 could not tell. A slight hint of blue on the test. Magnesium 900-930 ppm. So, is my water ok for SPS? Are my nitrates too high? Dkh too low? Ph too low? And what would be the easiest route to fix it so I can start putting sps in my tank? __________________ Salifert - - - - - - Phosphates ud, ud Nitrates .0xxxppm, Alk 9dkh Calcium 445ppm mag 1380 PH 7.7-8.0 Salinity, 1.026 11/27/2008 Current Tank Info: 72 g bf,15g sump->16g qt,10g refugium w/ DSB and cheato (lots), T5 lighting 6x54watt (2x10k,2xab,blue act,super act),korallin 1501 ca reactor,sulfur denitrator(korallin),bullet 1 skimmer,phosban reactor(running carbon atm),2xtunze1500gph,3xkoralin

06/14/2008, 05:15 PM	#2
CyanoMagnet Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Brooklyn ,NY Posts: 1,272	Is this site dying? I remember back in the day you would get 10 replies in a minute. No replies in 6 hours... Well. Shameless bump time. __________________ Salifert - - - - - - Phosphates ud, ud Nitrates .0xxxppm, Alk 9dkh Calcium 445ppm mag 1380 PH 7.7-8.0 Salinity, 1.026 11/27/2008 Current Tank Info: 72 g bf,15g sump->16g qt,10g refugium w/ DSB and cheato (lots), T5 lighting 6x54watt (2x10k,2xab,blue act,super act),korallin 1501 ca reactor,sulfur denitrator(korallin),bullet 1 skimmer,phosban reactor(running carbon atm),2xtunze1500gph,3xkoralin

06/14/2008, 05:23 PM	#3
tkeracer619 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Westminster, CO Posts: 17,289	I think you should dose some magnesium but other than that are ok. You also should do more water changes to bring the nitrates down. __________________ Hobby Experience: 9200ish gallons, 26 skimmers, and a handful of Kent Scrapers. Current Tank: Vortech Powered 600G SPS Tank w/ 100gal frag tank & 100g Sump. RK2-RK10 Skimmer. ReefAngel. Radium 20k.