Kessil killing and to much flow?

santorkyle · 05/10/2013, 09:19 PM

Ok so I have a biocube 29 and I have a a150w kessil, added a hydor 425 to one side to help flow, i bought a torch coral and it died in a day, bought some feather dusters and they were great it seems like until I added the hydor yesterday, now both of them are gone, one dropped its crown, the other one bailed out his tube. My anenome and my devils hand coral like the like, but just curious what I can do if i need to do anything to make sure I don't have to much flow, and that my kessil is not to bright and giving me issues.

mikem101 · 05/10/2013, 09:50 PM

kessil for sure isnt to bright your fine there but, there are way to many unknowns here? what lighting were you using before? what are you water parameters? and where are the placments of the corals? tons of stuff could go wrong and, i have never seen torch die in a day thats crazy! thats a pretty hardy coral? any pics of the set up?

santorkyle · 05/12/2013, 06:11 AM

I bought the tank a months ago with the kessil already on the tank, it was a established tank for 2 years and I kept the live rock and live sand and the water, let it cycle a few days, tested the water at the LFS and they said everything is perfect and told me I could buy some coral, the torch was the first piece it didn't live, I started it at the sand bed away from the light. i'll post a picture in a few minutes after I wake up a bit lol, I will go out and buy a chemical test kit this week so I can know what all the parameters are rather then someone just telling me everything is good.

santorkyle · 05/12/2013, 06:37 AM

Here is the tank as it sits this morning with 3 new coral on the stands they came in on, a frogspawn, a purple death and a very small hammer

MondoBongo · 05/12/2013, 07:28 AM

How is your alkalinity and ph?

shifty51008 · 05/12/2013, 08:42 AM

what are your parameters numbers please?

ammonia
nitrate
cal.
alk.
mag.
phosphates

without those it is hard to know if any of them were the cause of death so fast.

jdezek · 05/12/2013, 10:43 AM

Don't forget possible copper and temp.

santorkyle · 05/12/2013, 07:00 PM

Ok so I went and bought a test kit,

Ph 8.0
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
ammonia 0

I don't know the rest because that is all my kit does, I need to buy the reef kit still I guess, don't know what to buy to test calcium, but my salinity is 1.026 if it helps.

santorkyle · 05/12/2013, 07:05 PM

And I keep my temp at 80-81

santorkyle · 05/12/2013, 07:09 PM

Just read the kessil a150w ocean blue should be hung 1-2 feet above the water, I have it attached to a flexible arm for it and it is only about 8-10 inches off the water

TimeConsumer · 05/12/2013, 07:19 PM

There isn't a problem with 8-10" height.

shifty51008 · 05/12/2013, 09:01 PM

if your gonna keep corals you will want to know your cal. alk. mag. and phosphate levels.

for alk, cal, and mag, I like either salifert of redsea pro. but for phosphates I would deff look into the hanna checker you will get a much better reading than trying to match up color charts

santorkyle · 05/12/2013, 09:09 PM

Ok, is their a kit I can buy or do I need to buy each chemical separate?

shifty51008 · 05/13/2013, 02:30 AM

for cal, alk, and mag
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/red-se...ca-alk-mg.html

for phosphate
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hanna-...lorimeter.html

santorkyle · 05/13/2013, 09:43 AM

Wow, chemicals are expensive lol, but if that is the exact kit I need then I will get them

shifty51008 · 05/13/2013, 10:18 AM

Yeah there not the cheapest but they work well and will last a few months.

On the bright side the refill kits are much cheaper

santorkyle · 05/14/2013, 08:55 PM

So I went ahead and got a calcium test, thank gosh, if I calculated it correctly it was at a 380, so I added a half a cap of purple up, and I bought some red slime to kill the cynobacteria that was growing, and got some buffer to help my ph get up above 8.0

shifty51008 · 05/15/2013, 06:46 AM

careful using buffers to chase pH. each time you use the buffer for pH it will raise your alk but will only buff the pH a short time.

here are some good articles on water parameters and also on your pH

Reef Aquarium Water Parameters
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

Low pH: Causes and Cures
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm

High pH: Causes and Cures
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/rhf/index.htm

Solving Calcium and Alkalinity Problems
http://web.archive.org/web/200211270...v2002/chem.htm

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 1: The Salt Water Itself
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

The "How To" Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 3: pH
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/index.php

A Simplified Guide to the Relationship Between Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium and pH
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php

that should keep you busy for a while lol

santorkyle · 05/15/2013, 08:18 AM

lol ok will do, give me something to read while I'm at work.

05/10/2013, 09:19 PM	#1
santorkyle Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Pensacola Florida Posts: 25	Kessil killing and to much flow? Ok so I have a biocube 29 and I have a a150w kessil, added a hydor 425 to one side to help flow, i bought a torch coral and it died in a day, bought some feather dusters and they were great it seems like until I added the hydor yesterday, now both of them are gone, one dropped its crown, the other one bailed out his tube. My anenome and my devils hand coral like the like, but just curious what I can do if i need to do anything to make sure I don't have to much flow, and that my kessil is not to bright and giving me issues.

05/12/2013, 08:42 AM	#6
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	what are your parameters numbers please? ammonia nitrate cal. alk. mag. phosphates without those it is hard to know if any of them were the cause of death so fast. __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

05/12/2013, 07:19 PM	#11
TimeConsumer Registered Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: New Orleans, La Posts: 1,919	There isn't a problem with 8-10" height. __________________ Steve - Retired from reefing, for now.

05/12/2013, 09:01 PM	#12
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	if your gonna keep corals you will want to know your cal. alk. mag. and phosphate levels. for alk, cal, and mag, I like either salifert of redsea pro. but for phosphates I would deff look into the hanna checker you will get a much better reading than trying to match up color charts __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

05/13/2013, 02:30 AM	#14
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	for cal, alk, and mag http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/red-se...ca-alk-mg.html for phosphate http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hanna-...lorimeter.html __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

05/10/2013, 09:50 PM	#2
mikem101 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 819	kessil for sure isnt to bright your fine there but, there are way to many unknowns here? what lighting were you using before? what are you water parameters? and where are the placments of the corals? tons of stuff could go wrong and, i have never seen torch die in a day thats crazy! thats a pretty hardy coral? any pics of the set up?

05/12/2013, 06:11 AM	#3
santorkyle Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Pensacola Florida Posts: 25	I bought the tank a months ago with the kessil already on the tank, it was a established tank for 2 years and I kept the live rock and live sand and the water, let it cycle a few days, tested the water at the LFS and they said everything is perfect and told me I could buy some coral, the torch was the first piece it didn't live, I started it at the sand bed away from the light. i'll post a picture in a few minutes after I wake up a bit lol, I will go out and buy a chemical test kit this week so I can know what all the parameters are rather then someone just telling me everything is good.

05/12/2013, 07:28 AM	#5
MondoBongo Obligate Feeder Obsessed Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 4,061	How is your alkalinity and ph?

05/12/2013, 10:43 AM	#7
jdezek Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Savannah, GA Posts: 386	Don't forget possible copper and temp.

05/12/2013, 07:00 PM	#8
santorkyle Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Pensacola Florida Posts: 25	Ok so I went and bought a test kit, Ph 8.0 nitrate 0 nitrite 0 ammonia 0 I don't know the rest because that is all my kit does, I need to buy the reef kit still I guess, don't know what to buy to test calcium, but my salinity is 1.026 if it helps.

05/12/2013, 07:05 PM	#9
santorkyle Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Pensacola Florida Posts: 25	And I keep my temp at 80-81

05/12/2013, 07:09 PM	#10
santorkyle Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Pensacola Florida Posts: 25	Just read the kessil a150w ocean blue should be hung 1-2 feet above the water, I have it attached to a flexible arm for it and it is only about 8-10 inches off the water

05/12/2013, 09:09 PM	#13
santorkyle Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Pensacola Florida Posts: 25	Ok, is their a kit I can buy or do I need to buy each chemical separate?

05/13/2013, 09:43 AM	#15
santorkyle Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Pensacola Florida Posts: 25	Wow, chemicals are expensive lol, but if that is the exact kit I need then I will get them

05/13/2013, 10:18 AM	#16
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	Yeah there not the cheapest but they work well and will last a few months. On the bright side the refill kits are much cheaper __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

05/14/2013, 08:55 PM	#17
santorkyle Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Pensacola Florida Posts: 25	So I went ahead and got a calcium test, thank gosh, if I calculated it correctly it was at a 380, so I added a half a cap of purple up, and I bought some red slime to kill the cynobacteria that was growing, and got some buffer to help my ph get up above 8.0

05/15/2013, 06:46 AM	#18
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	careful using buffers to chase pH. each time you use the buffer for pH it will raise your alk but will only buff the pH a short time. here are some good articles on water parameters and also on your pH Reef Aquarium Water Parameters http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm Low pH: Causes and Cures http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm High pH: Causes and Cures http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/rhf/index.htm Solving Calcium and Alkalinity Problems http://web.archive.org/web/200211270...v2002/chem.htm The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 1: The Salt Water Itself http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php The "How To" Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 3: pH http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/index.php A Simplified Guide to the Relationship Between Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium and pH http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php that should keep you busy for a while lol __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

05/15/2013, 08:18 AM	#19
santorkyle Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Pensacola Florida Posts: 25	lol ok will do, give me something to read while I'm at work.