Resolved i need major help( see last page!) solved it!!!

sorry for the late post. but everyone is right! i will try out the cup of water etc. i just tested my water. its mag is at 1470 and alk is at 9.6. ca is at 430. this is a old home. no AC i just added the wall mount ac. i just removed it and opened up the window. we will see if it helps. does anyone know how to post up my graph for the apex jr?

heres the graph..

 

Yeah thats a pretty large swing.You may want to bump up the calcium a little as well.Please let us know how the test goes this is interesting stuff and will definitely help others.

 

Can someone with better eyes than me, read the figures on the graph?

Questions for you Bob

how long have you been at the new place?
have the corals been a bit off, since the move, or did they start out OK (after adjustent, recovery period) and have started to look worse since?
How long do you run your lights ? and what type of lighting is it ?

7.8 - 8.5 is not a major issues IMO - typical reefs during high summer can get as high as 8.6 so my research has indicated
7.8 is very typical as level at night when lights are off, and any photosynthetic species are breathing and releasing Carbon dioxide rather than Oxygen, which they would produce during the day as a by product of photosynthesis

your corals may be experiencing issues related to other factors, possibly related to the move ?

Steve

 

i been at my new place for about a month now.

they started out really good. great p.e and everything.

i run my lights 10 hrs total. 10hrs actinic and 8 hrs of coral plus. this is a 6bulb t5 with ATI

 

Looks to me like it dips down to 7.6 Steve and peaks at 8.5.

 

Thanks Bob

I assume you have run Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and PO4 tests?
(these are tests many of us who have had tanks for a while no longer bother testing regularly, I have these test kits, but without looking, I am pretty confident mine have expired by now, it has been so long since I felt a need to test these parameters)

is the water source same? I assume you use RODI and that the RODI made the journey with you on the move?

sand bed ? did you discard the old and replace? or did you rinse and replace existing sand bed?

salt mix - has that remained consistent, or have you recently changed brands or started a new batch of same brand?

sorry if these questions are frustrating if you did cover these aspects

Im just trying to remove possibilities from the equation and try and find source of the coral issues

Steve

Thanks Vinny - 7.6 does seem incredibly low - I have experience 7.75 in my reef , during the couple of weeks of winter we get, when everything is closed, 5 people in the home and the AC on warm

 

additional question

when you change the probe, did you get new calibration solutions?
because often in cases like this the problem is the calibration fluids have been contaminated and are not truly representative of the PH they indicate anymore

if you have a new probe but are still calibrating using incorrect fluids, you will still get incorrect results

Steve

 

Yeah thats what I thought too. I had this problem when I moved my tank into the new fish room.It had brand new doors and no windows (except sealed glass on the doors.)Mine would dip this low at night and it kinda worried me.I since installed a new wall unit A.C. with a fresh air vent and now it doesn't go any lower then 7.9.

 

I think the swing is pretty big as well; the other chemist I spoke to said it is but he wasn't really surprised and didn't find it highly unusual. However, he also qualified it by saying that this is assuming all other parameters are in a healthy range.

My biggest concern is how the animals are faring. Obviously something is bothering them. IMHO it's probably a combination of factors: being moved, changes in pH etc.

Steve, got any ideas? What else could it be that we haven't discussed?

 

My instincts are screaming mini cycle issue at me

my reasoning being

we have corals fading and less PE - which to me indicates Zooxanthellia increasing (color fade) thus more of the corals needs supplied by symbiotic algae and thus less need for polyps to capture food


Its is one of those situations in which, you wish you could see the tank and do the testing required to prove one way or another yourself.