First set back

The two fish left are a green chromis and an arc eye hawkfish.
- Chromis was the first fist in this tank, 5+ weeks ago.
- Arc aye was in the tank for 3 weeks.
Neither one ever showed any signs of aggression.

I wonder if I am reading the mag test kit wrong. Perhaps my mag is <30 instead of > 1550. Talk about a confusing test kit.

 

which mag test kit do you have?
I can google it, if its not one I have used and then find the instructions

Steve

 

Salifert Mg Profi Test

 

Oxygen theory might be it. Cause there was a change I made about a week ago when I added a skimmer.

I used to have 700gph pump pointing at the water surface. That in combination with 2 ecotech MP10s (250-1250gph each), Aqueon 70 powerheader filter (300gph) and now a skimmer (another 300gph) would be a lot of flow. After I added the skimmer i noticed flow increased and changed, and some coral was getting a lil beat up. So i removed the 700gph surface pump.

Figured with powerhead filter, skimmer and 2 pumps under the surface should be more than enough.

Now that I think about it more, ecotech pumps go to 25% power at night. Even then i think powerhead filter and skimmer should create enough water surface movement.

I guess I was wrong.

 

Check the dates on your test kits. I had gotten one from my LFS and it was from over a year ago! I was wondering why the tests had been so far off.
You might have a bad/old mag test kit.

 

Salifert test kit - I have that one

get it double checked IMHO - as I am on my second kit now and its fine when compared against the 1st kit - but I have read accounts of problem test kits (not just salifert by the way)

get a sample tested by someone else or LFS with either another salifert test kit or another kit


Oxygen - possible it seems - could have been dropping for a while since the change in surface aggitation, and that night it dropped to a critical low level, 2 fish died, which basically ensured the 2 remaining ones survived the rest of the night

possible - you can get Oxygen test kits - might be worth getting one
but even better would be to get that surface rolling again- allowing CO2 to escape and Oxygen to enter the water more easily

Steve

 

I've read about low oxygen issues a while back. People said tatletale sign is all fish are at the bottom of the tank. Yesterday that did not seem to be the case at all. Who knows. I'll go ahead get an oyxgen kit.

Surface pump is back on.

 

Steve, when you read the salifert kit and are holding the syringe needle up. Do you read number of notches from the bottom or from the top?

I am reading from the top, which is giving me super high number. I guess if you read them from the bottom, my mag would be < 30. Instructions do not say which direction to count notches in.

 

salifert kit

to get over 1500 you need to empty the syringe before the pink purple liquid becomes a blue liquid?

so if there is liquid still in the syringe when you achieve the color - then your below 1500
if the 2 rings on the kit are top one at 0.3 and bottom on at 0.2 you read bottom one which would be the top one when you turn syringe upside down in order to make it easier to read and 0.2 = 1200 ppm

if when you turn it upside down very top ring is on 0.1 - then you have 1350ppm Mag

Steve

 

Must be a bad kid then or it really is over 1500. Cause I have to empty the syringe and then add a few more to make it turn. I'll test water at LFS today.