Arrrrrrghh! *sigh* another fish lost

I've had a 40 gallon for a while to get my feet wet. (HA!) before I upgrade to a larger tank. I've had mixed results. Learning how key stability and routine is for this hobby.

So I've tried to keep the tank simple simple. Skimmer and hob filter. No sump.

Been ok for a while, various inverts crabs etc and a coral beauty. As I'm attempting to get a handle on the hair algae I've noticed that the alk is down and ph is low. Cal ok at 400 but no corals so I figure its ok. Start easing into reef buffer supliment to raise alk and ph. Just alittle as the instructions said every few days. Then the snails star to die off and the ha is back. Now cal is lower to 380. Alk 7, ph below 8. So instead of changing water I experimented with a calcium supliment from Red Sea. Said to add a tsp per 60 gal a week. So I put 2.5cc in my make up water. Pour in a little every day.

Snail ( turbo) still looks bad, others are active. 3 others died previously which is what me start to tweak with the water anyway. And today I find my Angel in the power head.

Tested And ph at 8.3, ca 500, alk 8.

So I'm not going to mess with supplements anymore and just change the water. Guess until I have a sump dosing stuff isn't a good idea w/o dosing pumps or ato

I know folks keep corals without A bunch of equipment always. So is the key just changing a lot of water? I mean 40 gal and a handful of snails, crabs, and a single fish should t be too much Bioload for this tank. Never any nitrates, phosphates (despite the HA) or certainly ammonia.

Sheesh.

 

I run a 33 gallon with just a canister filter and use Kent's CB parts A & B for calcium and alkalinity. I also do weekly water changes religiously. I change 5 gallons every week. Test often, and don't try to do any quick fixes. Stability is the key, more than a magic number. I know there are all kinds of products to raise this and that, but I would stay away from quick fixes.


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Fatty is right. Water changes, water changes , water changes. At the least every two weeks but I would do every week. I have a 40g and I change out 8g a week. It's such an easy task but people hate it. I think it's the single most important factor in your routine. Are you using RO/DI water for your changes.

 

Yah...RODI, salinity at 1.026 at 77 degrees. I learned a hard lesson with topping off EVERY DAY (I think that's what made my previous inhabitants sickly...I'd go 2-3 days).

I wasn't trying for a quick fix - I thought. What interests me is that my alk and ph would drop within 3 days of changing the water. I do 5 gals at a time for a 40 gallon. I have no corals, like 5 small hermits and 3 snails. That just seems a bit much. The tank would do fine if I changed with water 5 gals twice a week (well, that would keep the alk, ph and cal in line where I'd expect them) and also help keep the hair algae at bay.

But that water change schedule seems kinda excessive for the bio load that I have in the tank. If I had 4 fish, corals, and more inverts I'd understand the frequent water changes.

The HOB skimmer is the Reef Octopus 1000SS (er sumpin like that - If "Kim" is the one at Paradise I bought it from you! ) rated for 90 gallons, so it should be OK with a LIGHT bio load. It does skim, about 1/4-1/3 cup every 2-3 days and I clean it.

So I was hoping that by doing a bit o' water chemistry I could keep things in line.

I'm wondering if that Red Sea cal suppliment is just kalk - and I can probably see that putting in 1/2 gal of (even lightly) diluted kalk might get the inhabitants stirred up. But even before I started tweaking with the chemistry they were getting a bit unhappy with snails dying off.

No nitrates - ever. No phosphates - ever. Ammonia - had just barely arguably detectable trace amount (that's what made me serious about looking for Angel).

 

How long has the tank been running?

 

IMO, if you're running a fish only set up, I wouldn't stress with chasing alkalinity and calcium or with keeping your SG at 1.026, just keep the SG stable. Just make sure you are using a good quality salt with a consistent pH and keeping water quality up, ie, no nitrites, no ammonia, and keeping nitrates at a reasonable lower level. Sometimes fish are ill, old and we just don't know it until they die and then it's almost impossible to tell why they've perished.

 

Yeah, if it's a fish only system, I wouldn't worry so much about alkalinity and calcium. That is more crucial if you decide to keep corals.

When I only did a water change every 2 weeks, I had a lot more issues with things like nuisance algae & keeping everything stable. Everything improved when I started doing the weekly water changes, and never missing one. So I don't think that routine is excessive.

If you use RO water, make sure your filters are changed. A TDS meter will let you know if the water coming from your unit is good. If you don't use a RO unit, I'd suggest investing in one.

Every tank is different, so you might have to take bits & pieces from everyone and tailor it to fit your system.



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And you said the top off made your inhabitants sick? Were you topping off with fresh water or saltwater? If you're just topping off to keep the water level & salinity stable, use freshwater. If you top off with saltwater, it'll raise your salinity because salt doesn't evaporate like water. You may already know that, but just trying to cover all bases.


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topping off with fresh water. Tank has been up for about 9 months - like Kim. I know the ph fluctuates during the day so I've been testing roughly the same time in the AM right when I turn on the lights - when it dips almost past a full point to around 7 I know something's up. Alk is/was low as well (as you'd expect with a ph reading like that).

Then Calcium was low - usually it doesn't go down much at all, but the coraline had picked up again (that shouldn't take up much Ca, though I'd think). it's usually not much below 380 or so, but at this point it was at 350. If I had coral I'd be worried below 400 - not just wondering whazzupwidat.

So I don't HAVE to worry about all that since I don't have corals - but I'd rather learn how to keep the chemistry right without killing any more creatures than I have to (Apparently I'm good at that).

I've been using Reef Builder as well to notch up the Alk (more concerned about that than the Ph). I'll dose a few times until the water is back to alk 9 and ph around 8.3 (as long as it's close I'm OK). Then hold off for a while. I only dose as much as seachem recommends and not every day - I know you shouldn't swing this stuff very much per day.

The low Ph is a RESULT of something being off, I don't try to get Ph in a particular place by itself, rather, I figure it's a pointer that something's amiss and needs to be straightened out.

So what I'm having trouble with right now is how the alk and ca is being consumed by 'something' in the tank with such a light bioload. Or even if I added a bunch of critters it wouldn't change much? The hair algae is having a field day right about now and taking over the tank (again).

So even if I did have corals in there and I HAD to worry about all this I'd be in the same place I am now - except I'd have a dead, dying, or very unhappy critter(s) on my hands.

My next thought is to get a Osmolator (so I can put it on my upgrade tank) and run just a little kalk for alk and Ca? I'd be running it sumpless and I know it isn't perfect, but I really don't want to mess too much with what I have that I couldn't put on a much larger tank.