SPS Corals Dying, Please Help ???
- Thread starter trishy711
- Start date
Hi, I ran a 10' airline from my skimmer out my screen door. I would leave my doors open but it's 86 degrees outside and 77.4 inside my house and i have other pets especially my Rabbit that can't be in too hot of temperatures like that. The airline tubing is bringing my PH up slowly poing by point though. I also just got back from my local fish store and he told that with the Co2 in my house and the huge fish load i have i am going to have to start dosing Kalkwasser and see how that works for me. He told me to put one Teaspoon per gallon of fresh RO/DI water because that's half of the recommended dose. He doesn't want me to shock my system at all.
He gave me instructions on how to make my own slow dripping Kalkwasser doser. He told me to get a 2.5 gallon jug and drill a hole about 1" up from the bottom with an airline tubing coming out into a slow dripping Drip/Air Valve. I did all of the drilling and installed the tubing and checked for leaks and even put silicone to be safe. I then filled it with fresh RO/DI water and added 2.5 Teaspoon's of Kalkwasser and shook it up really good. The water is now foggy and he told me to wait until the water settles completely and you can see straight through the water on the top portion of the jug before i start the drip.
How does that sound for a fix and how long does it usually take for the Kalkwasser to settle before i can start dosing my tank ?
Thanks
He gave me instructions on how to make my own slow dripping Kalkwasser doser. He told me to get a 2.5 gallon jug and drill a hole about 1" up from the bottom with an airline tubing coming out into a slow dripping Drip/Air Valve. I did all of the drilling and installed the tubing and checked for leaks and even put silicone to be safe. I then filled it with fresh RO/DI water and added 2.5 Teaspoon's of Kalkwasser and shook it up really good. The water is now foggy and he told me to wait until the water settles completely and you can see straight through the water on the top portion of the jug before i start the drip.
How does that sound for a fix and how long does it usually take for the Kalkwasser to settle before i can start dosing my tank ?
Thanks
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once the kalk settles to the bottom you should be good to go, just make sure you get only the clear solution and drip it in slowly. when first using kalk you have to monitor your ph to get the right drip rate, kalk has a ph of 12 and it raises ph very quickly so take it slow
When you say clear solution, Do you mean like crystal clear ? On the bottom of my jug i see a few big pieces and some little fine debree. The water is not crystal clear though, It's a little hazey. It has been sitting for about an hour. How long does it usually take to settle ? My LFS told me to drip really slow at first, like 1 drip per second and maybe two once i start getting the feel for it after using it for a while ?
Thanks
Thanks
- Location
- Forest Hills
- Location
- north jersey
i assume you measured your starting point ph. monitor it every 30 min to an hour and make sure the drip goes to a high flow area. but you shouldn't raise more than 0.2 in a 24 hr span.(someone correct me if i'm wrong about that number....i'm not 100% positive it's 0.2 but err on the same side and go slow).
I hope can raise it more than .2 because even before i started dosing the Kalkwasser i already raished it .2 by putting the air inlet tubing of the skimmer outside and the Kalkwasser has raised it another .1 in 2 hours. I can already see my SPS Corals looking better than they have been. I actually have Polyp extension on most of them now.
- Location
- Forest Hills
good to hear. keep up the good work. good luck!
Hi, Tested my Water Parameters and the the ALK and Calcium were a little higher than i normally keep them. My Magnesium was lower though ?
Alkalinity--- 10.6
Calcium--- 440
Magnesium--- 1290 (I tested it yesterday and it 1400)
PH-8.3
As for my main problem, My PH and Kalkwasser. I started to dose the Kalkwasser today when my sump was about 1" from where i like the level to be. So i added some RO/DI water to get it to the level i want and also still dosing Kalkwasser too. The PH didn't even move a point on my probe reading. It is a 8.23 right now and there's not much Kalk Solution left in the container. Should i keep dosing this 24/7 like some are saying or should i only dose when needed, mainly at night.
As for the cause of my PH dropping this low. I live in a condo and we don't have central AC, I have 2 huge AC wall units to cool the whole house down. I pretty much run them 20 hours out of the day because i have other pets as well that can't get too hot and mainly my fish tank. So this means i don't really ever have my windows open. So this results in a build up of Co2 in the house and causes my PH to drop really low. I also have about 8 fish in my tank that are 4"-7" long and they breathe all night a release Co2 into the water and the lights aren't on to help take it out which also results in a huge PH decrease as well. So now i have my skimmer airline running outside my window and dosing Kalkwasser to compensate for my Co2 build up inside. The skimmer airline being outside alone brought my PH from 7.68 to 7.88. I don't know how fast or slow i should be dripping the Kalkwasser but i set it at 1 drop per second and it's looks like it's ok. I think once i get my PH stable i am going to just drip 1 gallon of the Kalkwasser at night and see how this works. I don't want to replace it with my full Top Off loss yet because i don't know how high my PH will go, this stuff is very dangerous to use. It has a PH of like 12-13.
How do you think i should dose it ?
Let me know your thought on everything ?
Thanks
Alkalinity--- 10.6
Calcium--- 440
Magnesium--- 1290 (I tested it yesterday and it 1400)
PH-8.3
As for my main problem, My PH and Kalkwasser. I started to dose the Kalkwasser today when my sump was about 1" from where i like the level to be. So i added some RO/DI water to get it to the level i want and also still dosing Kalkwasser too. The PH didn't even move a point on my probe reading. It is a 8.23 right now and there's not much Kalk Solution left in the container. Should i keep dosing this 24/7 like some are saying or should i only dose when needed, mainly at night.
As for the cause of my PH dropping this low. I live in a condo and we don't have central AC, I have 2 huge AC wall units to cool the whole house down. I pretty much run them 20 hours out of the day because i have other pets as well that can't get too hot and mainly my fish tank. So this means i don't really ever have my windows open. So this results in a build up of Co2 in the house and causes my PH to drop really low. I also have about 8 fish in my tank that are 4"-7" long and they breathe all night a release Co2 into the water and the lights aren't on to help take it out which also results in a huge PH decrease as well. So now i have my skimmer airline running outside my window and dosing Kalkwasser to compensate for my Co2 build up inside. The skimmer airline being outside alone brought my PH from 7.68 to 7.88. I don't know how fast or slow i should be dripping the Kalkwasser but i set it at 1 drop per second and it's looks like it's ok. I think once i get my PH stable i am going to just drip 1 gallon of the Kalkwasser at night and see how this works. I don't want to replace it with my full Top Off loss yet because i don't know how high my PH will go, this stuff is very dangerous to use. It has a PH of like 12-13.
How do you think i should dose it ?
Let me know your thought on everything ?
Thanks
- Location
- Washington Heights, NY
Since when is 7.81 low enough to cause bleaching and rtn? And your alk was 8.6 which means you already had elevated co2 levels, so 7.81 was a realistic number supported by your alk measurement. Did you do water changes then measure the lower ph?
- Location
- Washington Heights, NY
I measured the PH before and after the water changes and got pretty much the same readings. My PH was dropping to like 7.58-7.60 at night for about 3-4 weeks and i payed no attention to it because i figured my probe reading was just completely off because ot was saying it was that low.
I do a 30 gallon water change every week and vacuum my sandbed and blow my rocks off with a turkey baster. I haven't missed a week in almost a year.
I do a 30 gallon water change every week and vacuum my sandbed and blow my rocks off with a turkey baster. I haven't missed a week in almost a year.
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- Location
- Washington Heights, NY
Your probe readings might still be off.
You alkalinity seems fine. PH has a direct relationship with alkalinity and CO2 levels. For that alkalinity, you would had to have excessive CO2 levels. And I might be wrong with this but I thought low alkalinity was more a problem. If your alkalinity is good then it can take up the slack for a lower PH. I'm just saying, I don't know if you can just blame the issues on what you think was a low PH.
You alkalinity seems fine. PH has a direct relationship with alkalinity and CO2 levels. For that alkalinity, you would had to have excessive CO2 levels. And I might be wrong with this but I thought low alkalinity was more a problem. If your alkalinity is good then it can take up the slack for a lower PH. I'm just saying, I don't know if you can just blame the issues on what you think was a low PH.
I have 3 different ways to measure my PH right now. I have my RKE probe reading, API test kit, Portable PH Meter. I am getting the same readings on all of them. It would be highly unlikely that they're all getting the same reading and are incorrect.
My PH is 8.05 right now and my Actinics are still on and i have a very fast drip of Kalkwasser too
My PH is 8.05 right now and my Actinics are still on and i have a very fast drip of Kalkwasser too
- Location
- Washington Heights, NY
You said earlier that the lowest the RKE displayed was 7.68 while the reading was 8-8.1 on the API test kit. Then the RKE was reading 7.6 while the pocket probe was reading 7.71. Then your saying you interpolated that your ph went down to 7.58. You also said earlier that you couldn't tell the colors from the API test kit. Firstly, the API test kits don't count because they suck, so seriously throw those out. Now you basing your decisions on a portable ph meter. But none of your readings fit with the alkalinity you had. How you go from unsure about these test results to positive that all three are right when they have never been the same in your thread, I don't understand, unless your not explaining something. And your alkalinity has been good throughout this entire thing which would help compensate for pH. It seems your fixating on one issue and fitting the situation to that idea. Believe it or not, but there are people who don't even monitor pH. With all the other options out there, I wouldn't just declare its pH and think everything is good.
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Kimoyo, You're right with my accuracy of my PH readings might not be perfectly on the Dot but the pocket probe is really very accurate. When i was calibrating my RKE's PH Probe i was curious on how accurate the pocket probe was so i dipped it in the 7.0 Solution and it read 7.0 on the Meter, I then dipped it in the 10.0 Solution and it read 10.0 on the Dot. That proves it's accuracy right there.
I am getting really frustrated with my RKE's probe because it just won't calibrate perfectly. When i calibrate the probe and then stick it back in the 7.0 and 10.0 solutions to double check. It reads 7.0-7.02 and then 9.77 always no matter what numbers i stop the RAW DATA on. I told Digital Aquatics that if your going to charge someone $465 for the "BEST" controller you sell, make sure they don't get any equipment that isn't working properly. Anyway they said try to calibrate the probe once more and if it still isn't perfect they will send me a new one, free of charge.
As for the API test kit, It is very accurate. I just have very hard time telling the colors apart and i have terrible lighting in my house and that makes it even harder to tell. I tested it during the day today and brought it outside in the light and i can tell those colors apart like "Night and Day", It was reading the same thing my pocket probe was reading so i am guess they're both accurate. I have also figured out how to tell exactly what the Ph is on the RKE's reading because i must have checked my PH 15 time throughout the day and it was always reading .18 lower than everything else. It's not the best way of looking at it but i try.
I said that to my LFS guy too. I said "How is my PH this low and my Alkalinity is 10.6 ?", He said "My PH being low has nothing to do with my Alkalinity level because my PH is low because i have no outside air getting into my tank and i have a eight fish that range from 4"-7" in only 100 gallons of total water volume. He said between all of them breathing in the water and my house being air tight, ther's so much Co2 in my tank that it's dropping my PH like crazy and has nothing to do with my Alkalinity.
Me not monitoring my Ph is why this happend to me. I never thought to test for it ever again because i was dosing my 2 Part B ionic Solution and figured it would buffer the PH for me but i guess not. I recently just lost a few of my SPS colonies that i have had for a long time out of nowhere and some of my other colonies and frags are Bleaching/Dying/RTN everyday.
The only thing in my tank that does not check out to be in a normal range is my Ph so this has to be the cause of it ???
Sorry kimoyo for the confusion about the Ph readings
Let me know what you think ?
Thanks
These Pictures were taken 2 days ago :
If you have any other ideas on why this would happen to corals out of nowhere please let me know :
I am getting really frustrated with my RKE's probe because it just won't calibrate perfectly. When i calibrate the probe and then stick it back in the 7.0 and 10.0 solutions to double check. It reads 7.0-7.02 and then 9.77 always no matter what numbers i stop the RAW DATA on. I told Digital Aquatics that if your going to charge someone $465 for the "BEST" controller you sell, make sure they don't get any equipment that isn't working properly. Anyway they said try to calibrate the probe once more and if it still isn't perfect they will send me a new one, free of charge.
As for the API test kit, It is very accurate. I just have very hard time telling the colors apart and i have terrible lighting in my house and that makes it even harder to tell. I tested it during the day today and brought it outside in the light and i can tell those colors apart like "Night and Day", It was reading the same thing my pocket probe was reading so i am guess they're both accurate. I have also figured out how to tell exactly what the Ph is on the RKE's reading because i must have checked my PH 15 time throughout the day and it was always reading .18 lower than everything else. It's not the best way of looking at it but i try.
I said that to my LFS guy too. I said "How is my PH this low and my Alkalinity is 10.6 ?", He said "My PH being low has nothing to do with my Alkalinity level because my PH is low because i have no outside air getting into my tank and i have a eight fish that range from 4"-7" in only 100 gallons of total water volume. He said between all of them breathing in the water and my house being air tight, ther's so much Co2 in my tank that it's dropping my PH like crazy and has nothing to do with my Alkalinity.
Me not monitoring my Ph is why this happend to me. I never thought to test for it ever again because i was dosing my 2 Part B ionic Solution and figured it would buffer the PH for me but i guess not. I recently just lost a few of my SPS colonies that i have had for a long time out of nowhere and some of my other colonies and frags are Bleaching/Dying/RTN everyday.
The only thing in my tank that does not check out to be in a normal range is my Ph so this has to be the cause of it ???
Sorry kimoyo for the confusion about the Ph readings
Let me know what you think ?
Thanks
These Pictures were taken 2 days ago :
If you have any other ideas on why this would happen to corals out of nowhere please let me know :
Attachments
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Hi, So someone told me to add fuge with some Chaeto in it today and have a reverse light cycle on it. Is anyone else doing this here ?
I am dosing Kalkwasser right now at 1 drip per second and my PH still dropped to 7.9 at night and is now at 8.3, Is this an ok swing ?
I am dosing Kalkwasser right now at 1 drip per second and my PH still dropped to 7.9 at night and is now at 8.3, Is this an ok swing ?
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