Mainland looking for some help form some local sps guys

[motortrendz]

some of you heard at the last meeting in august that i was having an unexplained event in my propagation system, those of you who have seen my stock know i had some amazing acros and i can tell you i had such fast growth that when i clipped a frag within a week it was secured to a base that the white "scar" from the fresh cut on the main colony would already have color coming back.. after having a friend do some double testing on a sample i gave everything was good except we found a discrepancy in the salinity readings.. we founf it to be at 1.019 so i was hypo and probably hypo for some time.. so i attributed the event to that made some corrections over the next 2 water changes( i use esv and a RO/DI unit with a added DI chamber with 50/50 DI resin and phosphate remover) back up to where i like it at 1.024. i also had noticed during this time i started getting very bad briopsis and hair algae and a redish brown slime outbreak and it was coating my glass and eggcrate faster than i could remove it.. after abt 3 weeks and loosing all sps within my system save a few pieces i was able to get to a friend for safe keeping and hopefully revival. i sent out some water samples to a lab for testing, one was newly made fresh salt water 2 days after being mixed second was a sample from my system..

when i got the results back 3 things stood out, 1. silica levels were high on both tests, 2. myoblenum was abt 5x higher than max levels are in natural sea water in my tank water but in the new mix it was at abt the max level by itself 3. stronium was abt 10x higher that what they called toxic to an acropora in the tank and almost at the max level in the new mix....

i am going to rebuild, i am asking for some good sps keepers out there for some insight to their regimine and for long lasting results.. i have had great short term results within this system and can not figure out what is the mistake i have made or if i am using a product that may be causing this.. i do not dose stronium nor myoblenum so that is one of the things tha i am unsure of..

thanks for any insight or help you can offer.. also i will be working on changing some stuff in the next week if anyone is interested in helping me and offering a hand revamping the system please let me know..
732-673-5966
i am also trying to be back up before the swap so that i can bring some of the best pieces ive ever brought into this hobby personally and have made new connections to do so, just havemt had the abillity to bring them in with the fear that my system is unfit

mike

 

[hcker99]

Mike,

Did you happen to also send in a sample of your RO water?

 

[Fish Brain]

One thing you should have done was send 3 water samples out for testing: system, make-up and RO/DI.

First thing I would recommend is to switch salts. Seems like ESV is a common factor for several people with system problems and tank crashes.

 

[Classklown90]

Give me a call mike if you need help. I don't have the rarest sps but I've had some for 2 plus years with success if that means anything.

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[motortrendz]

They do not do fresh water. Salt water only. Or I would have done ro/di only as well. I did ask. I don't wanna blame the salt bc there's so many people out there using it with great results.

Maybe a bad batch? But I'm thinking of changing some things around as I rebuild. And looking foe some ideas and a hand in setting back up.

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[asonitez]

I tried ESV and for some reason even following their reccomendation and going by WEIGHT rather than measuring cups when I would mix the salt there would always be differences in the sample I made for each water change. While I applaud their mixit and use it clarity, I found RC and IO to mix more consistently and with very few issues. In years of using IO I rarely if EVER mixed a batch that was off by much from what was advertised. I've stopped using ESV because of the cost and the barely noticeable difference it had in my makeup water.

 

[motortrendz]

Cost isn't a problem for me. Between group buys and wholesale pricing I get it cheaper than almost any other salt. Buy in any case with out getting stuck on the salt issue. I think I am going to change out my small sump for a 150g plastic pond sump and than set up a raceway system to try and cut down on powerheads. I'm also going to set up a new QT for everything that comes in.

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[toad2169]

i work out on base so i'm not to far from you, so i could always swing on by after work to help out if needed

 

[ultracorals]

Are you saying that your tank was thriving at 1.019? Then after correction it went south?
What were your other params. calcium, alk, phos and mag?
Just from what you said your system has a lot of un needed elements more than likely from your mix. If they are high maybe the alk and calcium were off too.
How often do you change your ro filters?
What was the time period between the water changes and how much change in salinity each time..?

 

[motortrendz]

No they started going south when the salinity went south. But when I sent out my water to the lab they told me abt the other elements. My Cal and alk were right on bc I tested that 2 times a day when I dosed.

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[ultracorals]

i would probably attribute the elements to the salt mix. it is the only place that it can come from if your not dosing. try another mix. people sam to have good results with reef crystals or aqua vitro.

 

[motortrendz]

I used aquavitro and didn't care for it. And as far as reef crystals no way. Have you ever tested it? Mag is less than 900 Cal under 400. I have to get a silica remover for my ro/di and see abt betting po4 out.

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