Water testing results

[arvin]

I got the water tested by an online service and below are the results:

Ammonia (NH3-4) ........................Good ......................................... 0.006
Nitrite (NO2)................................Good ......................................... 0.010
Nitrate (NO3)...............................Good .............................................1.0
Phosphate (PO4) ..........................Good ........................................... 0.16
Silica (SiO2-3) ............................. High..............................................0.7
Potassium (K) ...............................Low............................................. 236
Calcium (Ca)................................Good ............................................ 421
Boron (B) ....................................Good .............................................4.9
Molybdenum (Mo)......................... High..............................................0.3
Strontium (Sr) .............................Good .............................................6.6
Magnesium (Mg) ..........................Good .......................................... 1113
Iodine (I¯)...................................Good ........................................... 0.07
Copper (Cu++) ............................ High............................................ 0.09
Alkalinity (meq/L)..........................Low............................................ 2.09

Some background: Mine is a 180 gallon running for about three months. I have lost three nice fish (a purple tang, yellow wrasse and an anthias) for no apparent reason. They all died weeks apart. I have lost one big frogspawn.I have bunch of mushrooms that are shrunk. Other than that all other fish seem to be pretty good. I have some zoas, a brain coral, goniopora and a bunch of other corals which seem to be doing just fine. I change water weekly with RO/DI water. No additives. I use GAC and club bought phosban.

I see that couple of parameters are off. I would like to know how to fix them. Also is there are reason for the livestock losses.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Arvind.

 

[mnat]

It is always tough when fish die, because they are not as predictable as corals and water chemistry. The categories that will affect fish the most are ammonia, nitrate, and nitrites. Your levels are good so not too much worry there, you could have had a parasite or fish disease. Granted, that would not explain your coral losses but did you add any new fish recently? Do you quarantine your fish, and how do your other fish look? Did your fish just disappear or did they look sick before you lost them?

 

[arvin]

The anthias looked sick before it died. I cant say the same thing about the purple tang or yellow wrasse. I do quarantine the fish for 90 minutes to an hour.

 

[NikkiT]

I am no expert, but here is what I see, and the questions that your post raises in my mind.

MNAT did not mention that your copper is very high. Where did you get your water from? If you are mixing how are you mixing? what kind of salt? RO/DI water? Distilled? Tap?

Did you buy a used tank/live rock? Copper can leach out of a tank or rock over time if it was previously treated. Carbon can help, but is not a complete solution.

I noticed that you said you "quarantined" your fish for 60-90 minutes: did you mean you drip acclimated them for 60-90 minutes?

I have lost fish by not properly accimating, and lost a flame angel to elevated Cu levels.

Also, i noticed there is no note on your PH or you specific gravity- what are they?

As a side note, if your CU levels are that high, you probably have minimal amounts of microfauna in the copapod/amphapod/invert/small worm catagories, which (1) reduce bio diversity and as a result (2) mean that your nitrate/nitrite levels are less stable.

Good luck.

 

[NikkiT]

One more thought and several more questions... Tangs primarily feed on algae, and your tank might not have been up and running long enough to support a tang. When did you add the tang? how is your algae growth?
What kind of anathia did you lose? How long did you have each of these fish before you lost them? Where are you buying from? I know MNAT asked this question, but what do you mean by the anatias looked sick? Ich? Marine velvet? skinny? other (visible) parasite?

Also, as a side note, what livestock do you have in the tank now, and how is it doing? Do you have any inverts in the tank? corals? Any visible parasites or preditors?

 

[arvin]

The last batch I used was Tropic Marine Pro. I used to use Reef crystal before. Ro/Di water mixed and stored in a vat. I do a drip acclimate. I meant to say acclimated not quarantined.

Ph is 7.97 and Sg is 1.026. The tang was added a month ago. Although this present tank is three months old, it was an upgrade from my previous tank and most of the stuff came from that old tank. I did not see any visible parasite on the fish when they died.

As I mentioned in my original post, the remaining fish, corals & inverts just do just fine.