What am I doing wrong

[MadReefer]

Noticed particles in water column, film on top, and coral just decayng.

Two months ago switched to mesh sock with filter floss, did not think was working well so went back to the felt socks.
Started dripping Alk using Randy's formula but cut back on amount to one cup.
Added 5ml of calcium every two weeks.
Started feeding reef roofs too.
Looks like dinos are coming back also.

All parameters are within range. Except Alk is 20 and Calcium over 700.I
Dosed Vibrant today.

May just start doing small monthly water changes and forget about adding anything to the tank and see if that works.I

Not sure what else to do.

 

[iTzJu]

I suggest getting a better understanding of dosing. seems like your shot gunning your approach on dosing. your alk and calcium are sky high. I would just do a massive water chnage and this point and stop dosing.

what corals do you have? I suggest sticking to softies and lps for now and do water changes weekly to keep up with your alk/cal and once you get a better grasp on stability and parameters start dosing. also, test alk daily and calcium and other parameters weekly. unfortunately, reefing isn't a set it and forget it hobby and shot gun type approach is never recommended

 

[Mrx7899x]

I'm with itzju you shouldn't dose anything unless your testing for it. Do a bunch of water changes to get you levels normal.

 

[MadReefer]

Alk n Cal were low why I started dosing again.

 

[myrjon]

Mark these helped me check these out.

 

[9supratt4]

Wow yea....I agree with the above posts. Alk and Calcium are WAY too high. Alk should be no more than 11 and Calcium no more than 450 on the high end. How did you decide the amount to dose?

The proper way of figuring out how much to dose is to test on Day 1 and record your measurements. Using a calculator like the one from BRS figure out how much you need to add to get your level to your desired level. Once at the desired level, test again 24 hours later and record those measurements. Subtract this measurement from your desired level in order to figure out how much your tank is using in a single day. Once you figure out the amount your tank is using, you can figure out the proper daily dose.

 

[mnat]

With Alk and calc that high they might be literally precipitating into the water column and no corals could survive that level. Stop dosing the reef roids because they are only going to raise your nitrates/phosphates which is why your dinos are probably coming back. Have you checked the TDS of your RODI?

 

[MadReefer]

Mike, that is my next move.

I will say that if things go entirely downhill then going Fish Only.
If the FO fails I am completely out.

 

[MadReefer]

My bad meant was feeding Reef Frenzy not Reef Roids

 

[9supratt4]

Don't give up, you can do this! There is plenty of help here.

 

[Lears42]

Hey Mad take a time out and do 2 twenty percent water changes. We have all had the crashes but don't give up. I also use Randys, the 2 part is supposed to be dosed even part 1, and part 2. Like the others have said maybe stop the dosing and reset the water quality by doing the water changes and start back up slow or change up how you are doing the dosing. I threw my system out on the street when a hurricane wiped me out. What pulled me back in was the gorgeous corals. I cant imagine going all fish. I know I enjoy the Mad reefers posts so I hope you can pull it together. Focus on stability guy!

 

[Trio91]

If you go all fish, maybe you can do a predator tank Mark, then fill it with just leather corals if you looking for a change.

Like mentioned, let you tank stabilize for now.

 

[MadReefer]

Thanks for all the input. Will leave the tank alone and see where it goes.

 

[MadReefer]

TDS is reading zero.

 

[MadReefer]

Here is what my tank looks like.

 

[myrjon]

If it's Brown algae cut down on food drastically..I would try and remove some with a vac.you running a skimmer?water. change

 

[Lears42]

you change some of that water guy

 

[Mrx7899x]

What do you have in there for clean up crew

 

[jmags080307]

When I had a bad algae issue it took me about 2 months to get under control. I would pull as much as I could out manually, do water changes every week and I added 4 Mexican turbo snails (the big suckers). I also cut my feeding down to every other day. Eventually I beat it, but it wasn't easy. Takes patience and perseverance.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[MadReefer]

Yes, have a skimmer and small water change tomorrow.
Need to make more water.
It's brown but also stringy.

i had two huge turbo snails but they are dead.