emergency

[clowninround]

Ok I know that I did something REALLY stupid, because all my corals are saying so! I got in some new supplements from sea chem, read the directions and put everything in...reef cal and reef complete (which it says to use together) and also reef plus. I know I am losing time here but I just want to make sure that a water change isn't gonna make things worse. Can someone explain what I did? The bottles say they don't impact ph but mine is usually at 8.3 but now it's at 8.0...

 

[clowninround]

I keep reading the directions and it says nothing about not using them in conjunction with except stuff that impacts the ph....all the bottles say they DO NOT impact ph. How should I be using these products? The mushrooms are coming back out now...hoping the rest follow suit.

 

[Hara]

May I ask why you feel the need to add supplements? From what I see in your list, nothing there would deplete nutrients to the extent you need to add anything between normal water changes.

 

[clowninround]

I thought you were sopposed to add supplements? I have xenia and a flower pot too that I haven't added. I do 10% water changes twice a month, but my calcuim always runs a bit low.

 

[clowninround]

Everything has come back around except my flower pot looks kinda droopy. I used an iodine replenisher earlier that day, again according to the directions, should I have waited to use the others? Do they not go together?

 

[phases99]

I dose kalk nightly with my topoff to keep my ca over 350ppm. I haven't had to dose anything else in 3 months as the alk and ph have remained stable. Real cheap too if you use Ball's pickling lime.

 

[Hara]

IMO, you should quit using additives. If you do not test for it, you dont know if you are over doing it. Have you tested the iodine levels? What level is your calcium and alkalinity at? If your alkalinity and ph are staying low, then I would be consider using a kalk drip. Alot of people think that if a little is good, then alot must be better, but that is not the way it works. You can overdo anything. Stability is the most important thing to strive for and when you keep putting things in, your water chemistry wont be stable.

 

[clowninround]

really, do you use supplements

 

[Hara]

I feed my tanks. The only supplement I use is Kalk, and since I have changed salt brands, I only do that rarely.

 

[clowninround]

Ok, all the corals look like they recovered well, but my water is now pretty cloudy. Does this mean there is something wrong with the water? I have a captive raised anemone that I just got and I need to acclimate it. Will it be safe to do so. I can't use my QT tank because I have used copper in it before.

 

[BillyZ]

I would highly suggest a water change (20%) and, as hara mentioned, don't add any more additives until you've started testing for them and see if you actually have a need for them.

 

[clowninround]

I did a 10% w/c last night and then again in the morning. The water is still cloudy but the corals and all the invertebrates & fish are doing great. Will it just take time for the clouding to go away or am I in for a lot of water changes?

 

[phases99]

Putting some GAC in the water flow might help the cloudiness.

 

[clowninround]

Yeah it was weird, I woke up this morning and it was gone. My friend came over last night and she said it was the idone. She uses the same stuff and she said it was too strong to use at it's full dose. So I guess I won't use that again. Everthing in the tank is doing great, even my new anemone. Quite a scare though, thought I was losing everybody. All I can say is at least i know what NOT to do.