Help me PLEASE!!!

[gump3842k]

Ok well iv had my reef tank up for 3 months now and am having some serious problems. I have a 96 watt powerquad lighting kit on a 35 gallon hexagon tank plenty of light for the two corals i presently own. I have a fancy leather toadstool, and some brown polyops. However since i have them for a week now, neither will open up. My ammonia is 0,nitrate 0,nitrite 0, ph 8.1 and i regulary treat reef pack fundamentals and iodine and trace elements. I only use RO water and the water clarity is great. I have purple and green algae blooms now, so ive been told this is a sign of a good tank. PLEASE HELP ME!

 

[sumphead]

There are a few things that come to mind. First of all please post results from every test you own including salinity/SG and how you got those readings. On that note, never dose anything that you do not test for. Generally one should never dose iodine. Iodine can quickly become toxic if not toxic from the beginning. Trace elements (including iodide) is replaced with waterchanges. If there is no load on these levels, with two corals I kind of doubt it, then they should not be dosed. While Hax tanks are difficult enough to light because of the odd shape and height, I think the powerquad was a good choice. HTH and keep us posted.

 

[gump3842k]

Well my SG is a 1.023 and i will stop dosing iodine and trace elements. What should i test for beside the normal, and what should I buy??

 

[Brisc0]

For a new tank I would recommend a water change of about 5 - 10% a week. This will renew all your trace elements. Aside from that you will need to add and test CAL and ALK levels. Some CAL/ALK suppliments like B-Ionic have trace elements in the formula. I would definately stop adding iodine for the time being. I know very little about iodine except that it is supposed to benefit a few corals, however it can be fairly lethal to others, IMO its best to just stay away from dosing it until you have a better grip on why you need to dose it if at all. Other than that I would bring that SG up around 1.025 or 1.026 and give it time. Best of luck, it will get easier eventually

 

[jackdp]

I would stop dosing the supplements, do a water change just in case the supplements have sent the water chem out of whack. Do the water changes weekly like brisco says and your trace elements will be replenished along with iodine. Test for calcium and alk, with weekly water changes and a low coral load, you may not have to supplement for Ca and ALK yet. As you add more calcifying inverts you may have to add B-Ionic or some other balanced additive to keep Ca and ALK up.

 

[acid_burn]

Although I am new at sw aquariums and very new at reef keeping, I also was dosing the Reef Pack Fundamentals w/o testing for cal. alk. etc.

I actually killed 2 tangs by over dosing, from what I was told my cal. precipitated and formed a chalky white water color for a couple hours.

So now that I have the proper test kits I can successfully dose my cal./alk.

HTH,
Rich