Calcium too high

[Kurt_Nelson]

Any reason that you know of that you're seeing 0.25ppm ammonia? Is that a normal thing?

[robertfah]

Originally Posted by Kurt_Nelson

Any reason that you know of that you're seeing 0.25ppm ammonia? Is that a normal thing?

That's fairly normal for my tank. It's probably reading slightly higher due to the fact that I just had a Sand sifting Goby die the other day due to stress. My Tangs wouldn't leave him alone and when I woke up the next day, he had 5+ crabs chewing on his back.

[Kurt_Nelson]

Sounds like you've been in the hobby for a while, but you do know that any ammonia is a bad thing... right? Something isn't right if the norm for your tank is 0.25ppm ammonia. That could be the source of your coral issues, but my gut feel says its something else.

[roka64]

I agree with Kurt, something is amiss. You may want to take your water to your LFS and double check your readings. How old and what is your test kit?

[Ziggy953]

What kind of corals did you put in the tank specifically? From your water parameters the only things that really concern me are your ammonia reading and your PH being 8.0. The PH not so much but the ammonia is a biggie.

The lighting you have on your tank (a 155g) is going to be more for a FOWLR tank and not a reef. I'm not sure if low light corals would do well with that little light. You might be ok with some mushrooms or a low light leather.

I'm really interested in what corals you put in the tank and how quickly they died.

[robertfah]

The coral I put in is called a Pulsing xenia. got it from a friend who has it in his tank and it's growing out of control, so he gave me a few good size frags to see if it will take in my tank. The first time it died over night, but I think that's b/c I was in the middle of a water change when he added it to my tank. This time, it's been close to 2 weeks since it's been in there. I've got 3 seperate frags; 2 are really small, but doing well, the other is a bit larger (about 15+ heads) but it seems the tips are white and some look shriveled (sp?) up as if they are dying.

I know my lighting isn't setup to to hard corals or clams and such, but I was told when I bought the light that I could do a wide varitey of soft corals. Was I misinformed?

[robertfah]

Originally Posted by roka64

I agree with Kurt, something is amiss. You may want to take your water to your LFS and double check your readings. How old and what is your test kit?

The test kit is about a year old (still says it's good on the bottles for another 4 months) and the name is Masters Saltwater Master Liquid Test Kit

[Ziggy953]

Xenia is a funny coral...it will thrive in one tank and crash in the other. If Xenia is the only coral that you have added and didn't make it I wouldn't worry too much. One stalk of xenia not making it does not mean you have something majorly wrong with your tank.

The test kits you are talking about are from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. I would suggest getting your hands on some Salifert test kits. At least pick up a different ammonia test kit and compare.

[robertfah]

Originally Posted by Ziggy953

Xenia is a funny coral...it will thrive in one tank and crash in the other. If Xenia is the only coral that you have added and didn't make it I wouldn't worry too much. One stalk of xenia not making it does not mean you have something majorly wrong with your tank.

This is good to hear.....

Originally Posted by Ziggy953

The test kits you are talking about are from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. I would suggest getting your hands on some Salifert test kits. At least pick up a different ammonia test kit and compare.

I picked up the Alkalinity test from them and found it to be a great kit. My Masters kit is almost done so I will use those from now on.

[Ziggy953]

Don't get me wrong I have AP kits as well but I usually trust my Salifert over them.