Fish always dying!!!

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I'm gonna have to suggest you stop using ocean water, there could be toxins or bacteria near the shore that you're adding to the tank and not testing for. Do you test your salinity? Myself, I'd do like a 50% water change using saltwater I made from a mix and RO water to start off with. Hopefully things havn't leached into your rock?


Your coralline algae is pretty intense. That dark purple looks amazing but may indicate you have really high levels of calcium in the water as that's what feeds coralline.


If you start using something like instant ocean salt and RO water during water changes you may find you've fixed the problem...
 
I'm gonna have to suggest you stop using ocean water, there could be toxins or bacteria near the shore that you're adding to the tank and not testing for. Do you test your salinity? Myself, I'd do like a 50% water change using saltwater I made from a mix and RO water to start off with. Hopefully things havn't leached into your rock?


Your coralline algae is pretty intense. That dark purple looks amazing but may indicate you have really high levels of calcium in the water as that's what feeds coralline.


If you start using something like instant ocean salt and RO water during water changes you may find you've fixed the problem...


I've gotten the ocean water from 5 different fish stores, I just switched to a new store like two months ago because of convenience. Yup I test, salinity is 1.025. The store that I buy my saltwater from are able to keep sea horses, corals, and fish and they use the same water, so is that ruled out?

I get my RO water from publix

Quick question: how does calcium levels get really high? I never dose, so is it just found in the water from the ocean? I haven't seen any calcified stuff on my equipment if that helps. I'll test it out anyways just to make sure. I heard 400ppm should be the levels? What should my akilinity be?


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Would a temperature difference of two-three degrees when I change water be bad? When I do a water change, my tank drops from 79 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit


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I've gotten the ocean water from 5 different fish stores, I just switched to a new store like two months ago because of convenience. Yup I test, salinity is 1.025. The store that I buy my saltwater from are able to keep sea horses, corals, and fish and they use the same water, so is that ruled out?

I get my RO water from publix

Quick question: how does calcium levels get really high? I never dose, so is it just found in the water from the ocean? I haven't seen any calcified stuff on my equipment if that helps. I'll test it out anyways just to make sure. I heard 400ppm should be the levels? What should my akilinity be?


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Alkalinity2.5-4 meq/L
7-11 dKH
125-200 ppm CaCO3 equivalent


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Guys I think I know what's wrong! My calcium was 400 ppm, but my alk was 37! I just bought a KH test and a buffer.


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I'm gonna have to suggest you stop using ocean water, there could be toxins or bacteria near the shore that you're adding to the tank and not testing for. Do you test your salinity? Myself, I'd do like a 50% water change using saltwater I made from a mix and RO water to start off with. Hopefully things havn't leached into your rock?


Your coralline algae is pretty intense. That dark purple looks amazing but may indicate you have really high levels of calcium in the water as that's what feeds coralline.


If you start using something like instant ocean salt and RO water during water changes you may find you've fixed the problem...

There are more than a few companies that collect sea water, clean & sterilize it and sells the water to lfs's. If your store has one or more of those huge tanks for water, that is what it is.

I garuntee that every lfs that sells ready-to-use salt water, it is water collected from the ocean.
You don't seriously think these stores are mixing up 1500 gallons of salt mix just to sell. If that were the case water would be a couple bucks a gallon.
I pay about .45 per gallon, cheaper than if I mixed it myself.


here is the company that most likely supplies the store I frequent.
Aquarium Salt Water | Real Ocean Saltwater | Commercial Saltwater | Buy Saltwater
It isn't as if some guy is going to the beach with buckets.
 
There are more than a few companies that collect sea water, clean & sterilize it and sells the water to lfs's. If your store has one or more of those huge tanks for water, that is what it is.

I garuntee that every lfs that sells ready-to-use salt water, it is water collected from the ocean.
You don't seriously think these stores are mixing up 1500 gallons of salt mix just to sell. If that were the case water would be a couple bucks a gallon.
I pay about .45 per gallon, cheaper than if I mixed it myself.


here is the company that most likely supplies the store I frequent.
Aquarium Salt Water | Real Ocean Saltwater | Commercial Saltwater | Buy Saltwater
It isn't as if some guy is going to the beach with buckets.
The stores in my area mix their own.
 
Question: yesterday at my lfs, a woman tested my water and told me it came out as 2 dKH. She told me that's why my fish have been dying. I just did a water change, and I tested my water afterwords. It came out as 9 dKH.

Is this just because I did a water change, and my KH went up? How does KH levels decrease?


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you sure?
how much do they sell it for because mixing it themselves seems not very profitable.

I think it all depends on the area you are talking about. Back in the day ;) we had a company that went to the ocean to collect water then delivered it to us. We in turn held it in a 1k gal container and pumped it through filters ( UV and cartridge types) before we put it into our systems. That was in FL. I went to a supplier of ours in CA, a rather large concern at that, and was amazed that he mixed all his own water for his systems. I saw the salt, the mixing container and one of his employees doing it so there was no doubt. So again, it all depends on location. Not everybody has the same options. :whistle:
 
Question: yesterday at my lfs, a woman tested my water and told me it came out as 2 dKH. She told me that's why my fish have been dying. I just did a water change, and I tested my water afterwords. It came out as 9 dKH.

Is this just because I did a water change, and my KH went up? How does KH levels decrease?


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The minerals are absorbed by your fish and your other living organisms so in your case, I would venture to say that the coralline algae is probably absorbing a high amount of it. Just for kicks, try testing the new saltwater before you mix in the RO water and see just how much you are diluting it with just the freshwater. If it is a lot, your buffer may not be enough to compensate. :confused:
 
The minerals are absorbed by your fish and your other living organisms so in your case, I would venture to say that the coralline algae is probably absorbing a high amount of it. Just for kicks, try testing the new saltwater before you mix in the RO water and see just how much you are diluting it with just the freshwater. If it is a lot, your buffer may not be enough to compensate. :confused:



I never added a buffer for alkalinity, just pH. I'm just really confused how it could have gone up so much with just a 30% water change when my pH remained the same????


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I never added a buffer for alkalinity, just pH. I'm just really confused how it could have gone up so much with just a 30% water change when my pH remained the same????


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In addition to calcium magnesium and other ions play a role in acid buffering. These other elements are not being used by the algae therefor still present in the water column and keeping the ph up.


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I never added a buffer for alkalinity, just pH. I'm just really confused how it could have gone up so much with just a 30% water change when my pH remained the same????


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Because you didn't add for alkalinity, this helps explain why the drop. As I suggested, test your new saltwater for KH. This will be a good indicator of what you have happening in the tank just from the rock and what's growing on it. Remember, you are diluting this value as well when you add the RO water to it. KH is not a "stable" value. It changes through usage. It lets PH fall when it's not present in higher amounts and helps maintain a high PH when it is. It works in a similar comparison to nitrates. High nitrates in a tank usually means a low PH as well. I'll even bet that if you check the KH tomorrow, it will probably not be as high as you saw it after the water change. ;)

Hope this helps (y)
 
Because you didn't add for alkalinity, this helps explain why the drop. As I suggested, test your new saltwater for KH. This will be a good indicator of what you have happening in the tank just from the rock and what's growing on it. Remember, you are diluting this value as well when you add the RO water to it. KH is not a "stable" value. It changes through usage. It lets PH fall when it's not present in higher amounts and helps maintain a high PH when it is. It works in a similar comparison to nitrates. High nitrates in a tank usually means a low PH as well. I'll even bet that if you check the KH tomorrow, it will probably not be as high as you saw it after the water change. ;)

Hope this helps (y)

+1 Andy is right. The pH, kH, Mg and Ca interact with one other. Without adding anything, kH will go down gradually when topping off with ro water having 6 dkH. Due to the "balancing act" effect, pH will also be affected by kH and Ca. While Mg in your case is minimal without corals. Raising the pH with additive is a bad idea since it will further drop your kH and at the same time shock your fish and most likely the cause of your fish dying when compounded with low kH. You should adjust your alkalinity by adding pure baking soda to your top off water. It will stabilize your pH. Make sure you have enough water surface agitation instead of additive to raise pH. It will give comfort to your fish with more oxygen.
 
+1 Andy is right. The pH, kH, Mg and Ca interact with one other. Without adding anything, kH will go down gradually when topping off with ro water having 6 dkH. Due to the "balancing act" effect, pH will also be affected by kH and Ca. While Mg in your case is minimal without corals. Raising the pH with additive is a bad idea since it will further drop your kH and at the same time shock your fish and most likely the cause of your fish dying when compounded with low kH. You should adjust your alkalinity by adding pure baking soda to your top off water. It will stabilize your pH. Make sure you have enough water surface agitation instead of additive to raise pH. It will give comfort to your fish with more oxygen.


I'll check my alkalinity every day and add a buffer when needed. P.S I got an urchin after testing my water (all the test came out great including my alk and calcium) and so far it's doing great, eating all my coralline algae.


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