Help Corals rotting

[greatfullreefer]

Hi everybody i have a dilema, all my corals in my 75 gallon reef tank have died within 2 months of addition they included an umbrella leather, pineapple brain, sun coral, hammer coral and just the other day my pulsing xenia bit the dust which seemed to happen overnight. They simply rotted away, i check my water twice weekly and do a 5gal water change once a week. My water seems to be good as far as i can tell i have used different test kits, thinking that my salifert kits were inaccurate.
My water parameters are as follows
temp 80
sg 1.025
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
amm 0
phos 0
kh 9 dkh
alk 3.20
ph 8.2
cal 450
lighting 440 watts VHO
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thank you in advance
Scott

 

[michaeltx]

was this a new setup or have you ever used copper in the tank??
sounds like something is up with it not sure.
what about other inverts snails crabs and such?
Mike

 

[greatfullreefer]

I have been set up since December of 2002 never used copper of any kind, my clean up crew is just about gone they lasted about 4 months then started dropping.

 

[michaeltx]

do you have a copper test kit just to rule that one out.
also do you use tap or RO ro RODI water. if tap you might be adding it in from the water supply.. thats the only thing that I can think of that would effect them all and 4 months ona clen up and all corals fade off after 2 months there is something going on...
how do acclimate everything to your tank?
sorry just trying to try to narrow things down abit.
Mike

 

[greatfullreefer]

Dont appolagise Mike i really appreciate your input...As of yet i dont have a copper test kit but will purchase one ASAP. Probalby will get flamed for this...lol..but alas i do use the dreaded tap water, i used to use DI water untill a friend of mine, a water consultant from Culligan tested my water for TDS and assured me that my water was A1 quality, i do use a dechlorinater.

 

[greatfullreefer]

I accimilate everything in my tank with the drip method and a pail...i never add any foreign water to my tank.

 

[michaeltx]

well beacuse a water source is considered great by a water company doesnt mean it doesnt have the stuff we dont want in the tanks. there are acceptable limits that water people go by but in general its not a complete breakdown of whats actually in the water. and being on a municaple water source has some hazards of its own. with phosphate and waste treatments that are safe for humans consumption but for marine life deadly.
O yeah on TDS mine are 750 I think out of my well and according to the water folks its great for TDS . theres wells here that go up to 1500.
I would get the test kit and see what it shows.
how long is your acclimation time?
so far everything sounds good to me but theres something wrong. also do you have major temp, PH , salinity swings anything like that.
Mike

 

[michaeltx]

O yeah and what test kits and hpw old are they. straight across 0 is almost impossible.
Mike

 

[greatfullreefer]

My test kits are salifert which i purchased maybe 3 weeks ago after my first batch ran out, i also purchased a hagen saltwater master test kit recently to see if it was in fact the salifert kits being inaccurate, also purchased a strip dip test just to be sure. I get the same reading from all 3 except the ph on the strip test shows a ph of 8. I will get a copper test kit asap..also it there any other kits i should grab that you can think of?
Again i thank you for your help Mike
Scott

 

[michaeltx]

what tests do you have now.
basic testsare
ph
calcium
nitrate
nirtrite
ammonia
alk
Copper
phosphate
thats the ones that I can think of at the moment.
BTW are you adding any chemicals to the tank
buffers or additives?
Mike

 

[greatfullreefer]

I test for all of the above except for copper(which i will start to do) also i do add buffers.
RedSea Trace
RedSea Buff
RedSea calcium
CoralLife iodine
CoraLife Stonthium
All at the advise of my LFG, Im starting to think that they just want the sale and dont give a rats A@#$ about the welfare of my tank

 

[harrysreef]

How much of those additives have you been adding and how often?

 

[michaeltx]

I test for all of the above except for copper(which i will start to do) also i do add buffers.
RedSea Trace
RedSea Buff
RedSea calcium
CoralLife iodine
CoraLife Stonthium
water changes take care of most of what you are adding.
trace iodine and stonthium (sp?) .
iodine can be overdosed in a rather short time most people recomend a more of a hands off approach to the reef, meaning they only add essentials calcium and ph buffer unless something is out of wack.
another thing is only add what you can test for. if you cant test for it you dont know if you are overdosing which can cause problems.
most LFS will sell you things that you really dont nedd but swear you do. I would always check with other hobbiest and/or the board before going of an LFS's advice. not saying that they will give you bad advice all the time but things have changed in the real world and a LFS has to make money therefore most will try to sell you things you dont need.
Mike
Mike

 

[saltyj]

Did anyone ask about his lighting. What kind of lights do you have PC's, or MH. How old are they?

 

[saltyj]

duh 440 VHO's sorry I did not read that far. My fault