HELP....!! My carol is dying, I think the KH is too high

[hihikeke]

Guys, I need help here....! I used to have ALOT of polyps in my tank, but I only have less than 20 polyps now, I can count it. Too sad, right?
I just don't know what happened, last month my hangon filter was broken so I purchased a canister to replace it. Afterthat, I have noticed alot carol are dying, first was the xenia all of them are gone, then many different kinds of polyps.
I think my KH is too high, the test kit that I am using is HAGEN, it says on the instruction, one drop = 10mg/L (ppm) as calcium carbonate, if it is more than 125mg/L then is unusually high, last week I tested it with 270mg/L, after 4 times of water change, each time is about 20% of the tank, it came down to 170mg/L, but still it is too high, right? My carol supposed to be open all the time but now.
I did a water change every other 2 days because of the KH problem, is it too quick to have the water change? Because I noticed my fish got parasite on their body, the fish is not comfortable with the "new" water?
What should I do? Someone please help....!!!!!!!

 

[pclown]

Do more water changes!
What is your setup such as Size, lights, live rock, live sand, fish, and what test have you performed on your water and what were the results?

 

[kzoo]

Who is carol and why are you killing her???

 

[reefnut]

I'm assuming your test is reading in ppm. 270ppm is a bit high but not high enough to kill off corals. 170ppm is good... I'd keep it around 170ppm-175ppm.
What are you other levels?? Calcium, PH, Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, Temp, etc...

 

[hihikeke]

Tank size = 30 gallons
10 gallon tank inside the cabinet where I keep my UV Sterilizer, 5 gallon hang-on refugium, JEBO hang-on protein skimmer. I use the overflow box and a pump to make the water go back to the tank.
Rock & sand = 40-50 lbs live rock, 20 lbs of live sand.
Fish = total 9 fishes. I have 3 sergeant major damsel, 1 scopas tang, 1 yellowtail goby, 1 engineer goby, 1 black & white Heniochus, 1 white sleeper goby & 1 clarkii clown.
I have tested nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, KH, PH, ammonia & calcium.
Calcium =360ppm
Ammonia = 0.1
PH = 8.3
KH = 170ppm
phosphate =0
Nitrite = 0.1
Nitrate = 10
I have no idea what's wrong with my tank, so you suggest I keep doing water change? Everyday and how much of water?
Thanks for all the helps here.

 

[pclown]

Your tank is way and I mean way overstocked. You have way too much of a bio-load going on there. You should have 1 inch of adult fish per 2 gallons. That tang needs to go!
Your Ammonia should never be anything but 0 as with your Nitrites but with that bio load you may never see it. That could be the main cause of your problem. Your calcium should ce a little higher but is not the problem.
I fear that is you dont remove some fish your system could crash, and believe me, it can happen overnight and nothing you can do about it. I have seen it happen.

 

[hedonic]

Corals dont add bio-load. And if they do it is minimal. Also ammonia levels less then 0.1, in most average test kits could just be the margin of error. Some ammonia will always be present in any tank fresh or salt, its part of the nitrogen cycle. Depending on whats going on in the tank ammonia flux's less then 0.3 are common and usually not detected.
I only see one clown and a shrimp? what other live-stock do you have? Look at some of the succsesful nano tanks on the web, they are every bit as crowded. What was differnt about the canister, did it have a lot more carbon? Was that carbon throughly rinsed beofre you used it? How long has it been set up? As previously stated you KH is high but it should not kill corals. What kind of supplements are you using? Iodine drop offs are frequent is full nano tanks.
Just focus on the water changes (never more then 25%, really just 10% every few days is best untill problem is controled) and hope for the best. It really is a nice looking tank.

 

[pclown]

Originally Posted by hedonic
Corals dont add bio-load. And if they do it is minimal. Also ammonia levels less then 0.1, in most average test kits could just be the margin of error. Some ammonia will always be present in any tank fresh or salt, its part of the nitrogen cycle. Depending on whats going on in the tank ammonia flux's less then 0.3 are common and usually not detected.
I only see one clown and a shrimp? what other live-stock do you have? Look at some of the succsesful nano tanks on the web, they are every bit as crowded. What was differnt about the canister, did it have a lot more carbon? Was that carbon throughly rinsed beofre you used it? How long has it been set up? As previously stated you KH is high but it should not kill corals. What kind of supplements are you using? Iodine drop offs are frequent is full nano tanks.
Just focus on the water changes (never more then 25%, really just 10% every few days is best untill problem is controled) and hope for the best. It really is a nice looking tank.
I am not talking about the corals, :notsure: I am talking about 9 fish which include a Tang, 3 damsels, a engineer goby and a black & white Heniochus and more in a 30g tank.
Thats not crowded, that is being jammed in and will cause big problems.
And I would not count on the ammonia and nitrite test at .01 as a margin of error. There are signs of a problem and there is your reason.

 

[piscian]

I will agree that you have way too many fish for that size aquarium. I don't even have that kind of a bioload in my tank and it's 3 times the size of yours. I would say that if you want to keep it as a reef tank, you need no more than 4 fish in that size tank. Anymore than that and you will be battling with your levels everyday only to lose in the end.

 

[hedonic]

Originally Posted by PClown
I am not talking about the corals, :notsure: I am talking about 9 fish which include a Tang, 3 damsels, a engineer goby and a black & white Heniochus and more in a 30g tank.
Thats not crowded, that is being jammed in and will cause big problems.
And I would not count on the ammonia and nitrite test at .01 as a margin of error. There are signs of a problem and there is your reason.
I guess I missed the fish list, That is way overcrowded, my bad. Less then 0.01 can be error margin, regardless of test type. We are not perferct, think about that false readings, to much reactor soultion, faded test cards, old test strips, to much water in the test vial. There are so many steps with most test kits some margin of error is unavoidable.

 

[coachklm]

take out the tang and the heinechous and youll be set to work on your levels..please understand that the smaller the tank the harder to maintain the levels. .01 ppm amm would mess your tank up whereas in a 75 or larger it would not have the same effect plus it would be harder to get to .01ppm amm in a 75g tank then a 30g tank and your fish poop alot...which increases that chance of tramatic change in levels.

 

[tampausmc]

watch that engineer goby.....those guys get up to 13" as adults.....and once they get comfortable you have to take out all your rocks to remove them.....70 gallon or larger is recommended on those....

 

[hihikeke]

O..really! I already have too many fish now? The tang is about 2.5" and the heinechous is only 1.25", 2 of the damsol is 1CM big, they are really tiny, I know if that is too many then I probadly need to take out some of them.
I remember that I overdosed with the Kent KH buffer, I put a way too much than what they recommanded, that's why I keep doing water changes now. I hope it will go back to normal soon.
All vitamin for my tank:
Reef-Solution = 5ML/day
Kent Stronium & Molybdenum liquid = 10ml/week
Purple Up = 5ML/day

 

[winstew]

Are you measuring for Stronium?

 

[hihikeke]

Hey tampausmc, really!!?? The Local fish store told me that was a Neno Goby, when I got it, it was only an inch long, now it's 6 inches already but it always stay under the sand, how do I take it out? Take out all the rocks?

 

[winstew]

I think he meant that to get the adult 13" version out you will have to take out all the rocks because that sucker will have all his escape routes.

 

[coachklm]

enginnerr gobies will have the possibility of seriouly messing up a tank. not to mention moving the rocks where they want them....they can upset a biologicall stability if added to an very established aquarium.