HELP! PLease, ignorance is no longer bliss

[pharoahsghost]

Hello all,
1st. I have started a saltwater with live rock only ( reef I guess). 55 gal 1- mag 350, 4-300galpm powerheads, protein skimmer, 1- AC 110 as sump for magroves and a small HOB for when ever I need some extra filtration nothing in it at this time just water running. I have T5 lights 1 atinic 5 10k, I believe its time to change them and pray thats the problem. Any way M corralline algae is turning white Im dying inside. I have cyanobacteria but I think I've been beating it. Nothing fancy yet becuase I want to get the water right first but, several feather duster rocks as well as a few mushrooms and all kinds of life growing.
Mistake 1 not reading before starting, Im an african cichlid hobbyist and was trying something different.
Mistake 2 going with my gut ignorance is bliss it all started out great coralline growing, mushrooms, you name it coming out of the rock.
mistake 3 asking lfs what next?, so I did it bought a hatian pink tip, some crabs, and snails all dead except 2 snails and 1 scarlet hermit.
Now 8 months later coralline algae turning white last of snail slowing in movement mushrooms not fully expanding.
So what do I do (change light bulbs) No, I start using 2 part solutions to fix and no results; Oh did I mention Ive done 2 water changes in 8 months and top off with faucet water every two weeks.
I ready for the insults and if you give one at least have the compassion to give me some wisdom thanks
Buying all brand neww lighting and doing water change in 1 week, Im a firefighter with a part time job so time is a factor.
Im teachable now crisis seems to do that to me.
Thanks again
Pharoahsghost

 

[coraljunky]

First thing first, what are your parameters?

 

[lexluethar]

Parameters will be key - test for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, PH, Salinity (use a refractometer), alkinity, calcium, copper.
How often do you do water changes? If you haven't made any huge changes to your system my gut would be that you haven't been doing enough water changes, so everything slowly started building up and 8 months later - crash.
Since it seems like most of your things are dying (you didn't say you had fish) or dead, I would say water changes. I would do 15% water change every three days until parameters are where they should be - again i don't know what they are i'm just going off my gut feeling of thinking the parameters are out of wack.
I would also run carbon in your system (HOB filters usually have cartridges you can buy). If your parameters are right something foreign could have gotten into the system (airosole, cleaning solutions) and it wouldn't show up on the test kits, so running carbon would clean it out.
Keep us posted.

 

[pharoahsghost]

Sorry for the delay:
ammo-0.50
nitrate-10
ph-8.2
nitrite-0
cal- 500+
Salinity 1.026
I messed up again and read the instructions wrong for the cal test and thats the reason for the super high calcium. I added some thinking it was low until I re read the thing 4 times. did a water change yesturday and scared to do one to lower the cal. new t5 bulbs coming son but after washing down the cover realized they still have some good light left. Also got a aquarium pharm tap water filter to change water. So far I think Im on the right track, just have to lower the calcium ( used the API test confusing as heck). So any advice, help, anything?
Thanks again guys and gals

 

[littlebuck]

Well the 1st thing i would do is not use tap water, I would either get a rodi unit or go to a store to get RO water. Those tap water filters dont really help block out anything. If you have a superwalmart they sell it for .33 a gallon.

 

[lexluethar]

Yup, tap water is what killed your inverts and coral. Tap water may allow you to keep fish, but not inverts and corals. Tap water filters only clean out things like chlorine, not harmful things like metals, copper (kills inverts), and other harmful contaminants that are okay to some fish, but not fragile creatures like inverts and corals. You should always use RO/DI water (buy at walmart if you want for like 55 cents a gallon), even with fish.
Your ammonia is high, so i think something has died in your tank. In your original post you said you only did 2 water changes the past eight months - aside from top offs. You should be doing 10% water changes weekly.
So:
Water changes every few days (10%) with premixed RO/DI water and salt
DO NOT USE TAP WATER.

 

[paintballer768]

In reef systems, tap water almost always causes a problem down the line. IMO, do what LexLuethar said. Also, I started my system out with dechlorinated tap water, and it turned out that there were phosphates in the water. If youve been mixing with/topping off with tap water, I would spend 5$ on a phosphate pad. Go to the LFS, and get one and put it in the sump or somewhere that the water will flow through it. Dont buy "cyano remover" or anything unnecessary, it only masks the symptoms which are the look of it.
Ammonia to me says something in your tank is dying/dead. Try to recover from this as fast as you can or else more will die and your parameters will freak out.
So the rundown: Buy a phosphate pad, use premixed saltwater/RODI water and mix it yourself from now on.

 

[snakeblitz33]

If your ammonia is up anymore then 0, your tank is dying! Ammonia burns up the gills of your creatures, making them unable to breath properly and will eventually kill them.
1. Do not use tap water. Get an RO/DI unit with a nice water storage container and float valve.
2. Do regular water changes, 10% once a week will suffice.
3. Cleanup as much algae and gunk as you can in your tank.
4. IMMEDIATELY run some carbon in your filter if you aren't already. Maybe even wrap some carbon in filter floss and rubberband it to the intake of a powerhead.
5. make sure your skimmer is working properly and getting a lot of skimmate (gunk) out of your water.
6. Cut back on your feeding. Too much food will cause ammonia and nitrate spikes.
Your Coralline algae will not grow back from the white spots. First you have to fix your ammonia and nitrates. Then, if you wish, PROPERLY dose/drip kalkwasser in your tank.
A little more research would have helped your aquarium better. Take your time and be patient.