I need a list of EVERYTHING that can be tested for, little help pls?

[kilofey]

For some reason, I cant keep fish alive but I can keep corals and inverts alive with no problem. Ive had the tank set up for like 4-5 months now and had most of my corals and inverts atleast 3 months, some I had the day I set the tank up cause they came free with my lr (bought on craigslist)
This is what I do test for and what my readings are:
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 10
Kh 13 drops of test solution (directions say 8-13, working on getting it down, a little high cause I had bad ro/di filters & didnt know. It WAS at 25+ drops)
Ph 8.4
I know I should test for... But havent gotten the tests yet.....
calcium...which should be 400-450 rite?
alkalinity... Whats the difference between kh and alkilinity? What should I read if using api liquid kit
Phos... What the heck is it? What should I read if usong api liquid kit?
*did i miss any tests*
Please dont use all those confusing abbreviation/number combinations with the answers, honestly I have no clue what that garbage means or what it stands for. Can any of the things that I do not test for kill fish and not inverts & corals? Fish are the ONLY ones affected. I thought I just bought some sick fish before, so I waited like 2 months and got 2 clowns yesterday, they are active but they dont seem to want to eat. The one that I suspect to be the boy evdn shivers his tail at the one I think is the girl (not a sick twitch, the kind that they do when they want to spawn). They follow eachother but kind of stay in one area of the tank. They are from 2 different tank systems and are acting exactly the same... Not hungry. I know I could be jumping to comclusions, but im worried about killing these ones too! Ive already had 4 fish die and 0 survive since I started the tank (though one was pure accident cause he got sucked into the sump when the cover fell off) so he doesnt RREEAAALLLLYYY count for the death toll cause who knows if he would have made it

 

[snakeblitz33]

What is your salinity? How are you acclimating your fish?

 

[btldreef]

Also, if you intend on keeping corals down the road, it's nice to have a magnesium test kit as well.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Oh, and what is your pH at lights on and lights off? (two different readings)
Alkalinity is the resistance to a change in pH, measured in carbonate and bi-carbonate hardness. dKh is a German unit of measurement that is Degrees of Karbonate Hardness. In the saltwater aquarium world, we either use the measurement mEq/L which is miliequivilants/Liter which in an aquarium ranges from 2 to 5mEq/L. The easiest one for me to understand is the dKh scale. If you added 13 drops, then your dKh is 13. Simple, neh? So, as an aquarist, you need to keep your Alkalinity between 8 and 12 dKh so your corals can have adequate calcification.
I'm sorry for all of the measurements and things, but really in order to understand alkalinity and how to control it, you do need to know what the measurements mean. It's like doing chemistry without knowing your elements or playing football without a playbook. It's not garbage at all, and will help you have a successful aquarium long term.

 

[kilofey]

Snakeblitz- I totally agree I do need to know the abbreviations and I appreciate you explaining them. I was just avoiding the answers that look like they are in code lol. Most ppl assume u know what all those things mean... And im still new, so I dont yet... But I will! So what I gather from some of ur info, is that my kh is 13, so my alk is ok too... Right? Or do I need to test separately? I acclimate in the bag for about 1.5-2 hrs, add a little water at a time. iono what my salinity is but my sg is 1.025 with a refractometer
Bltd- I do have corals, ill pick one up

 

[snakeblitz33]

Alkalinity - the word that is used to describe the resistance to the change in pH
ppm KH - parts per million Karbonate Hardness
dKh - degrees of Karbonate hardness
mEq/L - miliequivalents per Liter
The last three measurement types measure alkalinity. If you put 13 drops of an alkalinity tester into your test tube, you have a dKh of 13, a ppmKH of over 214.8, and mEq/L of over 5.0 They are all the separate measurements for alkalinity. Most of us on here prefer to use either mEq/L or dKh. I prefer dKh because it's easier to count the drops, lol. A dKh of 13 is actually pretty high - about 1dKh too high. If your Alkalinity is high, you probably have a pretty high pH too. I have never seen anyone with a high pH and dKh have constant fish deaths though.
Phosphate is a nutrient - it leaks into your aquarium by food you feed your fish, by using bad top off water, by using certain chemical doses that aren't phosphate free. There are also some cheap quality salt mixes that have phosphates. Phosphates are a nutrient for algae to grow. Corals use it in absolute trace amounts, but the phosphate in our aquariums contain MUCH MUCH HIGHER levels then what is found in the wild on a typical reef. Phosphates are one of the causes for corals to die in our aquariums (combined with lighting, flow, excess algaes, disease, necrosis, inadequate feeding, vitamin deficiencies, etc. etc. etc.)
Most people reduce phosphate by water changes, algae scrubbers, protein skimmers (debateable), changing filter media, phosphate absorbing media (I don't recommend), and other means.

 

[kilofey]

A dkh of 1 is too high? ??? When I test my fresh ro/di water, I get 0, but when I add the salt, it goes up... So it must be in the salt (i use istant ocean reef crystals). The guy at the lfs said his kh for his sw is about 9. Am I missing something? The number is higher than normal though because of bad ro/di cartridges and high kh in my well water, I am bringing it down with water changes now that I have good cartridges.
Also, should I start looking elsewhere for answers to fish deaths if dkh doesnt cause fish death that often? Could it be a disease eventhough I went like 2 months without any fish in the tank? Since the first 3 fish died, I ran carbon for 2 weeks to soak up any nasties & then waited the 2 months.

 

[snakeblitz33]

No, a dKh of 13 is 1 dKh too high. A dKh of 12 is fine. 13-1=12.
A dKh of 1 is way too low. Your LFS saltwater is 9 dKh which is also fine.
I suggest you start buying RO water from your live fish store or grocery store rather than using well water for top offs and water changes. well water can have too high of nitrate, phosphate minerals, heavy metals and other trace elements (from what I have read) to be a viable source of water. Test your well water with a freshwater test kit of nitrate and phosphate if you can.
Look into drip acclimation, and read a few articles on acclimating your fish. Turn your lights off, float your bag for 10-15 minutes to equalize temp, cut open the bag and insert an airline tube that is on a drip (gang valve, tie off, cable clamp, whatever) and slowly drip acclimate your fish to the new water. Usually your fish are done acclimating when the water in the bag has doubled.
Try a trio of hardy fish like chromis next to see if they survive.
Whatever it is, we'll figure this out.

 

[kiefers]

Snake..... what exactly is your deal with protein skimmers? You got all bent out of shape when you assumed that someone else was getting down on the scrubbers. Please...... educate "us". Meaning, the op and I both.

 

[kilofey]

Lol, whoops sorry bout that, I read it wrong )
I do have well water but I run it through my ro/di unit and my tds meter takes 2 readings, one from the ro going into the di and one out of the di (the product water). Both are at 0. My top off water is ro/di water... Ro/di units filter out things like nitrate and phosphate right?
Long story short, my ro/di filters werent only bad, but the guy I bought it from told me backwards when he said which hose was the good water and which was the bad water... So I filled my tank with 75 gal of crap water!!! Ive gotten 30 gal ot of there so far but ill need to do another couple wc to have it be competely new water... *idea* possibly this could be my issue... My well water isnt very good at the moment cause the water treatment guy hasnt been out in a while, so I cant make any new water until its fixed (i COULD, but it would prolly thrash my ro filters) hes sceduled to come out soon. So theres still 45+ gal of ba water in the tank, what if it has like high iron (which my non ro/di water does have) and since I filled it with bad water theres prolly ALOT in there. Or there could be...god knows what... Jeez I may have found my answer... It sucks that my fish are pretty much doomed but at least I have something to try & see if t makes a difference.
I wont be adding anything new until these fish A) survive for atleast a month, which they prolly wont or B) they die and ill prolly get a chromis to experiment and solve the problem (which sounds god aweful but ill never know if the issue is fixed if I dont) I will research drip acclimating so I know I am doing it properly
I REALLY appreciate your responses, youve been very helpful, thanks for sticking with me

 

[kilofey]

Btw, I dont protien skim cause I have so many filter feeders that probably enjoy the junk in the tank. Feather dusters & some corals ect (but I feed them oyster feast in addition)
Do filter feeders act as mini protien skimmers? Like if you had a tank of just filter feeders would they do the same as a skimmer (in addition to wc to get rid of their waste)

 

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiefers http:///t/387980/i-need-a-list-of-everything-that-can-be-tested-for-little-help-pls#post_3418299
Snake..... what exactly is your deal with protein skimmers? You got all bent out of shape when you assumed that someone else was getting down on the scrubbers. Please...... educate "us". Meaning, the op and I both.
Yeah, this is going to be a long discussion. Maybe you could create a thread so that we could discuss it properly?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kilofey http:///t/387980/i-need-a-list-of-everything-that-can-be-tested-for-little-help-pls#post_3418306
Btw, I dont protien skim cause I have so many filter feeders that probably enjoy the junk in the tank. Feather dusters & some corals ect (but I feed them oyster feast in addition)
Do filter feeders act as mini protien skimmers? Like if you had a tank of just filter feeders would they do the same as a skimmer (in addition to wc to get rid of their waste)
Come to the thread that Kiefers is going to create.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Maybe thread topic like "Scrubbers vs. Skimmers" or something like that? PM me when it's up.
Iron will most likely not hurt any fish. Santamonica dumped a gallon of iron supplement in his 90g reef, and only lost a bubble coral. heh. Iron is great for growing and maintaining algae though.

 

[kilofey]

Hmm, well, its worth checking out I would think cause who knows what else is in there... I mean, if the remaining 45 or so gallons of bad water isnt hurting the tank, whats the point of an ro/di unit in the first place? I mean, I did run it through the ro/di when I filled the tank, but I put all the waste water in the tank instead of product water. So its not only well water, its well water on steroids lol cause its more concentrated that my regular well water

 

[kilofey]

Btw, ill totally go to the scrubbers vs skimmers thread, im sure ill learn some stuff ) let me know when its up

 

[snakeblitz33]

umm, it's been up. lol!

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kilofey http:///t/387980/i-need-a-list-of-everything-that-can-be-tested-for-little-help-pls#post_3418219
For some reason, I cant keep fish alive but I can keep corals and inverts alive with no problem. Ive had the tank set up for like 4-5 months now and had most of my corals and inverts atleast 3 months, some I had the day I set the tank up cause they came free with my lr (bought on craigslist)
This is what I do test for and what my readings are:
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 10
Kh 13 drops of test solution (directions say 8-13, working on getting it down, a little high cause I had bad ro/di filters & didnt know. It WAS at 25+ drops)
Ph 8.4
I know I should test for... But havent gotten the tests yet.....
calcium...which should be 400-450 rite?
alkalinity... Whats the difference between kh and alkilinity? What should I read if using api liquid kit
Phos... What the heck is it? What should I read if usong api liquid kit?
*did i miss any tests*
Please dont use all those confusing abbreviation/number combinations with the answers, honestly I have no clue what that garbage means or what it stands for. Can any of the things that I do not test for kill fish and not inverts & corals? Fish are the ONLY ones affected. I thought I just bought some sick fish before, so I waited like 2 months and got 2 clowns yesterday, they are active but they dont seem to want to eat. The one that I suspect to be the boy evdn shivers his tail at the one I think is the girl (not a sick twitch, the kind that they do when they want to spawn). They follow eachother but kind of stay in one area of the tank. They are from 2 different tank systems and are acting exactly the same... Not hungry. I know I could be jumping to comclusions, but im worried about killing these ones too! Ive already had 4 fish die and 0 survive since I started the tank (though one was pure accident cause he got sucked into the sump when the cover fell off) so he doesnt RREEAAALLLLYYY count for the death toll cause who knows if he would have made it
I can understand you being paranoid...but the clowns are acting like clowns. Most fish are so stressed they won't eat the first day so I don't bother to feed them. Clowns hang out in a corner, yep thats all they do..is twitch and wiggle in place. They are tough little fish and should be fine. Unless you have something like a parasite killing the fish, I can't think of a thing that kills the fish, and not the corals and inverts

 

[kilofey]

Hmmm, we shall see if they make it. Its day 3 and they still wont eat. Also, the orange clown occasionally only swims with one fin !?
Btw, I just got done reading the skimmer vs scrubber thread, great read.... And it sounds like u made lots of valid points snake I have a question about it.... Since im a NOOB... I dont have either could my tank be overloaded with nutrients & maybe that makes it easier to keep corals but hard to keep fish? Even if its absolutely not the cause of my inability to keep fish alive, I will be looking into a skimmer ONLY ONLY ONLY because I live outside town in the country & the power goes out pretty frequently here... So dont be mad snake lol jp but it does seem pretty important to have one or the other

 

[kilofey]

Could a parasite from last time possibly still be lingering in the tank eventhough I waited like 2ish months before adding any more fish?

 

[flower]

Hi,
No, on both questions. You would know if you had a parasite you can see them. If you did have a parasite like ich, leaving the tank empty of fish for 6 to 8 weeks would cause thre parasite to die off because they would have no host. The overloaded nutrients would affect coral long before it bothers the fish. Same thing with stray voltage or toxins.
There are other parasites besides ich, but again you would notice them. Frankly, fish are more hardy than inverts, and inverts are more hardy than coral...corals are the most delicate.
I suggest you purchase your fish from a place like SWF.com where you get a guarntee of 14 days. Because the online store loses money if they have to keep replacing fish, they hire better people and take extra care that your fish are healthy when you order it and they ship it.
What are you trying to feed the fish?