new tank coral HELP

[jmbr082885]

hey guys i have a 2 month old 55 gal tank that i want to make a reef out of. all my parameter are at 0 ph at 8.3 and sg is at 1.023, and occording to my lfs last night o copper. when i went to move my corals over about a week ago, they all shrunk really bad, and my snails got like paralised, that is the haven;t fallen out, but they aren't moving. i let them sit in the new tank for two days, and they looked like they were getting worse, so i moved them back to the other tank. right now i have 35 lb live rock, and 60 lb live sand. i had 40 lb ,according to my lfs, lace rock. it looked a little like slate, and it was very aery. that i got from another lfs. according to the lfs that i trust, the other one will do anything to make a sale. the rock i got was just sitting in a plastic tray, and it was dry. i took all of that rick out last night and i wall be replacing it with live rock very soon. should i worry about leaching. what can i do to see what is in my water. i really hope that i don't have to start over with new sand, and water. please help.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by JMBR082885
occording to my lfs last night o copper.

if you used copper in this tank its no good for a reef.

 

[jmbr082885]

i didn't use any copper. i just tested it to see if the dead rock i used was leaching out copper, or if the tap water i used had copper in it.

 

[reefkprz]

ok had me worried I thought you were treating with copper then decided to go reef....
I reccomend bringing you SG up to 1.024-1.025 fro the sake of your inverts.

 

[jmbr082885]

So What Youre Saying Is That The Dead Rock Might Not Have Had Anthing To Do With It, And That It Was All Sg. The Sg In The Tank That The Carals Are In Now Was At 1.018, But I Am Bringing It Up Slowly. When I Went To Put The Corals Into The New Thank The Sg Was 1.021-22

 

[reefkprz]

sudden shifts in salinity do not bother corals, it could kill snails though. all you need to do for your corals is temp acclimation. I have no I dea what your specific problem is. I just know what I read in that one post thats it.

 

[jmbr082885]

Well I Removed The Rock, And Did A 10% Water Change Last Night. Now, This Morning One Of My Chromis Died. This Is So Frustrating, I Don't Know What I Should Do

 

[kevin34]

Do you use tap water?

 

[jmbr082885]

Yes With Prime

 

[kevin34]

I would highly reccomend switching to RO water. Get your own RO unit and you will probably see a big difference.