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Fijicube 81 gallon (1 Viewer)

oh yeah then I doubt it’s the barrel.

As for the phosphorus yeah that’s just another rwading of phosphate. One is organic vs inorganic I believe but they go hand in hand.
 
To be honest though, I wouldn't be overly concerned with those silica levels. Yes, try to find the source, it will eliminate a food source for diatoms. But from my experience dosing silicate for dinos (boo), it's safe in your tank up to 5-10ppm at least. And you're only at 0.5ppm in your RODI and ~0.15ppm in your tank. So not great, but not horrifying I guess.

Are you worried about any of those trace elements being a bit out of balance/wonky? I don't know if you dose any trace, or if you manage those just with water changes?

I ask mostly because I'm trying to learn to interpret my own results. Maybe one of the experts will weigh in :)
 
To be honest though, I wouldn't be overly concerned with those silica levels. Yes, try to find the source, it will eliminate a food source for diatoms. But from my experience dosing silicate for dinos (boo), it's safe in your tank up to 5-10ppm at least. And you're only at 0.5ppm in your RODI and ~0.15ppm in your tank. So not great, but not horrifying I guess.

Are you worried about any of those trace elements being a bit out of balance/wonky? I don't know if you dose any trace, or if you manage those just with water changes?

I ask mostly because I'm trying to learn to interpret my own results. Maybe one of the experts will weigh in :)
I don’t dose anything just water changes with Fritz blue box and two part. Just trying to figure out why I keep loosing SPS PAR is now good on my lights according to the meter anyways.
 
Hrm, I saw you posted a some of the main parameters a few weeks back. Do you have several weeks/months worth of results you could post in like table format? It might be good to see how things have trended.

How often are you testing Alkalinity? Is it pretty stable at 8 dkh like the result you shared?

What about a posting a temperature graph since you have the hydros. And pH? If you've got the probes, looking at what is going on there might shed some light.

Speaking of light, I see your par values definitely seem "in the range" for SPS. I learned this the hard way, what is your lighting schedule? On/off/ramp, total photo period, etc.?

What about flow? I see the one wave pump for sure in a recent picture. Are you seeing good polyp movement on your SPS? I admit flow is a mystery to me, but could definitely be playing into your coral issues.

Do you have any softies in the tank, like leathers? If so do you run carbon? Could the be some chemical warfare going on that is hurting your SPS?

What about fish, remind us if you have any fish that could be pecking at them?


I guess also maybe just lay out one more time what types of SPS and what is happening. Do they melt immediately? Seem to hang around for a few weeks/months then fade away? Do you ever see signs of growth?


This darn hobby just has so many different parameters that it makes it hard to dial in. I guess that's part of what makes it fun. But I guess I'm at least a details guy. So if you post up everything you can, I'm at least happy to try to dig through and see if we could pull out any nuggets for you to try.

Don't give up on the sticks!! :)
 
That’s interesting… can you request an analysis. My first thought was it is a measure of silicates which can come from tap water, detritus, additives or sand etc…. Maybe when it is heated during ICP it picks up as silicon as the individual element ?
 
These were my results in Aug of a bad ato container and a magnet. I was using a cheap office style trash can. Swap to something different and my corals stopped rtning. I’m not sure if it was the magnet or the container thought that did it. Maybe your ro storage is causing the issue???
IMG_4127.jpeg
 
I don’t think it’s my container. I have two barrels that were made specifically for water and a white/clear barrel that I use for mixing. I mix water on a Friday and do water change on Saturday or Sunday. I’m going to put all new filters including new membrane on my RODI system. I am also going to go with a three stage DI system that uses A and C resin in separate stages then a mixed bed resin at the end. This will replace my two mixed bed resin stages that I use now.

And only because I want more flow anyway I may shop around for a couple powerheads right now I am running 3 Pulse 2s and they seem to move water around pretty well but who knows.

I know I need to lower my phosphates but that doesn’t explain the loss of coral. The frags usually hang on for a few weeks to a month then start to loose all their color I don’t think they completely die but after all the color goes away then the tips usually loose tissue.
 
Similar results for me on the silica ~472.0 μg/l . And this was after new DI resin and I have a Commers whole house filtration system before the RODI. I am using 70gal norwesco container.
 
Similar results for me on the silica ~472.0 μg/l . And this was after new DI resin and I have a Commers whole house filtration system before the RODI. I am using 70gal norwesco container.
Weird. Strange thing is I’ve never had the reading before. I just assumed it’s from the silicone hose, but I had one on the last tank.
 
Funny thing is I had a test done in 2021 and had similar silicone readings.
 
I don’t think I’m going to worry too much about the silicone I’ll change and upgrade the RODI unit and possibly use a different mixing container. I don’t think that is what is causing my issues but I’ll work on it anyway.

Any thoughts on powerheads. I’m thinking about Tunze. Not as sleek as some of the others I know but I don’t think I have ever heard anyone complain about them
 
I don’t think I’m going to worry too much about the silicone I’ll change and upgrade the RODI unit and possibly use a different mixing container. I don’t think that is what is causing my issues but I’ll work on it anyway.

Any thoughts on powerheads. I’m thinking about Tunze. Not as sleek as some of the others I know but I don’t think I have ever heard anyone complain about them

Yeah if your water tank is an actual water tank I’m sure it’s fine.

As far as powerheads, I have the new Tunze 6075 and it’s awesome. Medical grade power supply, super long cable that doesn’t get hard in 6 months, and FINALLY unlimited user defined programming via Tunze Hub. They are expensive but I have no doubt it will last years unlike the Vortechs that have both needed several new drysides at $200 a piece.
 
Yeah if your water tank is an actual water tank I’m sure it’s fine.

As far as powerheads, I have the new Tunze 6075 and it’s awesome. Medical grade power supply, super long cable that doesn’t get hard in 6 months, and FINALLY unlimited user defined programming via Tunze Hub. They are expensive but I have no doubt it will last years unlike the Vortechs that have both needed several new drysides at $200 a piece.
You have a 4 foot tank I believe mine is only three. How many power heads are you running?
 
Just out of curiosity what was your aluminum at?
Also do you have any ceramic media or bricks
 
You have a 4 foot tank I believe mine is only three. How many power heads are you running?

I have a 5 foot tank and have 4 powerheads. The MP40s do the heavy lifting and this Tunze and a Nero are supplemental.
 
Just out of curiosity what was your aluminum at?
Also do you have any ceramic media or bricks
I posted the ICP results I don’t recall aluminum being flagged. I do have a lot of ceramic Beria balls and blocks in my sump
 
I posted the ICP results I don’t recall aluminum being flagged. I do have a lot of ceramic Beria balls and blocks in my sump
It wasn’t flagged but you did have aluminum in there
 
I don’t think I’m going to worry too much about the silicone I’ll change and upgrade the RODI unit and possibly use a different mixing container. I don’t think that is what is causing my issues but I’ll work on it anyway.

Any thoughts on powerheads. I’m thinking about Tunze. Not as sleek as some of the others I know but I don’t think I have ever heard anyone complain about them
I might be getting rid of some mp10's in a month or so if you are still looking for something then. Just not totally sure yet what I'll be doing.

If you want some frags to try once you get things where you think your good again id be happy to cut you some fresh ones to try for free.
 

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