ill torch coral

M

mobyduck

New Fish
#1
Oct 4, 2010
3
0
0
#1
i got my marine nano about a month back from my dad who wasn't looking after it properly for months until i convinced him to hand it over. The tank was a wreck, all the levels were wrong, algae and cyno had taken over the place, i've managed to get it back to a decent state with only phosphate and ph to fix. Just three days ago i bought a torch coral for my tank, and for the past two days it has started to wilt. Could a difference in the ph levels caused this. I've got the tank well lit so i dont think lightings an issue and all but my phosphate and ph levels are good.
 

Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#4
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#4
liquid test kits are better. Torch can be angry about a few things. lighting should not be too strong, and neither should flow. moderate lighting and light flow are good. pH should be the pH of seawater which is 8.1-8.4 when you mix it. how frequently do you do water changes on this tank? if you do them like 4 times a year or something crazy like that, you cannot get away without dosing your tank somehow.
 

M

mobyduck

New Fish
#5
Oct 4, 2010
3
0
0
#5
I've been doing slight water changes, I've done two 25% since i got the tank about a month back to fix the levels, I didnt want to do a complete water change because I have two clowns in there that had managed to survive my dad and I didnt want to stress them out and kill them. I've also got a few small feather dusters starting to emerge from the live rock and I dont want to lose them either by doing a big change. Would it be possible to raise the pH, save the torch, but without putting everything else at risk?
 

Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#6
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#6
small water changes are the answer. if you do them, frequently enough with a quality salt mix thats mixed to proper reef specifications, then eventually you will see that the water in your tank should match the specs of your mixed saltwater.
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#7
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#7
ph is directly related to other parameters such as alk. What is your alk at? You could also try buffering the water with Kent's to raise the ph. You want to do it slowly so as not to upset other parameters. Your alk is probably really low and it is affecting the ph also. You need to give us all the parameters so that we can better give advice on fixing the issue. Make sure you are using good quality r/o water for your changes.....mix your water with high quality salt mix that buffers to 8.4 or so and change a larger amount say 30% at a time over the course of a week this should correct the issue.....what time of day are you measuring and testing? this has a lot to do with ph fluctuations also as it will fluctuate throughout the day.
 

Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#9
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#9
very useful calculator, I suggest you bookmark it for future reference, since most likely, if youre reefing, youll use it someday. Still the best way to fix the problem is through water changes so I say try that route before you start using buffers, or dosing stuff like C Balance.
 

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