Just looked inside my mixing station...

[Slombardi]

My tank hasn't been doing great and I can't seem to find the culprit. Every test I do, from salifert to Hanna to ICP comes back right where it should be. I looked inside my mixing station for the first time and saw this. I have used tropic pro for the most part. Could this be a problem and its just not something showing up in any of my tests?

Also, I plan on throwing some citirc acid in there and letting it run to clean it up. Would that work or any other recommendations?

 

[thrillreefer]

Seems like if it’s precipitating in the bucket then it’s not entering the tank. So I wouldn’t think a big concern. RODI at 0 TDS still? Especially if it’s coming from the salt mix and you haven’t changed I wouldn’t worry much. What are the symptoms of the tank not doing great?

 

[this is me]

Here’s mine.

What salt are you using? I’m using Instant ocean and it’s known for this feature. I don’t care for it. Been like this since I’ve used it.
I also have a 2 stage mixing set up where the first bucket is the freshly mixed barrel and then it get pumped to a second where the continuous water change pump is pumping from. Therefore, what’s goes in the tank is pretty clean. Know the TDS of your RODI. Test PO4 and NO3 if the mixed up water in the barrel. If they’re all 0, it’s good to go.
Second stage barrel. So what you see here is what is going into your tank.

 

[Chris A.]

I’ve had that with tmp and every other salt brand I’ve used. They all swear they’re pure but none of them are lol. Clean it once in a while and chalk it up to “ it’s another reef tank mystery “

 

[FREAKINRICAN69]

I’ve had that with tmp and every other salt brand I’ve used. They all swear they’re pure but none of them are lol. Clean it once in a while and chalk it up to “ it’s another reef tank mystery “

+1 i agree.

 

[PSU4ME]

So weird, I use TMP and have zero residue. Maybe it’s got something to do with how it reacts to your local water?

Definitely a reefing mystery

 

[Slombardi]

Thanks for the responses.

Tropic Marin Pro is 90% of what has been in there. TDS is 0 for Rodi. I typically mix up about 2 weeks of water at a time. I heat it when mixing for the first 24 hours then a couple hours before a water change. Ill test again, but have had no no3 or po4 readings from newly mixed.

In the tank, my sps has been very slowly dying. Polyp extension will go away then stn from the tips. Everything from my montis to acros. I have tried from target feeding the corals reef roids or aminos to now I have cut back on all additives besides my 2 part. I have done massive water changes, cleaned pumps, checked PAR and flow. Can't seem to figure it out.

Alk 7.5-8.5
Ca 440
Mg 1480
No3 3-8
P04 .05-1

On the triton ICP, literally everything was in the green.

I find that the corals are constantly covered in a "mucus". Its like my corals are covered in vermetid snail webbing, but I don't see any vermetids. I used to have them, but glue and picked them off for a while to where I don't see many any more. Not the best pic, but you can see the web on the coral. I have been going multiple times a day blowing off the corals and siphoning out the mucus, but it keeps returning! I thought it was maybe not enough flow, but I have a decent amount of flow and even the high areas it appears too..

 

[thrillreefer]

Might be dinoflagellates? Does it disappear at night? (Not that all species do.) Check on a microscope if you can. But UV sterilizer is what worked for me for Ostreopsis

 

[rock-n-reef]

Have you looked at the flow? if the mucus and webbing are settling down, I wonder if there is enough flow to remove those and not cause toxin buildup surrounding the tissue.

My mixing containers are similar with so much crud build up. but that's usually not a problem.

 

[Slombardi]

Might be dinoflagellates? Does it disappear at night? (Not that all species do.) Check on a microscope if you can. But UV sterilizer is what worked for me for Ostreopsis

Interesting theory on dinos. I hadn't considered this. It is not affected by day or night. I use a turkey baster to clean it off and whether its the morning day or night, its back in a couple hours. I don't have a UV, but that me be my next course of action.

 

[Slombardi]

Have you looked at the flow? if the mucus and webbing are settling down, I wonder if there is enough flow to remove those and not cause toxin buildup surrounding the tissue.

My mixing containers are similar with so much crud build up. but that's usually not a problem.

The flow is something I have messing with since I can blow the mucus off with a turkey baster, but even in high flow areas it builds up within a day. This bonsai acro gets blasted. I zoomed in and you can see "strings" coming out of where the polyps are, waiving around in the flow.

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

Look into Mesenterial filaments. I did a quick google search and found some interesting possibilities across many different reefing forums. Worth a shot.

 

[nilaydeshmukh]

I found this: https://animals.mom.com/ways-eliminate-ammonia-saltwater-aquarium-9094.html

(scroll down to bottom of the page)

I don't have any experience with this however, since you have tried everything else, I would suggest using Dr.Tim's Waste-Away bacteria. If it is indeed bacterial issue then these are fairly powerful combo of bacteria to overpower (eat) other bacterial (including Dino or cyano). Please DO NOT overdose. Dose may be half of what is suggested on the bottle and increase the dose slowly. These bacteria multiply very quickly and use up oxygen from the water column. I have used this to fight Dinos and it does work. If nothing else, if wont' hurt the corals. You will notice the difference in your skimmer. It will skim almost nothing for 2-3 days and then heavy dark stuff (almost back) for the next several days. I assume that means these bacteria are consuming other bacteria and other organic matter and excreting it out after couple of days (just my logic). It seems your corals are suffocating with the slime coat/lack of oxygen/food/photosynthesis and if these bacteria can eat the slime (and whatever else that is causing it) that may help. Dr.Tim's Re-Fresh is also another option. That combo of bacteria is not as aggressive if you are concerned.

Good luck!

 

[Slombardi]

I found this: https://animals.mom.com/ways-eliminate-ammonia-saltwater-aquarium-9094.html

(scroll down to bottom of the page)

I don't have any experience with this however, since you have tried everything else, I would suggest using Dr.Tim's Waste-Away bacteria. If it is indeed bacterial issue then these are fairly powerful combo of bacteria to overpower (eat) other bacterial (including Dino or cyano). Please DO NOT overdose. Dose may be half of what is suggested on the bottle and increase the dose slowly. These bacteria multiply very quickly and use up oxygen from the water column. I have used this to fight Dinos and it does work. If nothing else, if wont' hurt the corals. You will notice the difference in your skimmer. It will skim almost nothing for 2-3 days and then heavy dark stuff (almost back) for the next several days. I assume that means these bacteria are consuming other bacteria and other organic matter and excreting it out after couple of days (just my logic). It seems your corals are suffocating with the slime coat/lack of oxygen/food/photosynthesis and if these bacteria can eat the slime (and whatever else that is causing it) that may help. Dr.Tim's Re-Fresh is also another option. That combo of bacteria is not as aggressive if you are concerned.

Good luck!

Thanks for this info! I hadn't seen this one, but I was reading something else similar. Ironically I did actually add Tims Re-Fresh this morning. I may also look into waste away. I had been trying to add nothing and just let the tank chill, but that didn't help either.. I also think I am going to try UV depending on what happens with the tims products. Its brutal watching coral slowly die...

 

[Chlorinated]

Could be bacterial. I had a huge boost in bacteria in my 20 gallon. Not a typical bloom where it fogs the water, but it would completely clog my filters in a matter of hours causing the water level to rise in my AIO. The slime would cover my rocks and bother some corals. I have mainly softies and LPS though so maybe the movement kept them cleanish.

I battled it for like 60mo. Finally, I did a deep clean of my rocks and sand with a baster and then dosed MB7 every day for 2 weeks like as if I were starting fresh. Life has been back to normal since.

 

[nilaydeshmukh]

Thanks for this info! I hadn't seen this one, but I was reading something else similar. Ironically I did actually add Tims Re-Fresh this morning. I may also look into waste away. I had been trying to add nothing and just let the tank chill, but that didn't help either.. I also think I am going to try UV depending on what happens with the tims products. Its brutal watching coral slowly die...

Sounds good. I would recommend Waste Away given the situation that you are in, people say that the bacteria composition is unmatched in Waste Away compared to any other products, MB7 is also a very good suggestion too. Waste Away worked on my Dianos, so made me a believer. If I were give bacteria a try then I would do Waste Away first for 7-10 days, give tank a couple days of break and then start adding MB7, Refresh or One and Only. You will have to keep UV off though (at least for 4-5 hours) while you are trying to establish bacteria population, otherwise UV will indiscriminately kill good, bad and ugly. If you want to try out UV first then hold off until you start adding any of these bacteria cultures.

Good luck!

 

[ReefAddict]

I’ll tell you how it goes. I ordered a couple days ago the refresh / waste away for a Dinos explosion in my newer system 2. It’s pissing off corals in there.I have a UV on it but found my quartz sleeve was covered with precipitate and was doing nothing. I cleaned that so that may helped now.

 

[ReefAddict]

And to add my 2 cents, I doubt that mixing bucket has anything to do with anything you got going on.

 

[JeanR]

Agree, doubt they are related. Everyone has brown junk in the bottom of their mixing barrel. Have you touched it? Is it hard (mineral) or soft (biologic)? Much of mine is soft, seems to be some film algae that comes right off with a paper towel.

And I'm pretty sure Dr. Tim just bottles horse piss and sells it six different ways.

 

[Slombardi]

Could be bacterial. I had a huge boost in bacteria in my 20 gallon. Not a typical bloom where it fogs the water, but it would completely clog my filters in a matter of hours causing the water level to rise in my AIO. The slime would cover my rocks and bother some corals. I have mainly softies and LPS though so maybe the movement kept them cleanish.

I battled it for like 60mo. Finally, I did a deep clean of my rocks and sand with a baster and then dosed MB7 every day for 2 weeks like as if I were starting fresh. Life has been back to normal since.

60mo.... I thought I had it bad with 6 months!