learning from failures

[aflux]

I've found pH up products to be pretty ineffective in my experience. They're not something I'd recommend adding directly to the tank, either - it's better to mix them into top-ups or water changes. I've had some success with bicarbonate of soda in the past, but only in smaller tanks. If your live rock and substrate aren't buffering your pH, it might be worth checking your alkalinity levels - they could be a bit low.

[craftyx]

To help you figure out what's going on, we need some more info. What's your tank's specific gravity, or SG for short? You can use a refractometer or hydrometer to check that. Also, what are your current ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels? I know you mentioned earlier that ammonia was 0.5 mg/L after the fish died, but I'd like to know what it's like normally.

It's also good to know your pH, but you mentioned it's usually around 7.8-8.0, which is fine for fish.

Another thing to consider is whether you're acclimating your fish properly. If not, they might be getting shocked to death by sudden changes in SG, temperature, or pH. To acclimate, you can use either the drip or cup method. It's pretty simple - just search online for a tutorial if you're not sure how to do it.

The pH has stabilized at 8.2. I'm wondering if the Seachem Reef Complete Calcium Raiser is also ineffective in this situation.

[Duskborn]

There are a couple of options here. I think the tap water could be the culprit. It's possible that it's got nitrites in it, and in some cases, even ammonia and nitrite. This could've slowly poisoned something sensitive to nitrates in the tank, like a sponge or a sea cucumber, and then fouled the water. I'd test the tap water to see if it's got nitrites. If it does, getting an RO/DI kit might be a good idea, especially if you want to keep coflakes.

It's also possible that the uncured live rock is the issue, like others have said. I'm a bit surprised that it's still causing problems after two weeks, though. I've never had ammonia spikes last that long when I cycled my tanks, but I've always used cured rock and gotten it home within an hour.

Your salinity is a bit low, too. It should be more like 1.025-1.026. This won't hurt the fish, but it might be a problem for coflakes or inverts on the rocks. The higher salinity should help keep the water more alkaline, thanks to the trace elements in the marine salt.

[craftyx]

The salinity thing makes sense now. I had it lower because the fish I got came from an area with fluctuating salinity levels, usually around 1.020 or less. Figured it'd be better to keep it stable for them, but I guess it's not ideal for the coflakes.

Just tested my tap water, and the nitrites are at 0 mg/L, ammonia's at 0 mg/L, and the pH's at 7.4. Looks normal to me, but I'm no expert. Guess I can rule out the tap water as the issue.