troubleshooting: salinity and calcium question ...

[Liu01GT]

because of CA power outages, i had to lower the water level in my sump to bare minimums (if there were a blackout and i am not present, the tank may overflow, so i kept it at a level that would not overflow). i noticed that the protein skimmer was not functioning at all.

shortly after, my elegance coral died, and the ammonia level started to spike. first at 0.1 mp/L and then dropped.

then after a month, and no 10% water change (sorry, i was lazy

), the ammonia jumped to 0.2 mg/L, and the nitrates to 65 mg/L.

during this time, the Ca+2 level has been about 450 ppm and the KH at 6 dH. and the salinity specific gravity has been about 1.018.

i did a 25% water change, and now the nitrate level is down to 0.25 mG/L, and no ammonia present. i also managed to fix the protein skimmer (or so i think. it's fizzing up, and leaving some liquid in the cup).

however, i noticed that, a few hours after my water change, a branch/clump of my torch coral fell off the branch. i'm assuming that part died (?). after doing a water test, i noticed that the Ca+2 level has dropped down to about 300 ppm.

right now, the torch is being kind of reclusive, although the light is dark, but it seems to be hanging limp.

my questions are:
what is a suitable/optimum specific gravity for the water level for Ca+2 and KH ?

should i be concerned about the torch coral dropping a lump ? if so, how do i save it ?

 

[cgbexec]

Liu01GT

Your specific gravity is very low. The worlds oceans stay fairly constant at 1.023 to 1.025. Your calcium probably dropped due to the water change. What kind of salt are you using? How big is your tank/sump? Why does you tank drain so much water into the sump? What kind of set up do you have? What kind of plumbing? We need more info.

Chris

 

[naesco]

I agree, very slowly raise it to 1.026 or a little lower if you prefer.

 

[reefworm]

most likely. torches are fairly sensitive to water conditions, and, as others have pointed out, 1.019 is far too low. ramp it up slowly as naesco suggested. Alkalinity is a bit low as well. If you don't have a good book or two, now would be a good time to invest - lots of good ones out there - Tullock's Natural Reef Aquariums, and Shimek's Coral Reef Aquariums would be good for starters.

 

[Liu01GT]

the previous owner of the tank told me to keep it at 1.019. hmm.
is this the reason why the torch coral is unhappy ?