HELP! bad water change?

[Stephane Cote]

hey folks...

I did a small water change yesterday and since then, my corals completely closed up (Xenia look terrible), GPS shriveled and closed and my zoas are undecided. some are open most are closed.

The water is a tad cloudy too and my skimmer is making big bubbles instead of it's regular size... so something is up.... i just dont know what

I left it overnight thinking it would clear up but it's not clearing up. My skimmer started acting normally however.

i use my RO as always and filtered it the same way, mixed the salt from the same bucket as always. Here are my suspicions

1- i created a bin to store/mix more water. the tap i use it made of brass (leaked metals?)
I dont know, i dont think so.. i did a 5gal change this morning and same result. even the skimmer that had settled down started acting up again

2- boil advisory from my watersource.
The city announced a boil advisory.. todays bucket may have come from that water, but i dont think tahts the issue as the big bin has been full for about 1 week.

3- Fragged a small coral
at the same time, i took out a peice of rock taht had a small coral (i forget the name but it' has small bubbles on it and looks like a carpet thing..). i took it out of the water to frag and it, and glue the small peice somewhere else on the rock

any advice of what went wrong?

 

[Mike Johnson]

What kind of glue did you use?

 

[Stephane Cote]

What kind of glue did you use?

It's special glue i bought at the fish store and have used a couple times for other frags. i forget the name.

 

[DianaKay]

How is your filter media? Are you running some carbon or some CPE?
Are they fresh or is it time for them to be replaced?
The glue you used most likely will cause issues with your skimmer.
I'd add fresh carbon as a safety precaution.
Your corals sound like hardy ones, they MIGHT have sensed a temperature change. Do you add WC water directly to the DT?

 

[Stephane Cote]

How is your filter media? Are you running some carbon or some CPE?
Are they fresh or is it time for them to be replaced?
The glue you used most likely will cause issues with your skimmer.
I'd add fresh carbon as a safety precaution.
Your corals sound like hardy ones, they MIGHT have sensed a temperature change. Do you add WC water directly to the DT?

I dont use any filters except for the live rock/skimmer and reactor (carbon and phosphate reducer). That being said, maybe i would need to replace my carbon, but like i said, this started right after the water change

I can see the glue being involved but this morning the skimmer was running ok. i changed 5gals and the skimmer went nuts again. it's currently off.

Could be temp, but i do take care of mixing the salt and heating the bucket to match the DT. i dont have any other means of adding water as i don't have a sump or anything. I dump the water slowly. like i said, im stumped. i use the same technique and same items (with few small exceptions). i never had that bad of a reaction. once i did get my GSP closed up for 1-2 hours but they come back .. this morning, still closed.

 

[sirrealism]

Lets go back to the basics. Are you sure you have 0TDS water? Do you have a way to calibrate your TDS meter? Since it happens when you do a water change i would think its coming from your water. If it was copper I am not sure that would set off your skimmer but I could be wrong about that.

 

[DaveK]

... the tap i use it made of brass (leaked metals?)...

This is a big problem. brass is copper and zinc. Both are highly toxic in SW. Replace the tap with a plastic one.

As for your tank, usually a skimmer foaming means something died, but it did seem to stop, so this could be just a case where the water was not mixed to the same SG. I would change the carbon and add one of the copper absorbing products, just in case.

You may need to make some massive partial water changes if things don't turn around.

 

[Stephane Cote]

This is a big problem. brass is copper and zinc. Both are highly toxic in SW. Replace the tap with a plastic one.

As for your tank, usually a skimmer foaming means something died, but it did seem to stop, so this could be just a case where the water was not mixed to the same SG. I would change the carbon and add one of the copper absorbing products, just in case.

You may need to make some massive partial water changes if things don't turn around.

Thanks Dave, thats whats i suspected as well. Using a new;y filtered water bucket, the skimmer did the same for a bit then settled down.

i came home tonight to see more zoas open but the xenias are still weirded out. as for my GSP, i see a few green spots they seem to be coming out.

as for the brass i figured that could be a problem. I'm especially worried about my flame angel, however he like the other fish don't seem to be bothered. thats why I'm thinking along the side of chemical warfare with the frag i did. (maybe not rinced well enough).

I can do water changes and put in new carbon, but I'm not sure i can locate copper removing agent localy (my local shops don't have much of a selection unfortunately and if i need to order it it maybe to late. so I'm thinking just doing a massive water change should bring down the levels, if it is copper. At least the amount of water i did for the water change was only about 10 gals ... good thing i didn't do a 20.

thanks all for the input. i hope i don't crash but i do see slight improvement from this morning

 

[Stephane Cote]

Lets go back to the basics. Are you sure you have 0TDS water? Do you have a way to calibrate your TDS meter? Since it happens when you do a water change i would think its coming from your water. If it was copper I am not sure that would set off your skimmer but I could be wrong about that.

I thought about the TDS meter. as it's reporting 0 in 0 out. normally it reports something. but even then i don't think i would have issues with the 5 stage filter. Although at this point, the skimmer goes nuts after i add water... so it could also be that.... or the salt...

 

[sirrealism]

I agree that copper is very bad but I dont think its going to make your skimmer go crazy which is why a suggested the RODI. 5 stage means nothing if your not getting 0TDS. Are you using a hand held TDS or one on your RODI system? I ask this because I noticed that when my battery on the TDS meter on my RODI went bad it read 0TDS when really it was much higher. What I saw was my pre DI TDS was reading 0 and so was my post TDS "I have the dual TDS meter" I knew there was no way I had 0TDS pre DI. I have a bottle of TDS solution "342 PPM or something like that" and my TDS was reading 15 when put in that solution and would not change with the adjuster. I put new batteries in it and adjusted it and found I was getting up to 65 TDS pre DI when first started, then after about 2 mins my pre DI was down to 7. I was going through DI very fast.

 

[Stephane Cote]

I noticed that when my battery on the TDS meter on my RODI went bad it read 0TDS when really it was much higher

I only have a TDS on/after last stage of my RO. i don't have a hand held... i should get one.

That is a possibility.. maybe i need to change my gel in the last stage.. ill take a look at that today. thx for the info

 

[Stephane Cote]

Update:

Changed the batteries and the TDS meter is operating a bit better.. it fluctuated between IN of 0.02 to 0.06 and out of 0.00. after a bit, the in registered 0.00. I changed the filters last stage at the same time (deion)

I tested my water for copper and i have 0 traces.

Fish are still lively and no signs of stress or illness

other than that, I'm watching the tank and my GSP is a little out. The pulsing Xenias are still looking bad but alive. my zoas are almost all open now

i think it was maybe the frag i did .. i may not have rinced it enough and it caused it to go chemical. thats the only thing I'm thinking of at this point.