TheRookieReefer
Member
the hole does seem to be getting bigger. Very Slowly.
Calcium issue has had me confused too.
At first I used tap water. for one 40-50% change.
Since then I have been using RO or Pre-Mixed water from my LFS.
Doing 1-2 20% changes per week since then.
I am using an API Reef Master Test Kit. (Test Tubes and Drops)
Honestly, I think you are doing too many water changes. A 40-50% change seems excessive and 20% twice a week also seems excessive. I did like a 25% water change after my tank settled in, like 3 weeks after i set it up. And I've done like 2 small changes to remove some nutrients since i was having an algae bloom. As of right now, I haven't done a change in over 2 weeks. All my levels are zero, but I don't have any fish in there yet, just corals.I run my protein skimmer and use carbon.
If you do not get a reading for ammonia, nitrite or nitrates over 10 ppm, I would lay off the water changes for a bit. Freshly mixed salt is very harsh to sensitive invertebrates and corals, as well as fish. When you are adding the replaced water I would add back slowly. I have heard that you can put some brine shrimp under the starfish and it will eat it. You may want to google your starfish and find out what it requires. I was looking at one of those for sale the other day, they are very beautiful, hope he gets better.
I've heard of people nuking their corals and killing their fish from adding mixed salt too fast