Help - Coral distressed and dying

I am a new reef tank owner with about 6 months experience. However, I had to move and start over last month. I have a 55 gallon tank with a combination light (4 65W PC/ 2 250W@ Halides). Things were going great until I did a water change, then thinks went down hill.

I lost two fish, but one was having issues anyway; the other was found on the intake to the power head..and I am wondering if it just got caught inadvertently.

The one thing I might have done was add too much salt... it is at 1.016, just above the green zone on the hydrometer.

I did a water test and my PH is 8.8, all other readings were great.

Central Florida has been having some extreme rainfall over this week, and I am wondering if the water was effected.

My aneminity had withdrawn but is starting to return. The mushroom was about the size of quarter, now is about the size of a pea. The others have shriveled up.

Do I consider the one's that have shriveled up completely gone, or is there hope to return??

Please help.
THnaks
Eric

 

Well, you do have a few issues with your tank. You are running too low on your SG. I would suggest 1.023. I would start raising that, but no more than .001 per 24 hours. Also, your pH is high. 8.2 to 8.4 is the sweet spot. I would like to know what your Ca, Mg and dKH are. When these numbers are stable and within reason, the pH follows suit.

Now, that anemone. Anemones should be kept only in tanks that are over a year old that are managed by an aquarist with a few years experience. They are no joke. My tank is a year old and I still don't feel comfortable keeping them. Too many of these potential assasins are sold to unsuspecting customers. I was one such customer. I would get the anemone out of there yesterday. If it dies, it will take your tank with it. They release a host of toxins that just flat out poison the environment.

EDIT: And did I see you are running over seven hundered watts with a 55g tank? Too much. That lighting system would support a 90g tank no problem. I would reconsider the lighting choice. Watts per gallon is, granted, only one variable when choosing a good lighting source, but you are running over 13 watts per gallon. The standard is 5W/gal give or take.

 

+1 with Pharmer......also, just out of shear curiousity, why would you think that rainfall would affect anything? Where do you get your saltwater from, the LFS or do you mix it yourself?

 

may be getting it from the coast? or a salt water marsh area, which would make sense when the SG is considered

Steve

 

im wondering what hydrometer has a green zone below 1.016. Thats shockingly bad

 

Scrap that hydrometer and get a refractometer.. I bought one on E-bay for 30$. Get some saline calibration fluid rated at 1.026 or 35 ppm (parts per million). Calibrate the hydrometer for accuracy.. so much easier and so accurate, you'll never regret it. I'll bet that 1.016 is not right, and before you start raising it you need to be sure it's right. +1 with pharmer