Toxins in the water

[Endy0430]

I think I got some toxins in my tank all my snails, shrimps and some corals are dieing. I checked the water and everything tested ok so I believe toxins are the problem. My question is whats the best way to remove toxins from the water?

[timrandlerv10]

start running carbon and water changes now.

then wait for a real answer while you're doing it.

GOOD LUCK

you may also want to let the temp fall a little to inhibit chemical/biological processes.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Is there any chance the toxin is copper? Ammonia?

There are specific ways to deal with those.

[Endy0430]

No I checked for copper and ammonia and they were ok...I changed about 75% of the water and put a poly filter...hope it clears out...

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Copper can be a problem even if not detectable with a kit (since they do not detect low enough), but carbon and polyfilters are a good bet when one suspects unknown toxins.

You are not using tap water, are you?

[cmoresps]

Hey Randy, that begs the question, I ran into BIGTIME issues with GFO, now Im dosing 2 part (alk 11 ca 440, YEAH!! and STABLE!!), I am running carbon and have swapped out about 85% of system water in the past month or so (I could not get alk above 7 and ca above 360 to save my life). All sps have bigtime polyp extension, Im seeing color in acros I havent seen since I started using GFO! The question is, I flushed my lines with vinegar, but still have a concern over potential high iron from remnant GFO in the lines, I am using carbon, should I use a heavy metal sponge or am I best to leave it alone and just use carbon? I would buy an iron test but I am under the impression (from reading your articles, Iron can take many forms, and therefore an Iron test is likely to be way off from this type of scenario).

Thanks in advance

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What brand of GFO? Many folks use it with no apparent problems, and many folks also dose soluble iron (myself included).

In general, I expect any iron coming off of GFO is fairly rapidly removed from the system when the GFO is removed.

[Endy0430]

Originally posted by Randy Holmes-Farley
Copper can be a problem even if not detectable with a kit (since they do not detect low enough), but carbon and polyfilters are a good bet when one suspects unknown toxins.

You are not using tap water, are you?

No Randy not using tap water I use distilled water and I add buffer ...After the water change the tanks looks a lot better today going to run the poly filter for a week and retest everything again.....

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

OK, let us know how it goes.