At a loss

[Psionicdragon]

The things I would do would be:
Get the temperature as stable as possible. Sounds like your on that path already.

The only good thing about the salt you use is the price. People have had problems with it in the past. I have tested it and found it to be unstable... 14dkh Alk and 1000mg/l Magnesium.

Are you using any form of alcohol around the tank or in the house? Any opened bottles or casks etc? Sudden alcohol/vinegar addition to a tank can cause the random overnight death of acro frags.

Interesting on the salt. I tried Kent and Oceanic before but Alk was like 16 when I tested it. I didn't like it much and Kent would not mix clear.

Oh that reminds me. I do run biopellets since I started this tank and have ran it without issues in the past. I do dose some VSV every few days. Usually less than 3ml per dose.

 

[Psionicdragon]

why is your calcium at 475?
how long you running the lights?
why does temps wing so much? is that 2-3 degrees in one day?
you stir your sand up recently?

Lights are on a min of 5 hours a day.

When the tank swung, it would stay at high 70s until I put on the second heater. Please note: the swings in temp happened probably 2 weeks ago, until I added the second heater.

In regards to calcium, I use APi which isn't the most accurate. Calcium doesn't fluctuate much or at all. I did compare API with Salifert awhile back and api was usually higher by 40 ppm.

No sand. Its bb

 

[Psionicdragon]

I used to love IO salt. I started using it in the mid 70's and have used it till about 5 yrs ago. I test each new batch I use and began to notice high Alk and Low Mag in some batches. Since I maintained my system at 7.2 dkh when I did a 10%(80gallons) water change it would spike the alk almost a full point. It was enough to make the acros slow down their growth rate, which then caused the Cal and Alk to spike due to lack of uptake. I would rather not use a salt when I have to add Muriatic Acid and dechlorinator to get the Alk to where it should be.

If the OP was doing a 25% WC then it could feasibly spike the Alk by almost 2dkh. With the 4 degree temp swings the more sensitive acros or weaker ones would not be happy. Then you add on a 2dkh instantaneous alk swing and it could be too much.




Yes, I agree it is a weird suggestion, hence it's my 3rd idea. I wasn't referring to opening a bottle and pouring yourself a drink. I was more referring to things like cleaning the glass or around the tank with rubbing alcohol, using a lot of silicone around tank, decanting home made wine and cleaning the wine making equipment. Anything that would release a lot of vapour near the tank or in the house if it's a small enough house.

The reason I suggested it as a remote possibility is that I have had it happen. I refilled my Vodka/Vinegar container after being out for 5 days over the holidays. Next day 3 dead frags. Even lost one of two 3/4" frags on a plug. Both were from the same acro and fragged at the same time a month earlier. Weird things happen in this hobby and not everyone has the same experiences.

Oh I got what you meant on your first post. There aren't any chemicals around the tank room like ammonia, bleach, or anything with fumes.

 

[Psionicdragon]

I placed circle marks on where they had been dying.

 

[March.]

how old is this tank?

 

[Psionicdragon]

how old is this tank?

1 year? I think

The 180 is connected to a 50 that has been running more than a year.

 

[SoloGarth]

With those soft corals I would want to run Carbon all the time to keep chemical warfare down. I run it all the time anyway even with only hard corals. Your water looks very cloudy and full of debris? Is that just the pic?

 

[Psionicdragon]

Great idea ReefWreak. I had one of the old gyres that had the insulation breakdown. It didn't result in stray voltage but the cracks occurred above the water. Check the cable, particularly near where it enters the motor block.

No loose connections. Checked it yesterday

 

[Psionicdragon]

With those soft corals I would want to run Carbon all the time to keep chemical warfare down. I run it all the time anyway even with only hard corals. Your water looks very cloudy and full of debris? Is that just the pic?

Sorry about the pic.

I forgot to take the pic before feeding After I dropped in the food i was like O S**T hehe

 

[SoloGarth]

Sorry about the pic.



I forgot to take the pic before feeding After I dropped in the food i was like O S**T hehe

Ok yeah I thought that might be the case. Looks like bits of mysis.

It's hard to tell from the pic it the coral that is circled looks bleached. Is there tissue on it? If it's just skeleton it will quickly get colonized by algae and won't remain that bright white.

 

[Aqualund]

How are you dosing Alkalinity and Calcium?

Also, just dipping corals before they go in does not kill AEFW eggs. You could very like have AEFW despite dipping.

The only proper way is 6 weeks of quarantine before introduction to surpass the gestation period.

 

[SoloGarth]

At a loss

How are you dosing Alkalinity and Calcium?

Also, just dipping corals before they go in does not kill AEFW eggs. You could very like have AEFW despite dipping.

The only proper way is 6 weeks of quarantine before introduction to surpass the gestation period.

That isn't the only proper way. What I do is remove any plug or rock the coral is attached to. I then QT for at least a week and perform dips in Bayer. If no pests are found during any of the Bayer dips or during observation at night in QT the frags are transferred into the tank. Don't want to derail the thread but AEFW eggs are not laid on live coral tissue therefore if nothing other than live tissue is transferred 6 weeks is not necessary.

Also QT alone serves little purpose. The pests must be found and to do this requires multiple dips and close observation of discarded dip water.

 

[SoloGarth]

If you could take a clear closer pic of an affected coral that would be helpful. Also performing another dip in something effective and checking for pests would be a good thing to do.

 

[Psionicdragon]

How are you dosing Alkalinity and Calcium?

Also, just dipping corals before they go in does not kill AEFW eggs. You could very like have AEFW despite dipping.

The only proper way is 6 weeks of quarantine before introduction to surpass the gestation period.

I run an Aqumaxx Calcium reactor and its dosed via a stepper motor. This has been pretty good as it had kept alk and calcium stable. In the past, it was drip dose which caused a lot of issues and RTN, but then I was able to pinpoint the issue.

Now I am at wits end.

 

[Psionicdragon]

If you could take a clear closer pic of an affected coral that would be helpful. Also performing another dip in something effective and checking for pests would be a good thing to do.

There aren't any flesh on the corals. They are literally just the skeleton. I took them out after I took the pic. I was assuming there wouldn't be any pest on a dead coral so I didn't dip em.

 

[Psionicdragon]

How are you dosing Alkalinity and Calcium?

Also, just dipping corals before they go in does not kill AEFW eggs. You could very like have AEFW despite dipping.

The only proper way is 6 weeks of quarantine before introduction to surpass the gestation period.

I dip with bayers 20ml per cup of water for 10 mins.

 

[Psionicdragon]

Thanks everyone for trying to help me solve this. I guess I am going to chalk it as strange and hope for the best.

All pes are out and doens't seem like anything else is dying.