cant keep any new additions

S

shadofax69

In Memoriam
So I am having a problem with my SPS tank. I have 2 SPS that are doing fine a yellow table acro and a yellow/orange acro that are doing great but I have tried to add frags of green slimmer and they RTN every time. I have tried this twice and every time the same things happens. I am just wondering what is wrong with my tank. I have a 50 gallon aquarium with a 20 gallon sump, a 250W 10K XM MH for lighting, 2 modified MJ 1200's and 2 modified MJ 900's on a wavemaker for flow. The return is just a Mag 3.5. I have about 50 - 60 lbs of live rock and a thin layer of crushed coral. Livestock wise I have 1 damsel fish and 1 x Fox Face Lo. I have several crabs and snails in the tank. I have a ASM G-2 that I will be getting on line in the next day or so. Last time I checked my chemistry everything seemed fine except a slightly low Alk and thus a slightly low pH when the lights are off (8.0). I will get updated water chemistry parameters tonight but thought I would start off with some suggestions on what to do.

Thanks,
 
Is this a 4 foot 50 gallon? If so you have the same lighting setup I did, I had nothing but problems. Some of my coral would do ok, but not really grow, new stuff was really hit or miss, and I had a lot of stn issues that sortof came and went.

I found my problem was that the single hilide was not cutting it, I got a lux meater and was shocked by how little light was getting into my tank, mulitiply this with the fact that hilides are point sourse and only the part of the coral facing the light really gets lit up and you have a problem.

This is what I found to be my cause, I think it would be worth it for you to look into it. Now that I have 2 xm 10K's I have great growth, stn stopped, corals seem to do well and I have growth (knock on wood)

HTH,
Whiskey
 
I would say your problems are probably more likely related to water parameters than lighting. Your low alkalinity can cause SPS to STN.
 
I have a 30" x 18" 50 gallon aquarium. I am getting ready to go home so I will list my water chemistry as soon as I get home and test. I just find it wierd that something like a slimmer will RTN while a more fragile SPS will be ok with great polyp extension and great growth.
 
Oh, ok with a 30 inch tank you are fine. Mine is 48 inches and I had the light a foot + off the water to get the spread I needed. Stupid now that I look back, but at the time I just thought that hilides are soooooo powerfull.

Whiskey
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6801822#post6801822 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Don Berry
I would say your problems are probably more likely related to water parameters than lighting. Your low alkalinity can cause SPS to STN.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

How did you acclimate?
Did you acclimate to your light?
What parameters/light did the source run?

I'd also say - that seems to be a very small amount of flow IMO.
[Mag3 - head, 2 x MJ1200/2x MJ900.
 
The modified MJ's put out a ton of flow I would guess that I have ~1500goh minimum with the MJ's which is 30x the tank volume. I cannot keep anything in place without gluing them and I get about a 1" rise on one end of my tank when the flow is in the right direction. I could add more but dont really think it is needed. I have a SEIO 1500 I could put in there.
 
I had the same problem for a while in my tank and I found out it was the containers I keep my ro water, kalkwasser, and water change water. They were leaching a toxin into the water. The sps I had where surviving (with little growth and brown color) but any new additions would stn and die. It really sounds like a water quality problem to me.
 
moumda how did you fix this problem. I keep my RO in a rubbermaid container right now and it shows a TDS of 0. Were you keeping the water in a rubbermaid and if so what did you switch to.

Thanks,
 
I was using rubbermaid roughneck containers. I switched to rubbermaid brute containers and is 7 25 gallon water changes. I seem to remember reading somewhere that roughneck containers have an antimold or antifungus or something like that. Brute containers are food grade (the grey colored, blue, and yellow I believe) and don't have this additive.
 
I think I am safe on my water container but I will double check. So here are the water chemistry parameters and I think I might have found the problem let me know if you see it.
pH: 8.3
Ca: 420ppm
Alk: 10.6dKH or 3.77meq/L
salinity: 1.029
temp: 78F
NO2: 0ppm
NO3: 0ppm

Well let me know if you think any of these are affecting my coral.

Thanks,

PO4: 0ppm
 
Your salinity is way too high bro... 1.026 tops. Alk is also a tad high. I would keep it between 7-8dkh (natural sea water). Everything else looks good. The salinity is HUGE man. Nothing likes a shift in salinity for .003 or more. That will even kill shrimp and stuff too. Fix that for sure but be careful not to do it so fast as to kill your other stuff.
 
Salinity is a bit on the high end, but isn't abnormally high compared to most natural reefs. Most reefs (excluding the Red Sea, which is higher) are within the range of 1.025-1.030. The average over the world is 1.026, but it there are many places that are higher. A value of 1.028 is typical on the GBR, for example. You might want to bring the salinity down a bit, but it isn't going to harm anything at that level.

Chris
 
Yeah the salinity is what i was worried about as well. I think osmotic schock could kill the new addition even thought the coral I have are used to the high salinity. I think I am going to take a cup or so of water out a day and replace it with fresh water to lower the salinity really slowly to about 1.024 - 1.025. I will keep you updated.
 
I agree, 1.029 isnt likely going to do major harm to anything in the tank already because it is now used to it. However, any new additions is likely to not appreciate the vast difference in salinity IMO. I have accidentally dropped the salinity in my tank by 3 to 4 pts before during a water change (dont ask) and I had alot of things get rather upset. Including ALL of my shrimp which actually died. Most people dont acclimate thier corals nearly long enough to account for a difference in salinity of that magnitude
 
I use just a regular float hydrometer but according to Calfo these are suprisingly accurate. I believe that it is close to measureing the correct salinity of the water. Yeah after I saw that my salinity was that high I starting thing osmotic schock right away. I have heard that this shock and temperature are pH are the top three things to worry about when aclimating things and I am sure that salt is very large seeing as the cells have to make up for this difference by pumping water in or out of the cell.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6807232#post6807232 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shadofax69
I use just a regular float hydrometer but according to Calfo these are suprisingly accurate. I believe that it is close to measureing the correct salinity of the water. Yeah after I saw that my salinity was that high I starting thing osmotic schock right away. I have heard that this shock and temperature are pH are the top three things to worry about when aclimating things and I am sure that salt is very large seeing as the cells have to make up for this difference by pumping water in or out of the cell.
Click to expand...

If its a float as in one of the glass bulb/tube ones, its probably pretty accurate. If its a swing arm, it may be way off.
 
Ok it is swing arm hydrometer. Here is an idea I have access to a very acurate ballance at work. Can I just take a sample of water to work and measure the denisty on the scale and then see how that relates to what the hydrometer is measuring. If I put a mark on the swing arm where I want it to be (1.024) then I should be able measure it accuratly with the swing arm right?
 
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