Color loss with little to no growth

[parkavenuereef]

Recently I have been noticing color loss as well as growth completely stopping. Tank is 150Gallons, water parameters as follows:

Salinty- 1.026
temp- 76 degrees
alk- 10dkh
calcium has risen to 600
phospahtes - undetectable
nitrates 20ppm or less had a spike a few months ago when distrubed my sand bed.
Mag- 1350 ( i use epsom salts to dose mag )

My coraline has completely stopped growing to the point that it has been flaking off the back glass... rock is not purple. green hair algae has been growing. green slimmer was looking great very vibrant, I did a water change of about 25 gallons, after that colors got worse... valida has purple tips, polyp extension is decent but not fabulous. lower level of zoanthids are good but not multiplying..

Skimmer does not pull out very much skimmate.. I can go over a week or two before needing to be emptied... very odd...

tank was thriving about a year ago..

running 2x400W 20K with actinic suppliments.

calcium reactor koralin 1502 system.

I am at a complete loss not sure why this tank has become stale.

Any help would be great!

:uhoh2:

 

[parkavenuereef]

Any Thoughts?

 

[mattrg]

Ill bet its the nitrates. I had a crash and my nitrates spiked for the first time in years. Now, whats left of my sps, are browned out and have STN. My nitrates are down to 5-10ppm and the STN looks to have stopped, but some SPS refuse to color up. (Its been 1.5 months).

Matt

 

[bmiller1234]

How old are your bulbs? loss of color and growth along with algae could be bulbs needing replaced? Have you tested your rodi water? you mentioned after water change things got worse, maybe something in make up water is bad?

 

[cediss]

Make sure your salinity is correct. I've had a couple times where my measuring device ( once a float hydrometer and next a refractometer) were off. I had been running my tank for at least a couple months wondering why things were not growing, PE was poor and something were just failing to thrive.
The last time was just a few weeks ago and symptoms were similar to yours. Now things are looking better as I gradually lower my salinity from around 1.030 to 1.026.

 

[clownfish14]

I agree with bmiller its most likey your lights

 

[parkavenuereef]

Thanks for the replys...

My bulbs are about 9 months old so that could very well be.

I have been doing everything to lower nitrates even use biofuel and have been running kents nitrate media along with carbon. they just seem to be high for some reason..

My salinity is at 1.026 according to my refractometer which i calibrate with both my tap water and calibration solution set a zero..

would disturbing to sand bed cause any of this?

 

[2 TAZ]

I'm no expert but I think if it was a fairly deep sand bed and you disturbed enough of it then yes that could cause you're problems. I have about a 600 gallon system with many tanks plumbed into a central sump. 5 months ago I removed the sand bed in one of my 40 gallon frag tank. I shut the pumps down took out the sand and started the pumps back up. The whole proccess took about 5 to 10 minutes. In that time I lost all the hermit crabs and snails in that tank, the rest of the system was fine. There was a couple pieces of live rock in there that stayed, for the next 3 months only that tank started growing a slimey algea that grew in none of the other tanks. I think you could have released a lot of nitrates and other toxins built up in the sand bed and it may take some time to settle out again.

As for things looking a little worse after the water change, well maybe everything was stressed from whatever was released from the sand bed being disturbed then when you did a large water change there was a sudden alk and calcium change as salt mixes have much less calcium and alk then what you have you're tank at and this further stressed them.

The coraline stop growing and hair algae taking over, that happened to me on a tank once when the salinity rose too high.

Just some guesses, dont realy know what went wrong. Many times I have expected different outcomes in my tanks that what I got and never could possitively figure out why.

Good luck

 

[Acronic]

There could be a build up of Sulfate from using magnesium sulfate (epsom salt) to raise mag over time.

Here is an article on the topic:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/index.php

Half down the page is a table of the rise in sulfate over a year

 

[badguitarist]

I agree with everything being said, its all sound advice, no one has talked about the skimmer though. What skimmer and pump is it? Do you know why it is not skimming? are many fine bubbles being created? If it is a high quality skimmer with an appropriate pump then it may just need to be cleaned. even the most expensive skimmers don't work properly if they aren't cleaned regularly. I fill up a ten gallon tank with hot water and a few cups of vinegar, stick my skimmer in it for a few hours and turn it on. The vinegar will get all the calcium deposits and grime out. Pay special attention to the venturi when cleaning, these can get clogged with calcium or salt creep and render the skimmer useless. Rinse the skimmer out really well with freshwater and stick it back in the tank. My guess is there are a lot of things going on here to cause your corals to decline and its probably a matter tightening up your tank maintenance over the next few months to get things back in order.
one other thought have you checked your temp at different times of the day? If there are large temp swings (more than a few degrees) that will really make some of your more sensitive corals mad

 

[toothman]

76 is ok but on the line of no growth, 78-9 is better. Are you testing phosphate with hanna meter, if not you are wasting your time. Or hach. Just do three or four 30 gallon water changes in the next week. With great ro/di water. Yes test the make up water and water with new salt in it, you may be surprised the alk is more like 6, 9, 7. How much substrat is in your tank, it really does hold a lot of nutrients. Possibly net some out.

EVERY TANK GETS IN A FUNK NOW AND THEN.

 

[parkavenuereef]

Thanks for all the replys.. I agree that every tank gets in a funk now and then... This is my first funk in many years so well over due.

Our local reef club came up with the idea of using epsom salts to raise mag.. I never thought of the sulfate part of it.

My sand bed is about 3 inches think in spots maybe four inches where there is dunes... others shallow... But ya I disturbed it pretty good in the last few months... The tank dimensions make it hard to scape to both my liking and the fish. I am done with that finally. I am satisfied.

I run a ASM G2 skimmer... sedra 3500 pump which I know there is a upgrade for... Plenty of micro bubbles.. I mean it pulls gunk out... dark nasty black gunk but I could go a week or more before it's totally full. My previous tank would be two days or less and was thriving rediculous which is why I get concerened with the performance of it.

I am replacing bulbs today. hopefully that will help too...


I will recheck my salinity... can i calibrate it with fresh water?

 

[Logzor]

Thanks for all the replys.. I agree that every tank gets in a funk now and then... This is my first funk in many years so well over due.

Our local reef club came up with the idea of using epsom salts to raise mag.. I never thought of the sulfate part of it.

My sand bed is about 3 inches think in spots maybe four inches where there is dunes... others shallow... But ya I disturbed it pretty good in the last few months... The tank dimensions make it hard to scape to both my liking and the fish. I am done with that finally. I am satisfied.

I run a ASM G2 skimmer... sedra 3500 pump which I know there is a upgrade for... Plenty of micro bubbles.. I mean it pulls gunk out... dark nasty black gunk but I could go a week or more before it's totally full. My previous tank would be two days or less and was thriving rediculous which is why I get concerened with the performance of it.

I am replacing bulbs today. hopefully that will help too...


I will recheck my salinity... can i calibrate it with fresh water?

You absolutely can not calibrate with fresh water. Look for a 35 ppm calibration solution. These devices need to be calibrated based on what you're testing, to get the most accurate results. Make sure to float your calibration solution in your tank to match the temperature exactly.

While you're at it, go ahead and pick up a nice thermometer. I recently realized my probe went bad and I was actually running my SPS tank at 71 degrees!

These can be found for around $20 on amazon. Well worth the investment for calibrating the temperature of your heaters / temp probe.

 

[Blueline12]

Your Nitrates are way to high. What are you using to check your phosphates? I find it hard to believe they are undetectable with nitrates that high.

 

[parkavenuereef]

Your Nitrates are way to high. What are you using to check your phosphates? I find it hard to believe they are undetectable with nitrates that high.

I have the calibration solution at came with my refractometer.. I will calibrate with that...

I use an API phosphate test kit at home and my local reef shop tested with I believe a salifert both came up undetectable.

good call on the thermometer. I guess you never know.

 

[Blueline12]

The API and the Salifert phosphate kit aren't going to cut it. Get a Hanna phosphate meter. When you have SPS you have a small margin in keeping your phosphate and nitrates in check before the s*it hits the fan.

 

[parkavenuereef]

The API and the Salifert phosphate kit aren't going to cut it. Get a Hanna phosphate meter. When you have SPS you have a small margin in keeping your phosphate and nitrates in check before the s*it hits the fan.

Gotcha! I will have to put that in my budget. what test kits are best? I have always used the salifert and api... I have seen the elos kits, pricey but worth it?

 

[fishguy597]

salifert is the way to go imo. for the $50 the hanna meter is great like others stated the other po4 tests are a wast. when you order make sure you order extra regints it only comes with 6.

 

[parkavenuereef]

I seen the hanna meter at marinedepot for $204 dollars. Is that the one were talking about?

 

[dirtyBit]

I think they mean this one.