Corals Dying

[ramseynb]

It's hard to tell from the pics but is the green just on the glass or is your water green? If your water is green, I wonder if you're having some type of phytoplankton bloom. That could be using up all the nitrate and phosphates and could cause issues if it's that concentrated. Just a thought. I saw a tank at a LFS that was full of green water, so green you couldn't see anything in the tank, which is what made me think of it.

 

[MyHouseIsAZoo]

Maybe a amonia spike

Amonia has only spiked once since it cycled and it was because the skimmer was full and not working right. Fixed that and did a small water change and it was good.

im getting really nitpicky here but maybe you could up your ph to 8.3 or 8.2. Be careful though because marine buffers can add unwanted phosphate

For now, I'm not going to monkey with PH. I try not to dose with anything unless absolutely necessary.

Are you sure your nitrate is less than 5 ppm and phosphate is virtually zero?
Your tank is only 2 months old, filtration has not natured enough, sorry but that water looks greenish.....

In the first pictures, it was greenish. A water change has settled it down. Phosphates are currently around 0.25 Nitrates haven't spiked since the tank cycled. It was very greenish in the first photo

In my experience thesmaller the system the harder it is to keep stable

This I have heard. But I'm determined!

Another idea for your Bio balls is to replace them with Marine Pure balls or cubes. I use these (balls) in the first stage of my sump and they seem to be doing a wonderful job controlling nitrates. If you want to keep this type of filtration to one chamber then I would place Marine Pure balls on the bottom and cover them with Polyfilter.

I clean my Polyfilter monthly, replace as needed, and gently clean the Marine Pure balls once every 6 months in my system (don't plan to ever replace them unless they physically break down). I keep my Polyfilter in the same compartment as my skimmer, as I use it to adsorb contaminants etc. I have a sponge filter and filter socks for other physical and bacterial filtration in separate areas. My sump sounds like a different design to yours however.

I've seen those and wondered if they work well. I love low maintenance, but have fully accepted that low maintenance and saltwater don't often go hand in hand.

It's hard to tell from the pics but is the green just on the glass or is your water green? If your water is green, I wonder if you're having some type of phytoplankton bloom. That could be using up all the nitrate and phosphates and could cause issues if it's that concentrated. Just a thought. I saw a tank at a LFS that was full of green water, so green you couldn't see anything in the tank, which is what made me think of it.

It was a little of both. It has definitely settled since we did the water change. And the one presumed dead coral of the 2 we left appears to be reviving. Now I'm kicking myself for pulling them all out wondering if the others were salvageable. Regardless, the GSP is still looking great and the Galaxea is bubbling back up and had a couple of small sweepers out when I turned the lights on yesterday morning.

 

[MyHouseIsAZoo]

Took some new photos, but they don't do the tank justice. The water is crystal clear now, minus the bubbles. There is algae growth on the rocks, but the water is no longer green. I need to find a solution for cleaning the curved corners of the glass and right along the sand bed. I try to keep my hands out of the water as much as I can

As I mentioned in an earlier response, the Galaexa is perking back up! The ends are more bubbly (for lack of better description) like they previously were and yesterday morning there were a couple of short sweepers extended when I turned on the light.

I tested yesterday and phophates are at 0.25 (they tend to hover around there) Nitrates were zero. Ammonia was 0. Hopefully we are back on the straight and narrow and can keep things steady!

I really do appreciate all of the feedback and help with this! Being new at saltwater/reef tanks being able to pick the brain of those who are experienced is SO helpful!

 

[RobZilla04]

Glad you're on the right track now!