For you who have "SPS issues"...

[oneradtek202]

This will be the thread for YOU! :beer:




ok i want to start by sharing the history of my tank and the beginning of all issues. please feel free to comment any ideas of your own or experiences you have encountered yourself with this type of coral as its related to health.



Tank started off in the fall of 07' as a mixed reef in a 55 gallon "learning tank" as we would like to call it. No ro/di system, hydrometer salinity readings, overfeeding, crappy skimmer, and VERY low and crazy alk levels. everything i shouldnt have had or been doing, was being done to THIS TANK. not a good way to start a hobby like this. however, it managed to be a pretty decent system.

summer 08'

I then moved and had to move my aquarium, so what better of a time than then to have upgraded? i moved into a 75 gallon tank, established my first small, and very unorganized sump, and installed my RO/DI system. I had pretty good success with the tank after this move. i kept my levels somewhat "ok" but still didnt have the best situation going on. But for some reason it worked. I first had a run in with red bugs during this time and treated with interceptor with great results, no redbugs!

summer 09'

I then moved AGAIN, to this time, my house which i currently reside in today. I kept the 75 gallon and just transferred everything from the apartment into my house with the help from Tim from ABC (Thanks again!) THIS TIME, i installed everything i should after living there a few months. I moved my sump into a 55 gallon chambered sump, with a nice return pump, and included a carbon reactor that i would run 24-7.

so i was starting to do everything right? well it seems not. I first started to notice my SPS to look "drab".i tested EVERYTHING and bought everything that i could think of being the issue. At the time i maintained regular 10 gallon water changes every week. i was diligent and very good at taking care of my tank. My level did however start to drastically fluctuate with my alkalinity. I was dosing about 300-400 ml of alk a day, and i was dumping it all in at once. probably giving my tank a huge shock on the PH arena. however i didnt really understand what i was doing to my tank. i usually kept the alk around 7-8 during this time period. and the tank continued to get worse looking.


people thought it might have been my alk and/or low nutrient levels

 

[MarkKlier]

Okay lots of potential issues. First when did you make the most recent move? It can take a long time for a tank to stabalize after a move. The larger the coral, the harder the move.
1st. Some people think you can run too much carbon.
2cd You soft corals, specifically the sacrophytons are getting very big. They release alot of chemicals in the water. Even if you have had them for some time, there can be times that they inhibit sps. When all the corals are small it is not a huge issue, when they get mature like yours it can be.
3rd As a tank matures, so do the sponges.IMHO Many times people underestimate the amount of harm they can cause. They tend to be very toxic.
Just my 2 cents...MK

 

[pascal32]

I think Brandon is teasing us...haven't made it to the new tank yet...

 

[oneradtek202]

haha exactly Pascal! this is a work in progress guys and gals ill be adding soon


MK, i know the issues associated with sarcos and SPS. i have cut my original sarco and sold it off to SolNY and sold the other finger leather to another person awhile ago aprox when the colors started going drab in my tank.

ive thought about too much carbon. i think im gonna run alot less than i have been and give it a shot

 

[MarkKlier]

Very nice tank I assumed he was being serious.
If you look back at Dr Tango's tanks (the most outstanding sps tank I have ever seen in person)...it was always frustrating to get outstanding HUGE sps colonies die off on you, even without a tank move. That would happen to him about every three years. There has always been lots of discussion about what happens with these mature tanks. I have a millipora that has gone from a "frag" to a 14" table. The problem now becomes how to incorperate it in a 210 with all the other corals. Mean while the amount of chemicals it is dumping into the system has increased about 200 fold. The biomass from that one coral is probably 5 times greater then my entire system when I started. Also it is now growing from many points instead of a couple. So it's growth volocity in terms of biomass is much greater. If you look at the one picture you will see the black sponge growing at the base of the coral. You can also see it on the rock. I usually call it the "black death". Not that I really know if it kills anything. I can tell you once it has started I have never been able to stop it. Very hard to get off the rocks, even with bleach...
MK

 

[MarkKlier]

Brandon, you posted when I was typing. Thanks for sharing.
MK

 

[oneradtek202]

haha ahhh, yea, so i should get this sponge outta there if i can? ill give a shot , probably wont happen! i need a dental scraping tool!




So heres the issue at hand. tank was doing great in the house. small colonies, great polyp extension and color. the tanks colonies started growing big as MK said. The alk and ca depletion was pretty quick. But in a finite system there comes a point were the amount of living organisms just cannot be maintained in a small system such as a reef tank. that was my thought!

so how do these guys with huge successful and aged systems do it? no clue lol

so then the STN started and would not stop, even occasional RTN. a coral colonies started losing color, especially my tricolors and such like colonies.

 

[MarkKlier]

You need a bigger tank You could also get rid of some of the colonies. I'll take that cal tort off your hands.
I have heard that in Japan they will drop the calcium levels to slow down the growth. They will also have less corals and trim them like bonsi.
MK

 

[oneradtek202]

i finally started doing less water changes in case my nutrient level was too low, upgraded my skimmer to a bigger skimmer. started feeding more, bought 2 drews dosers to spread out dosing and keep levels where they should be.

thought that i would notice a difference.....NOPE.


then the big upgrade! i upgraded to the new 100 gallon 72"x18"x18". i was thinking the more open layout and more room would help. The swap went well and i added my new sand bed.

after the move, the skimmer was not working for about 2 weeks. other than that, the move went great. now the weird thing happened. the polyp extension was incredible, the color came from EVERYTHING. i havent seen my tank as healthy than in a long time. the dkh however was a little higher (11ish) .


after a few weeks the STN continued and then i got fed up. i bought new bulbs and no change. started doing 32 gallon changes thinking that the moves huge water change did it. nothing.


today, i took these less than good pics of my acros for fun..... hmmm bingo? i think so!....

 

[oneradtek202]

You need a bigger tank You could also get rid of some of the colonies. I'll take that cal tort off your hands.

that was your tort that you fragged a few years back mark, pretty sure lol

 

[pascal32]

At least on the bright side you have color left! here is what the tri-color bali two months apart, in the first part it had already lost significant color:

 

[magdelan]

Omg :eek2: Your corals are infested with red arrows!

 

[oneradtek202]

i know they attack PRETTY fast!