having serious tank issues....ugh

[AIR-FX]

so i have a 150 gal tall tank and 40 gal sump. tank has been running 5 months now and everything was running along just fine and then out of the blue everything just started dying. Mainly all my lps either got brown slime or the corals started dumping. all my torches died with in a weeks time....hammers and frog spawn all dumped and my gigantic green bubble coral fell apart and dumped too! BUT MY LOBOS,BLASTOS,ZOAS,NEMS,GORGS,AND MUSHROOMS are all doing just fine ! i took my water in to make sure all my testing at home was not off.ARC tested the water and everything was dead on. all my fish and inverts are fine too! i just dont get it. i lost alot of money now and the amount of salt and ro/di i have gone through this winter is insane. another issue is the cheato in my sump looks like it is shrinking away instead of growing(yes i have lights on my sump at night).
heres my maintenance routine. every week i do a 20 gallon saltwater change with ro/di top offs when needed. i check salinity daily ! i does with 2 part b-ionic accordingly i test alk n cal every other day. i change filter sock and empty skimmer every 3-4 days .....change carbon every 2 weeks and gfo every 3 -4 weeks.
could it be i am doing too many water changes and the water is TOO CLEAN? should i just keep topping off with ro/di to keep salinity in check and do a water change every 2-3 weeks?
ANY HELP AND ADVICE WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED. IT REALLY BOTHERS ME WHEN I LOSE ANIMALS the money isnt the issue....im hurting and killing live beings here. need help!

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

if you got brown jelly that will wipe out all the euphlyia

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

don't blame TOO MANY water changes. That's not the culprit (unless you're doing them wrong)

any new LPS can bring in pathogens... and bacterial infections can spread.

There should be absolutley no reason to check salinity daily.

I would GREATLY reduce your carbon and GFO usage.

 

[AIR-FX]

hi gary. so are you saying change carbon and gfo less frequently? or use less in the reactors when i do,do a change?

 

[AIR-FX]

also the lps i got was all from the same guy but his tank is super healthy. i also had a big piece of monti cap completely die off in 2 weeks time

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

hi gary. so are you saying change carbon and gfo less frequently? or use less in the reactors when i do,do a change?

maybe both but definitely only run a little at a time. Less than what's recommended.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

also the lps i got was all from the same guy but his tank is super healthy. i also had a big piece of monti cap completely die off in 2 weeks time

this isn't unusual.

When you take animals that are used to one set of conditions and move them to another.... anything can happen.

Just for the heck of it what saltmix do you use?

 

[AIR-FX]

oceanic....i get it from arc

 

[parkavenuereef]

I bet your water is too clean... Try some Microbacter 7 to boost your biologicals a bit. Worked wonders for me.

 

[AIR-FX]

i also let my ro/di water sit...heated and with an airetor for a few days before i mix up salt water. then i let saltwater sit for 2-3 days with powerhead and heater in them before i do any water changes

 

[sandworm]

have you done any construction on your house? anything in the air that could of gotten in the tank? I had the same thing happen after I tore out some lath and plaster in a different room, some thing died quickly and others showed no symptoms,I lost a ton of LPS.

 

[AIR-FX]

nope....no major renovations.....i do own a 1902 victorian tho...lol lots of plaster n lathe

 

[saltyscotsman]

Sorry to hear that you are having problems Kieth brown slime can be tough good luck!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tmz]

Sorry to hear. The water isn't too clean. If anything I'd up the gac and skimm heavier( wetter). Might try some cuprisorb or polyfiter or a toxin. I wouldn't use microbacter orany other bacterial supplement. What's the PO4?

Don't know what's going on but it could be brown jelly s noted earlier

 

[AIR-FX]

i used a poly filter....been in 2 weeks and it barely turned a light tan! i dont know po4. ive never test for it. arc may have tested for it....but they said my water was spot on...salinity was a click high but thats it

 

[block head]

A lot going on. Mixed reefs are tricky. I'd start over with the fundamentals. New sand and chems to treat the rock shouldn't set you back much . I like the marathon approach, you have been in the hobby long enough it doesn't come quick or easy. Good water, rock, flow and light . Take your time kevin. Maybe focus on softies or sps.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I had something similar happen a couple years ago, and I never figured it out; it ripped my heart out and almost made me quit. Could be bacterial, chemical warfare, transfer shock, all the above or none of the above, nevertheless, it still rots! There is a chance that you may never know what happened. You might want to steer away from euphylia for awhile.

 

[AIR-FX]

yeah well lps are my only favorites....lol i dont have the right lighting for sps. i run 6 t-5's but over a 150 tall it doesnt work for sps. not a big softie fan either. i am going to remove everything and clean the crushed coral bottom,then rearrange the rock work and work on good flow. continue to test my water and try to do fewer salt changes and try running it on ro/di top offs while monitoring my water quality for 3-4 months and then try a frag of lps and monitor that too! going to try and exude patience ! something i need to work on personally anyways...lol atleast when it comes to my fish tank.
i am going to continue my quest to find a 120 tank so my lighting will be more efficient. i have twins coming in july so spending to upgrade lighting is not an option.