Help lps keep melting

[purebullet417]

i have a 57 gallon rimless which you can see in my link. Since i set the tank up a couple a months ago I have lost in order a 2 chalices, 2 acans and now my ducan looks to be next along with another chalice and a war coral. All my paramaters seem good and i just have no idea whats going on. all the coral seem to be doing fine and then the next day theres a sort of slim coating on them and when i try to get it off it ends up being the tissue of the coral. The params i tested are as follows all with red sea and double tested to be sure

amm/trite 0
trate .5
alk 10
calc 440-460
mag 1000-1040
salinity 1.025
PH 8.15-8.3 (apex readings through the day)
temp 77.5-78 controlled by apex

this is all i have kits for. I have no idea whats going on. the chalices seem to just recede from the edges in and the acans just melted away. and now the duncan did the same. I have a couple more acans and a torch all doing well now but i dont want the same thing to keep happening. At first I just assumed the few i lost weren't doing well but now it seems to be a pattern. All my sps and zoos are doing really well and growing great. heres a picture of the ducan after i blew it off today and tried to save it.

 

[GoingPostal]

Too much light/flow maybe? How fast are you losing them? Have you tried dipping them? Do you have a full tank shot?

 

[ReeferBill]

Your salinity should be 1.025-1.026 and your magnesium should be 1300-1350 ppm. Stay with the corals that live for now and let your tank mature for 2-4 months before trying the corals that died. Have you used any enzymes like Fritzyme 9 to boost your biological bacteria.This will help mature your tank faster and get it stabilized for these more delicate corals.

 

[purebullet417]

Salinity is 1.025

 

[Usernam Invalid]

Check phosphate level. What kind of lighting are you using? Where in the tank is placement of the lost corals?

 

[drdavethedude]

I agree with the above. Increase your magnesium to where it should be and hold off adding any additional corals until things seem stable and your not losing any more corals. You didn't mention whether or not you directly feed your corals, so I'll mention that after a similar experience in the past with some of my LPS corals, I started to spot feed the salvageable polyps daily, and many (not all) made impressive recoveries and started to grow again. I think they were simply starving. It's worth a try.
Good luck,
Dave

 

[purebullet417]

Ok so to answer the questions I have a reefbreeders photon 32 with intensity peeking at 65 blue 50 white. The corals lost are at the bottom of the tank with most on the sandbed or placed just above. I have moved corals around to try and help but it haswnt helped. I will get kent tech m tomorrow and start to raise the mag. Also corals are spot fed with a syrng and reef rouids 2-3x per week. I will increase the affected corals in an attempt to save them. Also about to test phosphate and will report back.

 

[purebullet417]

ok just tested with the hanna phosphate checker twice and got 0 both times. i guess its possible but i highly doubt it so tomorrow i will bring it to a LFS and have them test it. also dipped the affected corals in a low dose of coral rx to try and help prevent any further damage.

 

[chrisfont23]

Ok so to answer the questions I have a reefbreeders photon 32 with intensity peeking at 65 blue 50 white. The corals lost are at the bottom of the tank with most on the sandbed or placed just above. I have moved corals around to try and help but it haswnt helped. I will get kent tech m tomorrow and start to raise the mag. Also corals are spot fed with a syrng and reef rouids 2-3x per week. I will increase the affected corals in an attempt to save them. Also about to test phosphate and will report back.

I have the Photon 48 and I can tell you that it is way too much light for LPS on the second channel for a prolonged period. I had the same problem. And depending on how you have acclimated the corals, this could also be attributing to your problem. How close are they to the water?

Remember - Reefbreeders uses 3W LEDs with 90 degree optics on their standard fixtures. That's a lot more light than a standard T5 or cheap LED fixture would give out at your LFS. I would recommend ramping up / down the intensity so that for an LPS dominant tank you are somewhere near 75 ch 1 and 30 ch 2 for that sized tank. Start at like 15 / 5 and gradually ramp up 5% each week. Just don't change too much at once; it's a recipe for certain disaster.

PM me if you have questions - I can send you my lighting chart and schedule if you want it too.

Additionally, your Magnesium is real low. Keep in mind that Magnesium keeps balance in the force It stabilizes the Alkalinity and Calcium parameters too.

 

[purebullet417]

The corals were all acclimated slowly to the LEDs and I don't have them running anywhere near full power. I guess I could scale back the whites a little but I don't think that's the case

 

[chrisfont23]

The corals were all acclimated slowly to the LEDs and I don't have them running anywhere near full power. I guess I could scale back the whites a little but I don't think that's the case

I am no expert, but I had the same problem with my whites when I ordered my Ecoxotics. No dimmer. Difficult to acclimate unless you have extra mesh screens handy. I noticed the same problems w/ my Euphyllia. Melted away. I posted on another forum. PM me if you want the info.

 

[Art13]

this may or may not help, my photon 48 is maxed at 50% blue, 30% white mid day. i have it roughly 24-30 inches above my tank, tank is about 24-25 inches deep, and my acans are in the sand. they are doing extremely well right now color wise and nice and puffy. I also have sps up top that are doing well. I don't have a par meter but my guess is your lps are getting more light than or just as much light as my sps are getting on the blue channel and more than what mine are getting on the white channel. i would definitely try and dial back the light slowly in the tank as well as raise the mag for about a month or two, then possibly try again.