Help Me Save My SPS Reef

[swiseman]

I have been in the hobby since early 2000. I have progressed in size a fair bit from my initial 15 gallon nano to my current 220 gallon display. I have always been the owner of what most would consider a healthy colourful reef. Well that all changed last December when I completed this current upgrade from a 110 gal mixed reef to my current 220 gallon SPS dominated reef.

The Tank is a 220 gallon Miracles tank that is viewable from 3 sides. Most of the tank sits in the front den where there are two viewable sides and the remainder of the tank is viewable from our main family room and looks like an in-wall.

My equipment list is fairly decent. I have a pair of Tunze 6100 providing flow for the tank. For lights I have 3 x 400 watt Vertex MH that are running 20K XM Mogals in a PFO Spider reflector. There are also 2 x 110 VHO Actinics running on a PFO electronic ballast. I have a 66 gallon sump that is located in a fish room in the basement. The system is completely controlled by a Profilux Plus II EX. I monitor ORP, and control temperature via the Profilux Breeze system. I also control a Geo 6-18 Calcium Reactor. For a skimmer I run a Vertex/RE Alpha 250 Kone Skimmer. All lights are controlled by the Profilux as well. The photo period is as follows:

11:00am Actinics on
3:30 MH on
10:30pm MH off.
11:00pm VHO off
12:00pm LED Moon Lights on
8:00am LED Moon Lights off.

The pictures of the tank are attached. I will continue in subsequent post with pictures of the corals and a complete record of the tank parameters.

 

[swiseman]

The tank was set up on December 20th, 08. The rock, aprox 200+ lbs of live figi, and sand, aprox 150 lbs, were transferred from my previous 110 gallon tank that utilized the same basement sump. The tank progressed nicely over the next few months, but started to become over run with algae. It has gotten so bad that I am loosing SPS every week. My current tank parameters are as follows.

Ca 420ppm Salifert
DKH 10.0 * Elos kit
Nitrate undetectable Elos Kit
Phosphate somewhere between .01 and less than .05 Elos Kit
Mg 1400 Salifert Kit
ORP 385Mv Profilux Calibrated Oct. 24
Ph 7.9 - 8.1 Profilux calibrated Oct. 24
Temperature 78.9-81.9 Profilux.

* The DKH is slowly coming down. There was a calibration issue with my probe that I missed and the alk in the tank was up to 14 when I caught. That me the cause of the SPS loss of colors, or at least a contributor. My calcium reactor has been off for a moth now and I continue to reduce it with water changes. I have always believed it was important to change water parameters slowly.

A month ago I started dosing vodka. I followed the directions in Reefkeeping magazine and continued it for a few weeks until I started loosing my sps. That was when I discovered the alkalinity issue. (14+DKH). I am struggling to get the alkalinity down to my target of 8 while maintaining Ca and Mg.

I would say that my stocking level is a little on the heavy side, but, I always assumed my water volume and skimmers allowed me this privilege. My stocking list is as follows:

1 mature Hawaiian Naso Tang 10"
1 mature Sohal Tang 8-9"
1 Lg Yellow Tang
1 Med Hippo Tang 4"
1 6-line wrasse
1 Blue sided Fairy Wrasse
1 Green Clown Goby
5 Blue/Green Chromis
2 A. Ocellaris hosting an 6 year old Hectoractis Magnifica.

Various inverts such as Astrea, Nassarius, Cerith, and Mexican Snails as well as a few dozen Mexican Red legs. There are also supposed to be a pair of Emerald Crabs as well as a pair of cleaner shrimp and a half dozen Peppermint Shrimp. I also introduced a Sea Hare last weekend as a desperation act. It is doing well, but this is a band-aid fix. I feed New Life Spectrum pellets of varying size to the fish except the Naso Tang who will only eat Nori. I feed a half sheet of Nori each day and two to three times a week a feed Mysis shrimp which the Naso will also eat.

The next post will show the problems with the tank.

 

[swiseman]

OK, here are the dreaded close ups. I am slowly loosing this tank and I am at a loss as to why. On the 24th of October I started dosing VSV at a rate of 1ml per day. I should have mentioned that I have a Profilux doser that is currently not being used. In addition to the VSV I am also adding 5ml of Microbactor 7 every Sunday. I should also mention that I change 45 gallons of water on the first day of every month.

I am desperate for help here. I am willing to try just about anything supported with a little science and may even be open to witchcraft to get this back to its former glory.

 

[mpoletti]

Just from looking at your pictures and the green algae, your PO4 is higher than .01-.05.
How long ago was your alk at 14 and for how long?

No matter what, I would be doing heavier water changes and more often than once a month.

Also, alpha comes are relatively new, what were you running before?

 

[swiseman]

I woulld say my PO4 is quite high but it is not going to show up on the test as it is being absorbed. Prior to the Alpha 250 I ran a Deltec APF 600 and a Deltec AP600 side by side. Believe me, the Alpha is outperforming the two Deltecs it replaced. ORP has risen and the quantity of skimmate production has doubled. I didn't want to do too many water changes because the Instant Ocean is a little inconsistent and and I would be adjusting too much. Unfortunately I live at the exact opposite corner of the continent as you and have little choice on salt brands. As for the Alk, I have no idea how long the probe was faulty. I re claibrated the probe when I started the Vodka. I would say at least a month. I should also not that in June I upgraded from 250 watt MH to 400 watt MH and switched the bulbs from 10k to 20K when I changed the ballast.

 

[mpoletti]

FWIW, Instant ocean work just fine. I know a lot of successful reefers that still use it to this day. Just make sure that you test before hand and its close enough. I would definitely step up your water changes to help your tank battle an uphill fight.

If your alk was at 14 for a month, it probably did stress the corals out. From the pictures, it looks like the corals have died in the inside and towards the bottom and the algae is taking over, Is that correct?

Only two 6100's in a 220, I would also add a little more flow.

When you switched to 400's did you acclimate them to the new and stronger lights?

Is there anyone locally with a hanna meter to check your po4 with a proper meter?

How long has your MG been at 1400? What do you use to supplement it since IO is not that high? There are many people that say that for some reason, use tech M, raise your MG to 1400, 1500 or even higher, and watch the green stuff dissapear. I tried it

Are you running and PO4 remover media in a reactor?

 

[coralmojo]

1) Raising Mag only helps with Bryopsis...this is not Bryopsis...I doubt it will do anything.
2) I would add Phosphate reactor with GFO immediately...
3) I would go dark for 3 days straight/every 8-10 days to reduce algae growth...
4) When did you change your bulbs last?
5) I would do water change weekly...
6) Are you still doing VSV and how much?

DrMerle

 

[roblack]

You may want to consider syphoning off some of that green stuff and sand. I would take it all out. It was old, right.? Barebottom is the way to go anyway!

 

[swiseman]

FWIW, Instant ocean work just fine. I know a lot of successful reefers that still use it to this day. Just make sure that you test before hand and its close enough. I would definitely step up your water changes to help your tank battle an uphill fight.

If your alk was at 14 for a month, it probably did stress the corals out. From the pictures, it looks like the corals have died in the inside and towards the bottom and the algae is taking over, Is that correct?

Only two 6100's in a 220, I would also add a little more flow.

When you switched to 400's did you acclimate them to the new and stronger lights?

Is there anyone locally with a hanna meter to check your po4 with a proper meter?

How long has your MG been at 1400? What do you use to supplement it since IO is not that high? There are many people that say that for some reason, use tech M, raise your MG to 1400, 1500 or even higher, and watch the green stuff dissapear. I tried it

Are you running and PO4 remover media in a reactor?

Yes some of the corals have lost their color in the center and some have lost it at the bottom as algae encroached on the base. There has been an amazing loss of colors in the past few months.

Flow is definately an issue on this larger tanks. I am planning on replacing the 6100's with a pair of 6205's within a month. I have a first generation MP40 that I was loaned, but, it is so loud I can't use it.

I did drop the photoperiod when I went from the 250's to the 400, however, there is little par difference going from a 10K 250 watt bulb to a 20K 400 watt bulb.

I slowly raised my MG from 1180 to 1400 over the course of three weeks starting a little more than a month ago. I used a 2lbs of Seachem Mg to get it to that level. I have never dosed Mg to my tank prior. I raised it to that level based on threads I read here on reef central. Now the ends of the algae seem to have burnt away or something. I am not sure if you can see it in the pictures, but, the ends are grey in most places. I have tried Rowaphos, but, it really did not do anything. I used it based on the directions for a month and saw no improvement. It actually clogged the TLF reactor and shot all over the sump. I travel so having something tempremental like that while I am gone is not an option. I need to find the source.

I did a P04 test while writing this and as I look down through the top of the test tube, it could be either .05 or .5 in color, it is hard to tell. I hate these kinds of test. There are no Hanna P04 meters where I live. I may invest in one as I hate these test kits.

 

[swiseman]

You may want to consider syphoning off some of that green stuff and sand. I would take it all out. It was old, right.? Barebottom is the way to go anyway!

I am doing it weekly. I spend about 2 hours on algae removal each Saturday morning.

 

[Moddy]

You Have 4 large Tangs

1 mature Hawaiian Naso Tang 10"
1 mature Sohal Tang 8-9"
1 Lg Yellow Tang
1 Med Hippo Tang 4"

If you reduce feeding them. I am sure at some stage they will start eating those algae.

abalone eat this algae too may be you could add a few of them.

Add more powerfull wavemaker 6100 is too small for your tank if you only put 2 in.

 

[swiseman]

1) Raising Mag only helps with Bryopsis...this is not Bryopsis...I doubt it will do anything.
2) I would add Phosphate reactor with GFO immediately...
3) I would go dark for 3 days straight/every 8-10 days to reduce algae growth...
4) When did you change your bulbs last?
5) I would do water change weekly...
6) Are you still doing VSV and how much?

DrMerle

I will drop the lights for a few days and see what that does. I have to be carefult as i have a Hectoractis magnifica that has been with me for 8 years.

The lights were brand new in early August of this year. I switched from 10K XM to 20K XM.

I have just started the VSV last week and I am dosing just 1ml per day and 5ml per week of Microbacter7.

 

[Moddy]

you have a lot of space in the sump room why not try build a refugium tank to aid you system.

 

[swiseman]

you have a lot of space in the sump room why not try build a refugium tank to aid you system.

You know I actually had a 30 gallon refugium plumbed into the system for two years when it was a 110 gal display and then the chaeto died off when I moved to the larger display so I dismantled it. I have a 135 gallon tank that would fit on the existing stand that could be converted to a refugium/sump in a day.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

Have you double checked the calibration of your refractometer?

 

[swiseman]

Have you double checked the calibration of your refractometer?

Not in quite some time. I will do that tomorrow. I generally just use the distilled water method.

 

[mpoletti]

1) Raising Mag only helps with Bryopsis...this is not Bryopsis...I doubt it will do anything.

DrMerle

Not to argue, but I guess the hair algae that went away using this method was only a figment of my imagination

 

[1fishkeeper]

Have you double checked the calibration of your refractometer?

+1 on this one. I just went thought something that sounds just what you have just writen about.

 

[coralmojo]

Not meaning to argue either....Mg does nothing for hair algae...the sulfate portion in the MG sulfate is what helps retard growth...Bryopsis, from all that I've read, on all boards, is the only macroalgae that responds to supplementation... is it possible that your hair algae was Bryopsis?

DrMerle

 

[mpoletti]

As for being bryopsis, 99% sure its wasn't after looking at it under a mesoscope and magnifying glass. Its not just raising the mag level from the sulfate concentration, its also something in the Kent product it self. It was something that was spread through the bay area and so I gave it a try. Waa la...It went away. And anyone who knows me will probably agree, I'm pretty much a cynic.

Back to the topic at hand, Sorry for the cross chatter