Help Me Save My SPS Reef

I think high alk is what is causing your sps to die, I had it at 14dkh once for about 1/2 day and things started to die right away, I lost 2 colonies. High alk does nasty things to sps. It took awhile for alk to lower too, fastest way is to change lots of water. So what's your alk at now?

You should get a po4 test kit and check your po4 after you stabilize your alk. I don't think it's too much fish, my po4 is at .01 and I have more fish than you in a 150gal.
 
Algae: get lots of snails and crabs and urchins and let them chew it all up. When I say lots I mean 50 to 100 (maybe even more) in a tank that size. 10 or 20 won't do anything.
 
i have used it and i think it will work for some people but not all i am going through the same thing as you swiseman i have some of that algae fix marine if you want to try it when i seen the pics of your tank all i can say is i feel your pain with the hair algae do you find that the sea hare is working for you i find that they are to slow
 
Algae Fix marine worked wonders for me. Even though it was a bandaid, it worked so well that it actually gave me some confidence and desire to tackle the real problem......high nutrient levels
 
I would suggest being very careful with Algaefix Marine. I know it has worked well for many people but I used it and it caused my tank to crash. I lost all my SPS and my snails and shrimp. Fish were ok as were my LPS. It did however kill all my algae :). 4 months later I am still struggling to keep SPS in my tank although I do have a bunch of cyano which leads me to believe I have excess DOCs.
 
aquariumclown said:
BTW stop dosing vodka if you alk is above 9 or 10dkh.
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+1 Im no expert, but I believe your alk should be on the lower end while dosing vodka. Like around 8. Slowly fix the alk problem and then worry about everything else. Just be patient and go slow and you'll be ok.
Good Luck and let us know how it goes.
 
aquaph8 said:
OH, BTW beautiful setup
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Thanks, we spet alot of time on the exterior and now the interior is a mess. I a, doing a 45 gal water change this morning and will do another 45 next Sunday. Once I get the alk down I am sure things will turn around. I haven't had the ca reactor going in a month and my Ca is still over 400. With all the phosphate I guess the corals are not absorbing and Ca. I will resume the VSV and Microbacter7 once I get the alk down. My only concern is that I haven't really discovered the source of the PO4.
 
I got an algae problem a few months ago and started mb7+biofuel, and pulling the algae out whenever I get the chance. it seems it took a while before I saw any improvement, but not a significant improvement. then I used gfo and in a matter of days (actually po4 went to zero overnight, see http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15929359&postcount=17) I see the algae literally disintegrating, it was very easy to pull them out, and all algae are completely gone in less than a week. using bacteria seems to be hit or miss.

good luck!
 
Moddy said:
You Have 4 large Tangs

Add more powerfull wavemaker 6100 is too small for your tank if you only put 2 in.
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I just purchased a Tunze 6105. I thought about replacing the existing 6100's with a pair of 6200's, but, adding one or two more of the 6105's will allow me better flow patterns in the tank, especially in combination with the profilux controller. Hopefully, it will be here by Friday of this week.
 
FWIW... I have a 84" x 36" x 30" tank with two 6100 and a dart return. I have had algae problems due to the tank going through normal cycles and the hair algae stuck. I have been doing the VSV and Zeobak thing and my algae is now dying back so fast Im cleaning out my overflow strainers every week and a half. I dose the zeobak teice a week and the VSV is at 4mL a day. (not to say the tank doesnt need more flow... Im ordering some vortechs soon) my alkalinity also stays in the 11dkh range,..(consistently 4.0 meq/L - 4.24 meq/l salifert and elos test kits)

Is it possible the old sand has become a nutrient sink over time and that is where this is stemming from?

I would continue manual removal, and the VSV and a bacterial supplement to the regimen,... do get the alk in check though. You may have a bad chain reaction going due to the alk spike and the nutrient issues. Im not sure if you use any kind of buffer on your topoff or in the tank, but when I first set up my 400 gal, I was using seachem buffer to keep the PH up and it really screwed with my alk readings....

Obi
 
iammrbiggs said:
are you using ro water
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That is a very good question. I can't believe I forgot to mention that in my system description. I use a Purley H2O Optima Automated 75GPD RO/DI. The unit was purchased in March of this year and replaced a previous RO/DI unit from AquaSafe. None of my systems have ever seen an ounce of water that wasn't produces by RO/DI. I live in a new sub division in a town with a new water treatment plant that does not use chloromine. I have water pressure between 65 and 70psi and a TDS reading of between 24 and 30. This reading has been consistent with two different in line TDS meters. Needless to say the water exiting the RO filter is reading 0 TDS and subsequently ) after the DI resin.

I am really starting to wonder about the two large tangs that I have. Both the Naso and the Sohal are very large. The Yellow and the Hipopo are fairly small in comparison. I wonder if the two big guys need to find a bigger home?
 
I did another 45 gallon water change over the weekend. Despite my not having the Ca reactor going for a month and doing about 160 gallons in water changes over the past month I still can not get the alk below 11. I will do a test on the actual salt mix tomorrow and see what I get. I am using Reef Crystals. I added the third Tunze to the display, this time a Tunze 6105. I also removed about 70% of the hair algae prior to the water change. I really need to get some GFO. I discover something quite bad. I have a terrible infestation of planaria. These appear to be red/brown and are mostly on the sandbed and in the algae. All of the sps that are dead or dying have these flatworms on the surface. I am going to attempt to syphon off as many as I can before hitting it with Flatworm Exit. I am not sure if the Flatworm Exit will work on these or not so I will do a test in a separate tank before treating the entire system. I will also need to be ready for a large water change and lots of activated carbon when I do the treatments.
 
Manual removal.50g a week wc's.Reactors running with GOOD GFO.

Repeat,repeat,repeat.

Not to bust your chops but the tank looks neglected.
 
BLKTANG said:
Manual removal.50g a week wc's.Reactors running with GOOD GFO.

Repeat,repeat,repeat.

Not to bust your chops but the tank looks neglected.
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Understandable assumption, but, look at the cabinetry and equipment list. Not exactly the usual set up of someone who neglects their tank. I have invested over 3K in equipment upgrades in the last 6 months trying to get this back on line. Something is off and I can't get a handle on it. The only difference between this new tank and the pristine one I ran for 6 years prior is the addition of 75lbs of dry Figi rock. I did rince it, but, there must be something leaching from the rock.

I have some GFO on order. It takes a little over a week to get anything where I live. I will continue with the weekly manual removal and 45gal water changes.
 
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