HELP !! My 75 gal reef tank is sick !

S

sumpfish

New member
I need help figuring out what is wrong with my 75 gal reef tank. About 2 weeks ago, I lost a Flame Angel, and noticed that the corals were not as open as they usually are. They have since gotten worse; my zoas are only partially open, most of my xenia has stopped pulsing and turned gray, my mushrooms are curled up, and my GSP has not opened at all in a week. The only exception to this is my Frogspawn, which looks happier and more open than ever. Yesterday I lost a Yellow Tang, and today I lost my Mandarin.....



Water parameters are: salinity: 1.024, Ph: 8.2, Alk: 9.0, Calcium: 420, Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Phos all unmeasurable. Water temp is 77-79 deg F.



Multiple water changes have not seemed to improve things.

The tank runs a refugium full of chaetomorpha that is doing fine.

Incidentally, my 46 reef 10 feet away in the same room is fluorishing, so I don't think it anything in the room itself....... and its not the water I use, since I do water changes for both tanks from the same RO unit.



On suggestion from a LFS, I added a ground probe to the tank in case I had a stray voltage problem.....



Any and all suggestions would be appreciated......



TIA,



Mark.:sad2:
 
while it seems that all your params are spot on, my question is how old are the test kits, what brand of heater are you using?? i know it doesnt seem like water changes are doing anything but i would continue to do water changes...I assume your using RO/DI and a quality salt mix...
 
I'm sorry to hear about this turn of events.

Are you dosing anything, such as alk? I nuked my shrimp and my flame angel once, I suspect from dosing alk too quickly and causing brief, otherwise unnoticed pH spikes.
 
Yes, I dose the tank with both Alk and Calcium (both SeaChem), but I've been using the same schedule for over five years with no problems. I also dose trace elements.

I use a Coralife RO unit that gives me a TDS reading of approx. 8 ppm. Not perfect, but certainly acceptable. All the RO elements are less than a year old. I use IO Reef Crystals, and have been for years.

I don't have a heater, the tank never gets cool enough to need one (Florida....)

I'm going to try to find a local lab to test the water for oils or other contaminants..........

Thanks....
 
I have lots of carbon in the sump in bags. Wouldn't that do the same thing as the polyfilter...?

It has been suggested to me that this could be the result of chemical warfare between some of my corals. The only aggressive corals I have in the tank are a large frogspawn and and orange torch coral. Could the frogspawn be giving off something strong enough to stress coral on the other side of the tank (2 feet away)..?
 
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Yes, I put fresh carbon in the sump a few days ago. If this is a chemical issue, how fast would the carbon saturate..?
 
Carbon has a pretty high capacity for organics. I would let it go for a couple weeks and then change it out. If you had a heavy dose of organic load I would think your skimmer would be very foamy.
 
Not the corals: I have the same, no problems.
I'm guessing a test kit gone bad, ergo readings out of params, or an electrical problem leaking voltage. OR you've got a predator like a mantis, etc, which isn't able to eat its prey, which would be weird. Any wounds, red spots? Any new rocks lately? I did have one specimen rock which turned out to be congealed tar...but oddly enough it did no damage. And, I hate to ask, no fights with anybody who'd harm the tank?

Polyfilter is broader-range than carbon: can actually remove such things as pesticides, copper, etc.
 
Sounds like stray voltage, chemicals and maybe even a case of velvet or brook. When was the last time you added a fish or coral?
 
A polyfilter wouldn't hurt, even if you're running carbon. I'm having issues in my system and added a poly even though I run carbon. It still pulls out organics.
 
The only thing I've added to the tank recently was a couple of zoa and paly frags about 2 months ago. Once the tank started showing stress I moved them to my other tank to keep them healthy. No new fish for several years. The ones that died started acting listless before they passed. All my parameters were confirmed by a local LFS that I trust. So I'm still guessing stray voltage or chemicals/toxins. And my wife is more upset by the turn of events than I am, so NO to the fights with anyone question........
 
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