im.. im... im frustrated

[Jman13]

i have been hit and miss with sps corals. my red planet table acro is growing like CRAZY, my rainbow monti, setosa purple cap, and 2 other unknown acros are doing great, along with many other lps. BUUTT I lost a small chalice frag, 2 unknown acro frags and almost another( i saved a 1/4" chip when it rtned), and most recently a stylophora. they loose color fade out and die only one was quick. whats goin on??:hmm3:

other than the tank stats below:
calcium 440-460
temp 81
nitrates phos. 00
flow: koralia nano 425 and the stock sump pumps switching off every 20 secs(290gph)
i only run carbon in the back
water toped off daily by hand with ro water, i have an ato but i dont trust it, and i need a new pump
water changes 2-3 weeks i have yet to see notable changes in anything other than calcium between water changes

fish
2 clowns
1 yellow watchman goby
all are small

 

[greech]

Do you think you have enough flow? Does your cube have a sump or is it an AIO? If so does that 290gph taking head loss into account or is that at the height of the pumps output?

 

[fishieness]

What's your ALK?
How long until they die?
etc,etc
I would also add a lot more flow too.

 

[Jman13]

its an aio
i dont test alk but i had the water tested at my lfs and they said i didnt miss anything and im all good
the corals take anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks... no joke
how much more flow(anyone got an mp10 they dont need) :spin1:

 

[Alex T.]

Well...one mistake is trusting your lfs to test your water. The right question to answer regarding alkalinity is stability. Anyone can have a good alkalinity reading on any given day between 7-11 dKH. However, if you were 7 today and two weeks from now you're at 10 and then back to 7 again then that's just a recipe for disaster. While anything from 7 - 11 is a good reading IMO, I'd be more concerned about keeping it at a set value and not letting it swing.

As for flow, crank it up. I'm a big fan of water movement. The more I add, the better my SPS do. I have 4 MP40's on full tilt Lagoon Mode running in my 150 and my SPS love it. As long as you can gauge it to keep the sand down and not topple the rocks over then you're close. I strive for extreme flow rates approaching or exceeding 100 times the display tank's volume. If your fish look almost uncomfortable and need to fight current to swim then you're on the right track. If they look like guppies swimming in a freshwater tank then you're way off.

 

[dixiedog]

its an aio
i dont test alk but i had the water tested at my lfs and they said i didnt miss anything and im all good
the corals take anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks... no joke
how much more flow(anyone got an mp10 they dont need) :spin1:

Yeah an MP10 running reefcrest or lagoon mode at 100% power is exactly what you need IMHO, roughly triple your current flow if I understand correctly.

Other, chaeper powerheads will get the job done too of course, but once you've gone vortech you never wanna go back.

 

[Jman13]

alright so ive got
dkh test kit
and a powerhead i dont think i can afford a vortech but ill get somthing

anything else that looks like a possible problem to anybody

 

[Luckylouse]

What Salt are you running? Get your Ca down to 390 to 400. The issue could be related to higher levels of chloride in the tank. Usually with the addition of Calcium Chloride and Sodium Bicarbonate in an unbalanced tank will result in high than normal Chloride. High Ca could create major issue. It's rarely mentioned but could be devastating for a tank.

 

[Jman13]

I use instant ocean reef crystals and a instant ocean calcium booster... I have been slowly raising calcium, and I've been seeing amazing growth in my corals that are doing well but im not going to take unnecessary risks so ill let it drop. Thanks luckylouse

 

[on the spot]

alright so ive got
dkh test kit
and a powerhead i dont think i can afford a vortech but ill get somthing

anything else that looks like a possible problem to anybody

I'd start with what you have in your basket. Changing a lot of stuff all at once could be just as problematic. Add the flow, test out the Alkalinity over a week or so, just to see where it goes. It's difficult to adjust it if you don't know how much it drifts.

 

[40+]

Have you checked your Mg levels - Alk, Ca and Mg are all related.

I had a bad time back in Jan when some SPS started to RTN. I was getting great growth and all of a sudden the branching monti's and Milli's started to die.

I checked my Mg and it was @1150, buffered it up using Salifret Mg powder and the Alk and Ca came back into balance.