I'm so tired of failures after failures.

[wackie1wackie]

I'm so depressed with my tank. I'm at a point where I just want to permanently quit for good. I've tried and tried to keep sps numerous times with no success whatsoever. I spent ton of $$$ , time and effort but nothing(sps) seems to survive for an extended period of time in my system. I spent so much money on test kits . I even bought two test kits each for Mag,Nitrate,Cal,alk to test for accuracy. All parameters seem to be within acceptable ranges like the manual stated. I have tons of flow in my 75 gal. I've tried MH that didn't work then i switched over to t5 and nothing changes. Sps STN from bottom up a few weeks in my tank. The only things that do well in my tank is my clam and a few LPS. I'm just so ready to quit for the 194837th times. Please helpppppp. I love sps too much to quit and then having to start over again.

Cal 420
Nitrate 5ppm
temp 76-78
alk 9-10

 

[sowellj]

probably going to need a lot more info. How long has the tank been up? What is your water source? What are the other inhabitants? What are your phosphates? What is your maintenance schedule? Are you dosing anything? How are you maintaining Ca and Alk? How often do you test? What are your temp fluctuations .... etc. Pictures?

 

[Nanook]

SPS are difficult to be sure. They require stable water parameters and are probably best left to folks with a couple years experience under their belts. That said, if you are a quick study and have some knowledgeable friends in your area, you would have a better chance of success.

What size is your skimmer, how long has it been set up, what are you using for source water, what are your other chemistry parameters, what is your bioload like, feeding habits, lighting schedule, etc, etc, etc.??? These are just a few specific questions you need to expound on a bit

Or, there are some beautiful softies if you just don't have the time and patience for acropora.

 

[wackie1wackie]

The tank is aprrox 18 months old. I get my water from my Ro unit. The only fish i Have is a YT that doesnt bother anything. I do bi weekly WC which is about 20%. I drip Kalk on a daily basis. I'm not sure if my temp fluctuate that much since my house is only 4 YO and the insulation is near perfect. How often do i test? LOL I test almost everyday to the point that I often think i work in a lab. I tested for PO4 in the past when you look thru the vial it's barely pink. I think there may be some po4 in my system but very minimum. What's causing sps to STN from the bottom up?

 

[wackie1wackie]

My skimmer is a RL rated for 150G. Lights are on for 6-8hrs a day with 6 bulbs T5. I feed one cube of brine shrimp with a pinch of flake once a day. I have very little bioload as I only have a YT, a squamosa clam, one frogspawn, a RBTA. Prior to this system I been keeping LPS for about 4-5 years now. For salt i previously use IO but changed to oceanic about 2 years ago. I doubt it's the salt though. Money is not an issue as I have a decent job. However I'm just frustrated and wish there's something i can do to make things work.

 

[ChuckG]

Not saying this is it, but activated carbon might help if there is something in the water from the LPS and anenome that does not agree with the SPS. It is good to run a bag continually in the sump anyway to keep the water clear and get max light to your corals. Replace it every 3 to 4 weeks. Bulk Reef Supply sells some good phosphate free carbon media..

Also.. you said RO, but I see no mention of DI resin canisters. Do you have DI canisters (RO/DI) and do you check the TDS of the output?

 

[ReefTECK]

IMO, and many others, phosphate (PO4) is the most critical parameter in an sps system PERIOD. Of course all others are relative, but any sps will survive through a CA dip, or change in kH/pH, a little bit of nitrates. But phosphate is an active inhibitor of calcification, and will cause browning, bleaching, and death in sps. Phosphate must be maintained very low, levels over 0.05ppm will have visible effects on sps corals, and levels higher than that, especially those higher than 0.1-0.5ppm will in short periods of time cause death.

What phosphate test kit are you using? A pink test? EDTA? I think the only one most of us use and trust are LaMotte or Sailfert. (even if the Sailfert kit does have a std dev of 0.04ppm)

Maintaining low phosphates in a sps system is elementary. It's most often, (and most easily achieved) through using GFO grandulated ferric oxide (ROWAphos, PhosLock, etc)

There are of course other methods, vodka, zeovit, vsv, etc.

Although refugiums are boasted as great filters, (I may be mistaken here but I believe) macro algaes don't take up significant amounts of PO4.

And beware of aluminum silicate media for absorbing PO4, they remove PO4 too fast, and can actually shock sps. Furthermore the media must be removed after 48hours, otherwise they leach the phosphates back into the water.

Not saying this is it, but activated carbon might help if there is something in the water from the LPS and anenome that does not agree with the SPS.

Alleopathic reactions are possible, but not probable, considering the enormous amount of sps/lps tanks in the world. These reactions are more common in tanks housing Sarcophytons (softies) and sps. But it might not hurt either, quality active carbon is an excellent filter media.

 

[wackie1wackie]

I understand low po4 is elementary however I use salifert kits and it registered a minute trace of po4. . NOt sure if it even play a significant role with such low level ,I could be wrong. I do employ Phosban just to be safe.At this point I highly doubt it's the LPS since I dont have that many to begin with. I do not have DI canisters. My pocket tds meter display a reading of 2.5-6.

 

[ChuckG]

I understand low po4 is elementary however I use salifert kits and it registered a minute trace of po4. . NOt sure if it even play a significant role with such low level ,I could be wrong. I do employ Phosban just to be safe.At this point I highly doubt it's the LPS since I dont have that many to begin with. I do not have DI canisters. My pocket tds meter display a reading of 2.5-6.

Without DI resin there could be contaminates getting through.. namely ammonia. With a 20% weekly water change this could result in a healthy little ammonia spike. You need DI resins and TDS of zero to be sure you are not adding something undesirable via water changes and topoff.

EDIT: BTW ammonia will not show up in a TDS measurement

 

[Haksar]

Have you tried vodka.
I am gonna try from tomorrow with Vinegar.I need to reduce po4 and need more color on my SPS.Growth is too slow.

 

[ChuckG]

If you have any amount of nusience alage and a positive reading on a Po4 test then you have more free Po4 than the test shows which is too much. If that is the case then I'd change GFO medai at least every two days until there was no more positive Po4 reading.

 

[sowellj]

While these are difficult problems to solve ... I would try adding a DI cannister. RO is better than nothing ... but it won't take everything out.

 

[wackie1wackie]

If you have any amount of nusience alage and a positive reading on a Po4 test then you have more free Po4 than the test shows which is too much. If that is the case then I'd change GFO medai at least every two days until there was no more positive Po4 reading.

I have ZERO algae. That's the only thing great going for me.:bounce3:

 

[ericgreg]

I know this is going to sound strange, but there's a moral to the story. I love professional baseball, and especially the Chicago Cubs. I rearely get to see them play, because I live in the Southeast. On the other hand, I get to watch the Braves fairly often. The point is that I love baseball, so I put up with the Braves.

Ask yourself where your desire is: having a saltwater aquarium or having SPS only? If you like the beauty of the tank, then stick with where your strengths are: lps' and softies. I have a 75, and it is filled with several fish and a bunch of lps and softies. I wouldn't touch an sps if it was given to me. To me, the possibility for failure is very great. They are beautiful coral, but the work involved would be too much for me to take on. I enjoy what I have, and even though I would love some sps (Cubs in the story), I have learned to enjoy the others instead (Braves).

 

[ryshark]

First off I would add 2-DI chambers to the RO unit. Who knows what is sneaking passed the RO. Maybe ammonia, copper, silica who knows. I have even thrown away freshly made water because it tested 1-tds. It may be extreme but I only use 0-tds water.

 

[wackie1wackie]

I understand where you're coming from. I never thought I'd go sps but along the way I got hooked. Fast and furious I saw my local reefers' tanks and they are just breathtaking. At times it makes me feel very depressed because their success elude me to this day. I've been in the saltwater on and off for about 15 years. The first 10 was dedicated to FOWLR. Then i graduate to softies which I find beautiful and easy to maintain at the same time. At first a friend introduce me to sps which I find boring until I visited his house. My god ...i've never seen anything like it just plain awesome. At times i wonder which one do i hate my inability to keep sps or my stupid friend for introducing me to sps :0)

 

[MikeandNicole]

Have you tried any sort of coral dips or QT before adding them? Are you getting all your SPS from the same place? I have one local store were their corals will stn almost instantly on me when other pieces are doing fine. I have used Revive successfully on corals that are starting to lost tissue and have stopped it.

 

[wackie1wackie]

yup i tried dipping before. nothing works

 

[preef]

I tested for PO4 in the past when you look thru the vial it's barely pink. I think there may be some po4 in my system but very minimum.

I understand low po4 is elementary however I use salifert kits and it registered a minute trace of po4. . NOt sure if it even play a significant role with such low level ,I could be wrong. I do employ Phosban just to be safe.At this point I highly doubt it's the LPS since I dont have that many to begin with. I do not have DI canisters. My pocket tds meter display a reading of 2.5-6.

The Salifert PO4 test turns the sample blue if you have any. The nitrate test turns pink. Are you sure you aren't confusing the two?

Like the others I recommend adding DI to get the TDS down to 0.

 

[wackie1wackie]

come to think about it i do have a bottle of Revive i bought online sitting somewhere underneath the stand