Is my red macro depleting too many nutrients?

[reefer1970]

I have a 125g DT with a 30g refugium that is overpacked with red macro. I'm having some unexplainable slow coral deaths and corals receding into their skeletons. Could the macro be depleting too many nutrients or somehow poisoning the tank?


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[Ron Reefman]

If the fuge is 'packed' with macro algae I'd say it's unlikely it is the problem, unless you recently cut it back and it has grown very quickly to 'pack' the fuge again. Then you may in fact be running the tank 'too clean'. But I consider this very unlikely. What kind of corals are you losing? (sps, lps, zoas, softys?) What are your other water parameters? What kind of lighting is over the tank?

I'm curious and have 2 questions for you:
1) What type of red macro algae do you have and how fast does it grow?
2) What kind of lighting do you have for the fuge? (led, t5? color temp or spectrum?)

 

[reefer1970]

The macro is red dragons breath and red gracilaria. I have a Kessil Amazon Sun 360 over my fuge. The corals I'm having issues with are all my large colonies if candy canes are dying 1 head at a time and most of my softies are receding into their skeletons- torch frogsoawn duncans


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[Ron Reefman]

Have you tested for nitrate and phosphate? How are the other parameters, ammonia, Ca,alk, Mg, salinity, temp? What light over the DT? Maybe too bright?

 

[Michael Hoaster]

A packed 30 gallon fuge is a large bio mass of plants. I'm not sure it is the problem, but it wouldn't hurt to prune it back by half or so. The bigger the plant mass, the more nutrients they suck up.

Are you feeding your corals? Your description of symptoms sounds sounds like they may be starved of food.

I'm no expert but those are two ideas you may look into. Good luck!