Losing Corals: Cannot figure out why!

[catman78]

Hi all,

Looking for some insight.

Background:
120 mixed tank, T-5's.
Tank is around 2 yrs old.
Running GFO/Carbon in BRS Reactor and around 500ml Pellets in another reactor.

Dosing a few drops Zeo AA and Vitalizer daily

03/15/11:
Cal 435
Alk 8 Lamotte
Mg 1380
Nitrates and Phos zero
Salifert kits used for all but Alk. All kits new within last 6 months

Removed 5" DSB in display and did 60 gallon water change.
After a week or so, I noticed tank appeared to look much better(Even my wife commented on appearance)

04/07:
Added another 250 ml pellets, so more total is around 750ml

04/15:
Notice 1st sign of peeling on several SPS colonies.
450 Ca
8 Alk
1400 Mg

25 gallon water change

04/22:
Still losing SPS flesh, now a few Chalice and Acans losing flesh.

05/02:
Still n/g lost a few SPS and two Chalices

05/07 - 05/09
Did three 30 gallon water changes in a row.

05/20
Took Pellet reactor off line.

Today, Still not looking good.

Some Corals appear to be fine.
Clams and Fish thriving.
If you can believe, my ORA Red Goniopora is looking great.

I heard of some issues with Pellets and STN, that's why I took them off line.
Alk s/b low enough.

Any suggestions welcome.

 

[jb61264]

I would suggest testing PO4 and nitrate with another test kit to verify those readings for a start

 

[brannock_16]

I would check you SG as well.

 

[bertoni]

There are lots of reports of tanks losing corals, and it's often impossible to be sure what's happening.

I would get second opinions on the test kits, and check a few others, like SG and temperature, if you haven't already. In addition, I'd stop the large water changes and add some fresh GAC and likely a PolyFilter, in case there's some sort of toxin or metal contamination causing the problem.

 

[catman78]

SG 1.026 refractometer calibrated with solution

Temp 78 double checked with floating thermometer.

I bought a large bag(175 gallon treatment) of Boyd Chemi Pure Elite. Have yet to dump it in.
Should I?

Thanks guys.

I'm so disgusted, never had an issue I could not figure out in 5 years of reefing. A humbling experience it's been...

 

[bertoni]

Yes, it's sad to lose corals like that.

Hard to say about the Boyd's. I am leary of the red slime chemicals because they have been known to crash tanks. I would siphon out as much cyanobacteria as is easy to get, and do that for a few days. Also, I'd stop all feeding, and add some fresh GFO.

 

[catman78]

Thanks all. I'll report back with results.

 

[CW from the OC]

No one touched on this yet, but it jumped out at me: You noted that on 3/15 you removed a DSB. That could have released nasty stuff. Especially when you report that your Goniopora is doing well. IIRC, I read that Goni's prefer murkier/dirtier water as opposed to ULNS tanks.

If any of that is the case, I'd continue running a lot of carbon and doing larger wather changes. By larger, I mean do 60 gallons 3,4,5 even 6 days in a row.

 

[catman78]

CW

I was thinking of that also, however when I removed the DSB I removed around 80 gallons of water before I disturbed the sand bed.
This water was moved into storage bins that housed livestock, corals and rock.

The tank was empty when DSB was removed. Rinsed well before 80 gallons reserved and new water was put back in.

I'm going to buy a few new Phos and Nitrate kits to double check.

Thanks for the input.

 

[tiffyreefer]

I'd say keep up with the GAC & water changes. When you said Chemi-clean, did you mean Chemi-Pure? Your description sounds more like the latter. I have good experience with the Chemi-Pure sacks, if this is what you meant. It might be something to look into. Also, keep in mind that sometimes there is a delay in a corals response. They could still be reacting to what happened to them a week or two ago. It doesn't always mean the corals are pi**ed at their current conditions. I have had this happen to my tank when I had a severe Alk spike. It was fixed and a few days later I had moderate STN. My heart goes out to you, and good luck

 

[MichaelBrock]

How old are your T5 lamps? I notice a definite decline in my SPS when my lamps get to about 10 months old.

 

[catman78]

< 6 months

 

[pciscott]

I had similar problems with pellets yet I kept with them, added more fish and feed like crazy, I keep my Nitrate between 3 and 10 when my nitrate is at zero the Corals do not do well.

You may want to check your fresh salt as large water changes with unmatched water parameter stress SPS out. What salt brand do you use? I have read people having issues of late with certain brands.

Have you tested for pests, they tend to get a upper hand when your tank is stressed, and have been showing up in many tanks.

Sorry to hear your problems, this hobby has added a few grey hairs to my head and it stinks to lose coral. Good luck figuring out.

 

[catman78]

Update...

Bought new Phos(purchased locally local, forget the name) and Nitrate(API) kits.
Both showed zero. Phos kit hard to tell color, however obviously nothing jumped out @me.

In addition to BRS Carbon and Phos in reactor, I've been running the Chemi Pure bag(It's just a bag with GAC and some GFO). It's placed right in the path of the return.

Ca 440
Mg 1350
Alk 8.0 or so.

Corals:
On a positive note.
1st coral that showed signs of stress, (Acan colony around 50 heads.)
thought it was dead and now I see signs of life with whatever was left on ten or so heads.

SPS:
Still n/g on most

Placed two donated frags, Tri color and some smooth skinned frag in around 10 days
ago.
Tri color has peeling @ tips and the other is receding from base a bit.

Remarkably, a Red Planet and Rose Milli still seem unaffected.

Not sure @ this point if I've turned the corner yet, however Acan may be coming back which is the only positive sign.
No water changes in the interim.

 

[catman78]

bumping this guys. Looking for any additional insight based on my last post.
SOOOO frustrating watching corals slowly die...

thanks