Mark's 150 gallon

[reefmutt]

Well, Mark... Babysit indeed. It does look like the damage is done and now it's recovery time.
Clipping off dead tips can certainly help speed recovery.. Maybe give the corals a bit more time but I've always found that they heal up over fresh cuts better than over alk damaged tips... The bases however... Not so easy..

 

[joshky]

Just keep thinking about the future and continue babying your tank, I really look forward to when you're back on track and happy again. Things don't look that terrible overall, I mean, it could be a lot worse.... hang in there Mark.

 

[nemodan]

Well, Mark... Babysit indeed. It does look like the damage is done and now it's recovery time.
Clipping off dead tips can certainly help speed recovery.. Maybe give the corals a bit more time but I've always found that they heal up over fresh cuts better than over alk damaged tips... The bases however... Not so easy..

Mark, do as Matt wrote. I had the same experience in my own tank. About the bases, if the coral recover, they will grow tissue over the skeleton and will re-incrust. I saw that too in my tank.

Things looks well and in recovery , based on the pictures, just keep it constant. You saw what happened to me for changing.

Best and I am following your recovery! !!!!!!

Daniel

Ps: I have an acro with the base totally dead due to mushrooms near it. The acro is like nothing. So do not worry if the base is damaged. Just look that do not keep advancing.

 

[mhucasey]

I have noticed / learned that by the time damage shows up the 'episode' is usually over, so I think things have settled back down. Unfortunately this means some of the acros are zombies and will eventually die, while others should. I hope, either recover or stay healthy.

One tip of the blue stag showed a bright spot yesterday, and today the entire tip is a good bright blue. I only wish the base looked better.

This is the only noticeable change. A few other corals look healthy enough.

So now I'll babysit for a month, keeping things as stable as possible, and see where the tank ends up. KH has dropped to 6.5 with topoff+some kalk on, a good sign.

The flesh on those both look puffy and healthy- Is the base thin still? The way I can tell the corals are finally doing well is when the edge of the base is distinct and raised because the flesh has filled out. I certainly hope so, you've had to deal with way too much bad stuff this year already. I'm crossing my fingers for you!

 

[markalot]

*sigh*

Something is still wrong, I had a frag doing very well on the back frag rock start to go downhill fast. It's the only one so far, but why?

I'll post what I am observing but these are not conclusions.

KH 6.7 and steady.
PO4 .03 (10)
NO3 ~7
Calcium 400
Mg 1300
Salinity 1.025

ORP is in the low 200's and no cleaning of the probe or anything else seems to raise it. It used to run in the low 300's. ORP is useless, might be the probe.

Temp ranges from 78 overnight to 79 during the day.

I feed frozen every 3 days, otherwise at least 2 helpings of Flake food. Tangs stay fat because my green flak feeding is generous.

At least a pinch of Reef Roids daily, 1/2 tsp mixed with frozen on the days I feed it.

I've been adding 10ml of Red Sea Reef Energy daily.

I have filter floss stuffed in the bubble trap between the last 2 sump sections. It's constantly turning dark brown with a fine dust / detritus over just one day. I've been rinsing and replacing every other day.

I added two stronger circulation pumps to the sump to help stir up / keep detritus suspended. I do not use filter socks.

Running 1.5 cups GFO in a reactor to keep PO4 low. If I turn it off PO4 will be at .1 within 2 days, near .2 by weeks end, assuming I keep feeding constant.

I have a bag of carbon (standard grade BRS) soon to be replaced with a bag of Seachem Matrix carbon.

Lighting is T5s, using all Giesemann bulbs. 2 blues on at 11am, off at 9PM (10 hours), 1 blue and 3 coral on at 2PM, off at 8PM (6 hours).

PAR is generally 400 near the base of the highest corals, 250 on the sandbed.

 

[markalot]

Here are the Alk and PO4 measurements for March.

Ah, but how is the glass? Still having to clean the glass every other day.

 

[sprite]

Mark, my first guess if everything else is doing alright, it could be the alk that dropped below 7..my sweet spot has been at 7.5. I got nervous when it dipped to 7a couple weeks ago

 

[markalot]

Mark, my first guess if everything else is doing alright, it could be the alk that dropped below 7..my sweet spot has been at 7.5. I got nervous when it dipped to 7a couple weeks ago

Could be, but it got all the way down to 6.3 in my 40 gallon and things look fantastic. My target is 7 but I'm loathe to make any sudden moves.

Like always, though, whatever happened to that frag might have happened a week ago. :headwalls:

 

[sprite]

I would just keep on making sure alk is rock solid as can be and keep trucking and observing

 

[reefmutt]

Don't ignore the forest for the trees, Mark.
If just one coral is going south, it's really not necessarily an indicator of anything..
So far so steady..
I know how you feel about the po4..
My tank is exactly the same..
The minute I removed my po4 binders, p went from .07 ish to .14 in a week and is now up to .16
I am trying the bacterial route- adding a Carbon source and nitrate.

 

[markalot]

Thanks Matt and Sprite. Preparing for another batch of water changes, maybe something is still out of whack or maybe not but I would hope water changes can't hurt.

 

[mhucasey]

Mark, my first guess if everything else is doing alright, it could be the alk that dropped below 7..my sweet spot has been at 7.5. I got nervous when it dipped to 7a couple weeks ago

Nah, anything between 6 and 7.5 is fine and dandy for the SPS... I've even seen reefs that thrived below 6.

 

[milsaltnewbie07]

Those last numbers look nice and steady Mark. Yea don't let yourself get discouraged by seeing that only 1 coral is doing bad , and yet the rest of the tank looks good and numbers as well. Just like reefmut said.

 

[markalot]

Unfortunately it's not one coral, that's just the latest that went south over 4 days.

Cousing It is half dead now.

My big purple stylo, my oldest SPS, the one I had with me for 3 years and that survived tap water and all my other newb mistakes is 3/4 dead and will be fragged today with one piece moved into my 40 gallon for safe keeping.

Screw the acros, stylos, birdsnests, pocis, montis, Duncans, Goniopora, everything is suffering.

I share water and chemicals (GFO, carbon, anything I happen to dose) between both tanks. Same food, same salt mixture, same RODI source, same Brute garbage cans, etc. etc. Something is seriously wrong with this tank.

Anyway, not making any major changes. I have locked PO4 low and will keep it locked until the tank gets out of the funk or everything is dead.

Waiting impatiently for my Triton results now.

 

[milsaltnewbie07]

Unfortunately it's not one coral, that's just the latest that went south over 4 days.

Cousing It is half dead now.

My big purple stylo, my oldest SPS, the one I had with me for 3 years and that survived tap water and all my other newb mistakes is 3/4 dead and will be fragged today with one piece moved into my 40 gallon for safe keeping.

Screw the acros, stylos, birdsnests, pocis, montis, Duncans, Goniopora, everything is suffering.

I share water and chemicals (GFO, carbon, anything I happen to dose) between both tanks. Same food, same salt mixture, same RODI source, same Brute garbage cans, etc. etc. Something is seriously wrong with this tank.

Anyway, not making any major changes. I have locked PO4 low and will keep it locked until the tank gets out of the funk or everything is dead.

Waiting impatiently for my Triton results now.

Wow..
If it was me, i would frag everything and move it into that 40. There might be something in that tank we are just not noticing. Shoot you have way more patience than me, i would have torn that tank down and restarted. With new sand and baked those rock..But i am a bit crazy so dont lol

 

[markalot]

Wow..
If it was me, i would frag everything and move it into that 40. There might be something in that tank we are just not noticing. Shoot you have way more patience than me, i would have torn that tank down and restarted. With new sand and baked those rock..But i am a bit crazy so dont lol

I am holding another frag toss party this afternoon. Part of me wants to make sure I take all plugs off the dead frags so when someone finds them in the woods hundreds of years from now they'll wonder how the heck a coral got here. :crazy1:

 

[markalot]

Frag toss complete.

Last time the slimer had issues on the base I stopped it by raising and exposing the base to more flow and light. Steady as she goes has never worked with this coral so once again I shifted around the left side and tilted it back a bit to expose the base to more flow and light. All in all it's doing pretty well, and over half the dead tips are not so dead after all.

Sorry, look if you dare.



My purple stylophora is now 7 frags, 4 in here and 3 in my 40 gallon. I had to literally shake the fish out of it as I pulled the mostly skeletal remains.

Red cap is still extremely pale, not sure why but the piece in my 40 is now bright red.

To the right of the yellow tang, see the bright green areas? This encrusting monti was dead with algae and suddenly coming back. :crazy1:

Slimer numerous dead tips, some healing.

Blue stag, no tip damage, new growth, bottom inch is dead.

Miami Orchid, base is dead, tips dead (Kole tank is breaking them off for me).

IMO this has to be some kind of bacterial imbalance combined with unstable params, but who really knows.

Mixed up Red Sea Blue Bucket to 35ppt, 8.3 KH. Did a 20 gallon water change, tank KH now at 7.3.

 

[mhucasey]

The strangeness continues- how you could have issues with the purple Stylophora absolutely baffles me. I couldn't kill it with anything less than Kalk paste, and it grew in my sump under a freshwater LED bar. If everything else was dying it would make more sense. Im glad you fragged some to the smaller tank. I'm very interested in what Triton tells you.

 

[reefmutt]

Hm.... It's beginning to get a little thin in there..
Hang in Mark!

 

[markalot]

The strangeness continues- how you could have issues with the purple Stylophora absolutely baffles me. I couldn't kill it with anything less than Kalk paste, and it grew in my sump under a freshwater LED bar. If everything else was dying it would make more sense. Im glad you fragged some to the smaller tank. I'm very interested in what Triton tells you.

Me too. Hopefully in 7 days.

Hm.... It's beginning to get a little thin in there..
Hang in Mark!

Thanks Matt, I think the worst is over, but the damage is done. The blue stag has 2 growth tips showing new blue now, so something is happening. SO many things can happen ... for all I know the stylo dies due to stress AND 2 anthias, 3 chromis, and 5 cardinals trying to live in it. :fun4:

Something else new, the base of the Red Robin is showing some green glow under blue lights. Very slight improvements, but something.