Need opinions please...tank turning into an SPS graveyard

[JWags911SC]

I'd be willing to bet your sg is high. Maybe 2 points

Measured my s.g. again last night after calibrating my Sybon refractometer and it was 1.025, I usually keep it at 1.026 or slightly below.

I'm going with the theory that stability is key and am going to bring down my alk to around 8 and watch and wait.

 

[lynchmob3000]

Have you done a big water change? Least 20%

 

[jackson6745]

How old is your tank?
How many fish do you have?

Please post a pic. These days I am kind of leaning toward bacterial instability for widespread STN/RTN. Too many established reefs have horrible parameters and great looking SPS lol. I'm starting to think we are paying the price for the "bonsai" reef look. A healthy population of nitryifing bacteria must be sustained or we could potentially get small ammonia and nitrite spikes (unmeasurable with regular test kits) causing the issues with SPS.

 

[JWags911SC]

Have you done a big water change? Least 20%

I did a 30% water change once it was fully cycled, I do a 10-15% w.c. about once a week

How old is your tank?
How many fish do you have?

I only have a Moyers Red Dragonet and a tank-bred Ocellaris Clown at the moment, planning on adding a fish once it has been through QT to guard against ich

Please post a pic. These days I am kind of leaning toward bacterial instability for widespread STN/RTN. Too many established reefs have horrible parameters and great looking SPS lol. I'm starting to think we are paying the price for the "bonsai" reef look. A healthy population of nitryifing bacteria must be sustained or we could potentially get small ammonia and nitrite spikes (unmeasurable with regular test kits) causing the issues with SPS.

I have a couple of bad iPad pics in my gallery, but can post an updated one when I get home

 

[lynchmob3000]

Earlier you said something about having gha problems.. do you think it was from phosphate or just being a newer tank? Then you say something about water changes not bringing down your nitrate and p. A wc is for bringing back stability. If i have issues with algae I'll usually do a wc to make sure stability is good then I add a tiny bit of gfo and carbon. In no time it'll be gone. I've had dictyota bubble algae and all that bad stuff.

 

[lynchmob3000]

When I have an issue like your having I would do a 20-30 % . Wait and stabilize alk

 

[outssider]

try calibrating the refractometer with calibration fluid rather than ro water. If I calibrate at 0 my refratometer is wwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy off at natural sea water levels..

 

[JWags911SC]

try calibrating the refractometer with calibration fluid rather than ro water. If I calibrate at 0 my refratometer is wwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy off at natural sea water levels..

Thanks, I'm actually using the fluid that came with the unit, it states it is ultra pure 0 ppm calibration fluid. I'm hoping to pick up a spare unit tomorrow to compare the readings I get using two different units

 

[JWags911SC]

It's been a couple weeks since my last post and some things have improved with 10-20 percent water changes every week. Most of my frags seem to be doing better (not outwardly RTNing with a couple exceptions. I have a mystery green Acro that was doing very well and not losing its green coloration, but on the back of the frag where it does not get as much exposure to the T5s, it has some white coloration and has no polyps. I'm not certain if this means it is on the way out or if I need to adjust anything to attempt to save it. I also have another frag that I can't recall the name of right now that has had some bleaching. I have lowered that frag in the tank and added an Orchid Dottyback to try to and increase waste production and the accompanying bacteria that comes with it. I have really focused on water changes and keeping my hands out of the tank. I read somewhere that putting your hands in the tank much can cause sensitivity in SPS and introducing traces of soap and other things can cause issues.

I increased the photoperiod to 10 hours with the two Blue Plus bulbs and am only running all six bulbs for four hours. The other four bulbs are two Blue Plus, a Giesemann Actinic Plus and a Coral Plus.

I'll try to post a pic of the tank soon to try and get some comments on the frags I am having issues with.

 

[jonnybravo22]

How old is your tank?
How many fish do you have?

Please post a pic. These days I am kind of leaning toward bacterial instability for widespread STN/RTN. Too many established reefs have horrible parameters and great looking SPS lol. I'm starting to think we are paying the price for the "bonsai" reef look. A healthy population of nitryifing bacteria must be sustained or we could potentially get small ammonia and nitrite spikes (unmeasurable with regular test kits) causing the issues with SPS.

I am also having issues with healthy SPS starting a near immediate color loss and decline in my system that becomes STN and dead corals. I arrived at the same suspicion as this poster, because I have a very 'minimalist' aqua scape. I'm now adding additional liverock to see if perhaps I have had too small a population of bacteria. I also have just 2 fish in a 60g system

 

[vette.tech]

Get 35 ppm calibration fluid. If you calibrate at 0 you have no idea what the resolution, not accuracy, of your refractometer is when all the way up at 35 ish

 

[JWags911SC]

Get 35 ppm calibration fluid. If you calibrate at 0 you have no idea what the resolution, not accuracy, of your refractometer is when all the way up at 35 ish

^ Good point, I have both fluids, but primarily rely on the 35 ppm seawater calibration fluid from Sybon, also the maker of my refractometer.

 

[lynchmob3000]

it wouldn't hurt to add a little to that photo period on the whites. 4 hours may not be doing it for some of your sps pieces.

 

[JWags911SC]

Been a few months since my last post and am battling a hair algae breakout. I added a few fish and have cut back on the feedings, particularly Phytoplankton.

I now have a Moyers Red Dragonet, my original Ocellaris Clown, a Pygmy Angel and an Orchid Dottyback. I believe both the Clown and the Dottyback were tank-bred because there is no sign of hostility and they all make great tankmates.

I had a bad GHA outbreak and am slowly getting that under control. I am trying API Algae Fix Marine and it seems to be making a big dent after a week of treatment.

Unfortunately, I noticed just this morning that my Coralife digital thermometers might both be misreading my temp. They read 77.9 when I use a standard thermometer I was reading 76...yikes. I hope the true temp is closer to the 77.9. I have to invest in a couple other thermometers to monitor this because if my temps are down to 76 then I will be losing coral.

I am getting great growth out of my first Monti Cap, a Red one, it has started encrusting to the dry rock I mounted it on and it plating out, has great polyp extension and white around the edges where it is growing.

Keep forgetting to take a decent tank shot and upload it but I will shortly. This tank has come a long way since I started it back in February or March and I hope the experience can let me move up to my basement 180 build in the near future. Still trying to figure out how to get it down the stairs without shattering it or killing anyone in the process...maybe piano movers?

 

[jimrawr]

Do the corals seem to get pale before dying? It seems to me like you may be starving the SPS. From my experience when I had GHA it was difficult to keep sps. Even though my tank would test zero for PO4 and Nitrates, the algae would grow and take up all nutrients. To fight this I was using GFO/Vodka etc and the corals just starved. I did so much to try and stop the algae growth and the SPS suffered.

 

[JWags911SC]

Do the corals seem to get pale before dying? It seems to me like you may be starving the SPS. From my experience when I had GHA it was difficult to keep sps. Even though my tank would test zero for PO4 and Nitrates, the algae would grow and take up all nutrients. To fight this I was using GFO/Vodka etc and the corals just starved. I did so much to try and stop the algae growth and the SPS suffered.

Of the SPS that I have lost and the current Pink Lemonade that is exhibiting the symptoms, they just slowly lose their "skin", usually on a side of the coral that is slightly "shaded" from the main effects of the T5. The polyps are no longer prominent and eventually disappear as the white of the skeleton appears. I have been dosing Fuel and Lugol's solution (alternating weeks), so I would think there would be enough nutrients to keep the SPS alive. I also feed Reef Chili every other day according to guidelines. I feed my fish a few flakes every day, just enough to be eaten in about three to five minutes with the return pump in feed mode (10 minutes).

I'm starting to wonder about my bulb life and whether I need to swap out the bulbs now with fresh ones, one a week possibly to reduce any shock if there are PAR issues with bulbs past their useful life. These bulbs have been used since I started the tank, so about 8 months.

 

[jimrawr]

Its probably not starving coral then. Can you show us some full tank shots?

 

[JWags911SC]

 

[JWags911SC]

First two are the apparent bleachng of a green w/ blue polyp monti

 

[JWags911SC]

Last is my coral that is losing its skin where shaded from T5s