Nutrient level in SPS tank

[dzhuo]

OK. It's official. I have RB.

So far, I only notice one of the frag has it but I am going to assume it's possible that the rest of my frags could have it too. Whole tank treatment? I only have 1 zoa colony and the rest are acros. I do have 1 crab and lots of snails. I suppose the treatment will kill everything from crab to RB to pods but won't affect things like snail, fish, etc?

 

[evoi19]

hi dzhuo,

I actually took my gfo offline about a little over a month ago and the results you posted are exactly what's happening to me also. My sps are coloring up very nicely and growth is significantly faster. The film algae on my back window used to be green, now it's more fuzzy and transparent. Coraline is still growing, no signs of algae with the exception of 2 little things of bubble algae. I usually remove it and put some superglue on the spot and it doesn't come back. I should mention i had a few bubble algae when i had gfo running too. I feed every other day and see no ill effects. Polyp extension is getting ALOT better after taking gfo offline. I even see it open during the day now instead of only at night.

Like you, I think not running gfo works for me at this point, however i've been keeping a close eye on things. Before, my phos were at zero both with API and a Salifert kit. I just ordered my hanna checker so we'll see what that reads later this week. Alk has been stable at 8.9 and my cal and mag are at the proper levels. So far so good!

 

[dzhuo]

Good for you evoi19!

I think my problem is compounded with the discovery of RB but so far I only notice one of the frags has this pest. The frag is actually at the center of the tank so I can't see it clearly. I only saw a couple super tiny dots running around the tip of the frag so I assume they are RB. This particular frag has lost almost all polyp extension even at night.

I am actually local to you. I should check out your tank sometime!

 

[evoi19]

Good for you evoi19!

I think my problem is compounded with the discovery of RB but so far I only notice one of the frags has this pest. The frag is actually at the center of the tank so I can't see it clearly. I only saw a couple super tiny dots running around the tip of the frag so I assume they are RB. This particular frag has lost almost all polyp extension even at night.

I am actually local to you. I should check out your tank sometime!

You're more than welcome to come by as I'd like to see yours too! We can exchange ideas. I live in downtown oakland btw. Not the ghetto! haha

I had one piece that bleached overnight this past weekend. I'm not sure if it was STN or RB but I dipped when i got it a few weeks ago and it was fine until Sunday. Fragged a a few pieces off and hopefully i can save it.

 

[nvdiz]

I haven't read the whole thread, but will get to it by tonight. So are the majority saying that its acceptable to have some phosphates and nitrates in an sps tank? Mine are both at 0 and have some weak coloration, especially the purple. Then again the tank is recovering from low alk, high specific gravity, and not to mention all the corals underwent a tank transfer a little over a month ago. I know what my sps are supposed to look like since I had them colored up well a few months ago, but things haven't been the same since then.

 

[Alex T.]

dzhuo, that sucks about the Red Bugs. Some people claim that certain species of the wrasse family can at least keep them under control if not slowly erradicate them. If all your acros are still able to be removed and not encrusted then maybe some dips could help a lot.

evoi19, we're not saying to feed your tank until you have high levels of nitrate or phosphate, just that unmeasurable nitrates and phosphates on low range equipment can sometimes be more detrimental to corals than help. Read through the thread and you'll see what many (including myself) have found. And that is that stripping the water column too aggressively can cause more problems than having some lingering in the tank.

 

[evoi19]

dzhuo, that sucks about the Red Bugs. Some people claim that certain species of the wrasse family can at least keep them under control if not slowly erradicate them. If all your acros are still able to be removed and not encrusted then maybe some dips could help a lot.

evoi19, we're not saying to feed your tank until you have high levels of nitrate or phosphate, just that unmeasurable nitrates and phosphates on low range equipment can sometimes be more detrimental to corals than help. Read through the thread and you'll see what many (including myself) have found. And that is that stripping the water column too aggressively can cause more problems than having some lingering in the tank.

Oh i agree with you. I took gfo offline as an experiment to see what would happen because i felt my tank was nutrient poor. As the weeks went on, i saw improvement in my corals and no major ill effects overall on my tank.

I feed every other day still and perform my weekly water changes religiously. I bought a hanna checker just to compare what my other tests are reading. I don't like reading off a color chart personally. IMHO I believe that some phos and nitrates are ok to have, just nothing excessive and nothing too low. I know everyone's tank is different, and I just wanted to share what happened to mine when i took the gfo off.

 

[mike810]

Treat the whole tank, that's your best shot of getting rid of all the RB. I treated my tank with an overdose of said medicine and it took care of them in one shot. Others say treat at least 3 times. Others like me treated only once and haven't seen them since.

My snails, clams, anemone, shrimp and pods all survived but others have lost hermit crabs and shrimps in the process. It's said to remove whatever inverts you don't want to die and QT them but there is also a good chance that after you treat and bring the QT inverts back to the tank, they can also bring the RB back with them.

If you ask me, RB is one of the easier pest to deal with. Dose the tank, let it do it's thing and you'll be RB free. GL

BTW glad to hear your skimmer is doing better.

 

[dzhuo]

dzhuo, that sucks about the Red Bugs. Some people claim that certain species of the wrasse family can at least keep them under control if not slowly erradicate them. If all your acros are still able to be removed and not encrusted then maybe some dips could help a lot.

I have heard random reports here and there with natural control like wrasse or dragon pipe fish. Since there doesn't seem to be a strong correlation or success rate, I think I will stick with a proven method. I will probably do a whole tank treatment just in case. The good thing is I don't have shrimp and only 1 crab. The saddest thing is my pod population is starting to climb up since I feed more but I guess I will be back to square one after the treatment.

If you ask me, RB is one of the easier pest to deal with. Dose the tank, let it do it's thing and you'll be RB free. GL

I agree. Everything I have read and heard so far is that RB is one of the easiest to treat. I only spot one frag with RB and this particular frag is not even glued. I am temped to just do a drip with that single frag but I am not taking chance. I think I will go for a whole tank treatment.

 

[cjcmcheek]

fish poop has a lot of nutrients. most of them are broken down into simply forms by enzymes inside the fish.

i feed my sps elos pro skimmer. that and the aminos is all you need to feed sps.

 

[SPSEMPIRE]

evio19 - glad to hear that you are solving the color issue.

dzhuo - Sucks about the Red Bugs but treatment is a piece of cake. I have not seen RB in over a year. Makes me wonder if my leopard wrasse is eating them as well.

 

[dzhuo]

Have you guys ever heard of chrysiptera parasema (aka yellowtail damselfish) eating RB? You know I have 9 of them and I swear a few of this particular fish have "study" this frag intensively for the last 10 minutes. They circle the frag looking at it almost to a point of touching the frag. Unfortunately, they normally gives up without taking a shot. I wonder if they notice the existence (they don't circle the other frags) of RB but just unable to eat it?

Anyway, I am not going to take any chance and I will just do a whole tank treatment. The frag (now a mini colony) is still growing very fast and color is still pretty good. I hope I don't make any stupid mistake and cause any more harm to the corals. Getting nervous. It will be my first RB treatment.

Do you guys turn off the skimmer? Do you turn the skimmer on after each treatment?

 

[dzhuo]

Another week went by. Tested alk, cal and phosphate:

alk: 7.8 (Salifert)
cal: 430 (Salifert)
phosphate: 0.00 (Hana Checker)

Phosphate went back to 0.00. I put the carbon reactor back online and done a 20g water change because of RB treatment. I am still somewhat concern about the color of my SPS and I think they are pale as well. I borrow a better camera from my friend so to give you an idea:

The last one still have a dark green color to it but you can see the top portion is already turning blue. I have no idea why majority of my SPS seems to turn pale blue over time. Do you guys think this is a sign of nutrient poor? Should I continue to add more fish since phosphate went back to 0.00?

 

[sanchoy]

FWIW if you feel your system is starving then go buy some reef frenzy coral food and feed ..

 

[dzhuo]

I have been feeding Roti-Feast and Oyster-Feast for a few weeks now. Is Reef Frenzy comparable to these 2 products? Have you use all 3? If so, what are your experience?

 

[dzhuo]

More bad news.

This acro:

is experiencing the same slow-dead symptom. I notice today the tips are growing dino. I gently shake the acro in the tank water and the dino came right off. 20 minutes later I went back to check on it and more dino are growing on more tips! Same way my last 2 frags were killed. I have decided to do a 3-days lights off. Does anyone have other suggestions?

If you can't tell, I am getting very desperate.