cindre2000
New member
From personal experience:
Singapore Angel + Reef = Singapore Angel in a FOWLR
Singapore Angel + Reef = Singapore Angel in a FOWLR
SPS corals dieing, can you help me solve this multivariable problem?
- Thread starter Taqpol
- Start date
Taqpol
New member
I think I'm definitely going to order the Hanna phosphate checker.
Also, I think I'm going to try and capture the Singapore angelfish with the 2L bottle tactic and banish him to the frag tank for awhile (no healthy corals in there anyways...) over the Christmas Holidays and see if I can rescue some polyp extension. I know for a fact he nipped at my pagoda turbinaria which is now looking deflated as well as my cali tort and green birdsnest which RTNed to death.
Also, I think I'm going to try and capture the Singapore angelfish with the 2L bottle tactic and banish him to the frag tank for awhile (no healthy corals in there anyways...) over the Christmas Holidays and see if I can rescue some polyp extension. I know for a fact he nipped at my pagoda turbinaria which is now looking deflated as well as my cali tort and green birdsnest which RTNed to death.
jcolletteiii
New member
My alk is b/t 8-9.5 or so in a near-ulns, biopelleted system, and I get good growth under led's. I keep my mag ~1500 though.
How long has your alk been stable at ~8?
I suggest bringing your Mg up to 1400 over the course of a couple of days.
How long has your alk been stable at ~8?
I suggest bringing your Mg up to 1400 over the course of a couple of days.
neoalchemist74
New member
I have the same issue. and over and over again I come to the same conclusion, That in systems with extremely low po4 levels alk above 7.5 or 8 will cause this every time. Also running GFO seems to make it worse over night. Try to maintain your alk at7.5 for a couple of weeks and see if that makes a diff.
neoalchemist74
New member
Oh by the way watch out for alk spikes due to water changes. If you use a salt thats high in alk then it may be better to do smaller water changes until you get new salt.
I didn't notice if it was mentoned here, but have you tried a different alk test kit? Maybe you have a bad one. I had an issue with a Mag test kit I was using. I just happened to be running out of it and ordered another. Knowing the reading I was getting with my old kit, I tested with the new one, and it was significantly different. Might be worth a shot and it's not like you won't need another alk kit before the expiration date of the newly purchased one (unless you shop at one of my LFSs that sell expired kits regularly, LOVE THAT!)
yeah birmjam i agree.. I actually am going thru this same situation. I had an old elos test kit which was over a year old was reading 9-10 dkh but everything had the look of an alk problem. Melting from the bottom up. I got a new test kit and found my alk was sitting at 6 not the 9-10 i was testing. I was using brs products to dose i have since started using reef fusion and im much happier with this. Its been 2 weeks and my alk is holding steady at 8.5 and my corals seem to be getting better. Milli's that had very little PE are starting to open back up. GL taqpol with your problem.
I agree with Neoalchemist, ULNS and high alk is a problem. I never had problems until my calcium reactor went nuts and upped the alk to over 16kh. That is the only parameter that changed in my system. I guess ULNS are closer to NSW in nutrient levels, which in turn requires a 7-8 kh range, the naturally occurring alkalinity level of sea water.
Roll221
Premium Member
Your situation sounds very similar to mine. I tried for months to figure out what my problem was then a buddy of mine have similar issues stumbled across an article on Chloramines. We both checked our local water reports and found that both our water treatment facilities are using them. My water facilities releases the water at 3.5 ppm (4 is the legal limit). I stopped doing water changes which I believe was making my problem worse. I think that concentrations were building over time and the tank could no longer process them. I ordered new catalytic carbon and carbon block filter from Bulk Reef Supplies. Everything seems to be turning around. All tissue recession has stopped polyp extension if getting better by the day. Only thing really different from your symptoms is that my color really never suffered too bad, but Monties did seem to be affected the most, lost both Supermans, Strawberry Patch, on Incredible Hulk. MY purple Haze did the same thing your Monti digi did, seem like it was oozing his guts out, but is recovering now.
psteeleb
Team RC
Alex
Your situation sounds very familiar (but on a larger scale) to what I experienced 3-4 months into my 300g. The 300g was essentially a transfer from someone else established tank so I had minimal cycles but after 3-4 months I lost a couple SPS and attributed it to my total lack of SPS experience. After some consulting I realized my Alk was making wild swings and found my Mg was way low (something I was not testing at the time). I got the Mg fixed and the Alk finally stabilized, I will ad that I also blame the new tank set up for some of the Alk issues as I did have some base rock and all new sand, both can be Alk sponges until the system (rock, sand and water) equalizes itself PH wise by buffering itself with available Alk
Anyway, I'd start with trying to get your Mg to 1400 or so and keeping it there. And even if you have to test your Alk daily try to keep it around 8ish and avoid the up and down swings as the symptoms you're describing fit that problem.
Your situation sounds very familiar (but on a larger scale) to what I experienced 3-4 months into my 300g. The 300g was essentially a transfer from someone else established tank so I had minimal cycles but after 3-4 months I lost a couple SPS and attributed it to my total lack of SPS experience. After some consulting I realized my Alk was making wild swings and found my Mg was way low (something I was not testing at the time). I got the Mg fixed and the Alk finally stabilized, I will ad that I also blame the new tank set up for some of the Alk issues as I did have some base rock and all new sand, both can be Alk sponges until the system (rock, sand and water) equalizes itself PH wise by buffering itself with available Alk
Anyway, I'd start with trying to get your Mg to 1400 or so and keeping it there. And even if you have to test your Alk daily try to keep it around 8ish and avoid the up and down swings as the symptoms you're describing fit that problem.
denash24
Me too!
I'm going through the same problems right now the difference is that I have MH + T5 lighting so I know for sure it's not a lighting issue in your tank. At first I thought it could be the amount of light/ photo period on my tank which was 10 hours after making adjustments I thought it was possibly the distance of the lights to the water but bottom line lighting does not appear to be the issue. I was also running the WM bio pellets with an Eheim 1250 pump in a NextReef reactor and so after reading other peoples posts regarding their negative experiences with their bio pellets I took mine off line, unfortunately it has not made any positive or noticeable difference. I then spoke to one of the guys at vividaquariums and he suggested using GFO (rowaphos) which I had not been using because my po4 has always been undetectable using different test kits, but in my desperation to find a remedy for my dying corals I set up a BRS reactor with an MJ1200 pump running 250ml of rowaphos, again no noticeable difference. Of course people were suggesting that maybe my test results were not accurate so I took some water over to Age of Aquariums (a reputable LFS) and their results almost 100% matched my results, so we began talking about pollutants in the water and the guy commented that although my TDS meter reads 0 that if I have not changed the filters in my RODI unit I could still be getting chloramines and or metals in my water. So to be completely honest I had not replaced any of the filters in my RO/DI unit since I got it 2 years ago, I had only replaced the DI resin. I have now replaced all the filters (except the membrane), and did a 20% water change, added a poly filter and I'm hoping that this will resolve my problem. I do see one of my tri-color valida showing some signs of life but just about everything else is still the same, I'm going to continue doing water changes every couple of weeks as I don't want to cause major changes to water parameters and hopefully getting back to basics will help.
Tank: 120 glass
Lighting: 2 x 250 MH
Sump: Approx 40 G
Bulb: 1 20K Ushio / 1 20K XM
Lighting: 4 ATI 48" T5's on ICE CAP ballast
Light schedule: (currently) first MH comes on at 3:00PM and the second one on at 3:30 PM and off at 9:00PM and 9:30PM
Skimmer: Vertex IN100
Return Pump: Laguna 2400 at about 50% power.
Flow: MP40 X 2
Reactor: BRS reactor with MJ1200 running Rowaphos
Carbon: Chemipure Elite
Dosing Pump: BM T-01
Dosing: BRS 2 part
PH: 8.1
Cal: 450
Alk: 10 DKH
Mag: 1360 or 1380
Phos: 0
Water top off: JBJ ATO
water: Only use RODI provide via air/water/ice RODI unit.
BTW my ALK has always been 9 - 10 and almost everyone I've talked to does not think that 9 - 10 is too high.
Tank: 120 glass
Lighting: 2 x 250 MH
Sump: Approx 40 G
Bulb: 1 20K Ushio / 1 20K XM
Lighting: 4 ATI 48" T5's on ICE CAP ballast
Light schedule: (currently) first MH comes on at 3:00PM and the second one on at 3:30 PM and off at 9:00PM and 9:30PM
Skimmer: Vertex IN100
Return Pump: Laguna 2400 at about 50% power.
Flow: MP40 X 2
Reactor: BRS reactor with MJ1200 running Rowaphos
Carbon: Chemipure Elite
Dosing Pump: BM T-01
Dosing: BRS 2 part
PH: 8.1
Cal: 450
Alk: 10 DKH
Mag: 1360 or 1380
Phos: 0
Water top off: JBJ ATO
water: Only use RODI provide via air/water/ice RODI unit.
BTW my ALK has always been 9 - 10 and almost everyone I've talked to does not think that 9 - 10 is too high.
Last edited:
Roll221
Premium Member
I agree, as long as it is stable at 9 -10 DKH.
sowellj
New member
I wouldn't waste your money on this. I did some tests on these and they are not accurate at the levels you are interested in.
FishTruck
Premium Member
I have gone through some similar stuff. After going through what you have... I ultimately found that my RO / DI unit was not working as well as I thought.
I did not see any TDS numbers or rejection rate calculations in your description. Sorry if is there and I missed it. But, DEFINITELY check that out before doing massive water changes!
I did not see any TDS numbers or rejection rate calculations in your description. Sorry if is there and I missed it. But, DEFINITELY check that out before doing massive water changes!
