SPS death

[NiclasM]

Hello! IÃ"šÃ‚´m having a little bi of a problem with SPS Acroporas that has died on me. My water values are quite ok, only the NO3 is a bit high around 40. The temperature in the summmer has been 27-28 C. I donÃ"šÃ‚´t think it is parasites, I dipped them in Pro Coral Cure with no succses. What would you say be the most likely cause of this problem of mine?

Thank you very much in advance!!

Best Regards
Niclas, Stockholm, Sweden

 

[Skipper]

What are your calcium & alkalinity levels, Niclas?

 

[NiclasM]

CA 420 KH 9
Regards
Niclas

 

[rick rottet]

Was this coral in your tank for some time, or was it a new arrival?

 

[NiclasM]

Around 3-4 weeks old in my aquarium.

 

[rick rottet]

There are so many possibilities here, it would be difficult to say for sure without knowing everything that happend during the 3-4 week period (and before that too).

When you say it has died, what is defining death for you?
Has the coral lost all of it's tissue? (has coralline or other type of algae grown on this coral?)-(dead)
Have the polyps stopped opening? (stressed or inadequate water flow)
Has it turned white? (bleached, but not dead)

40 ppm of nitrate is a little high for some of the more sensitive stony corals, but it would be very difficult to state that is the cause. We should aim for less than 10 as a general guideline with 0 (or undetectable) being quite obtainable.

You're temp of 27-28 C (around 80-82 F) should not be problematic as long as it is constant/steady.

What was your acclimation procedure?
What kind of lights are you using? Any lighting change during this time? What were the lights like where this coral came from?
Was the coral moved around the aquarium during this time period?
Is there anything else in the aquarium showing any signs of stress?
What kind of equipment are you using to create water flow? (and how many gallons per hour?) (All of the water moving equipment is saltwater safe?)
What other types of corals (and how many) are in this aquarium?
What kind of fish (if any) do you have in this aquarium?
All of these things can have an impact on the life in our aquariums. Maybe any one of them wouldn't kill a coral but a few of them combined might add up to something.

Did you see this coral looking well when you bought it? (polyps open with adequate light and water flow?)

 

[Anthony Calfo]

very good questions/advice from Rick especially.

My wonder here is if your temp spiked quickly at some point? Sudden increases from low(er) "safe" temps are actually far worse than slow and steady rises to "high" temps.

The quick spikes up are killers

I also don;t think the nitrate levels are any issue here at all. Do work to get them lower eventually, but no worries now {BTW... do look for the "DSB bucket" thread in my forum... an easy, inexpensive fix for you).

kindly,

Anthony