SPS Dying???? Help Please!

[mortonl]

Help, my SPS (Acro's, bird's nest) are dying (bleaching out)....

Here is a little background on the tank:

160g tank has been up about 4 months + 25g sump
Amonia .001
Nitrite .005
Nitrate .9
Phosphate .19
Mag 1400
CA 400-450
Alk 3.43 meq/l tested yesterday at 8dkh
salinity 1.024-25
Temp 79-81
PH was 8.2 to 8.4, now for last week it has been dropping to 8.05 to 8.15 (PH Probe recently calibrated)

circulation
1.5" closed loop on a dart
seperate 1" returm from sump on mag 18

Lighting
3x250 12,000 10 hours per day
4 x t5's 14 hours per day

So everything was fine, until last week or so. Here is what has changed:

over the last few weeks I have been adjusting my Koralian CA reactor. Previously I had a steady flow of effluent and was running approx. 60 bubbles per minute. My ph of the effluent was too high (7.1 - 7.3).

On advice from LFS I slowed flow and bubble count and was able to achieve a effluent ph of 6.5-6.6. I was happy that I achieved the desired result and waited to see my tank continue to do well, but instead my SPS started showing stress (less polup extension, color, etc. as PH has dropped, CA reactor has been off majority of the day as my trip point is approx 8.18 for the tank water.

The other change in my tank was switching from a glass sump to a opaque/white rubbermaid rigid sump as my glass cracked. I have heard others use rubbermaid, but maybe not this type? Wondering if this could be part of the problem.

thanks for your input

 

[djrice69]

you still got some ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate which will hurt your sps, sounds like a mini cycle that is just about to finish. And you need to get that phosphate down to .03-.05. So go get a Phosphate Reactor. Did you light acclimate your sps when you recieved it? Try 8hrs of your MH instead of 10.

 

[acrodave]

the tank may not be aged enuff. and any phos is bad on sps...and could be your light. what light did they come from. you may be light shocking them

 

[crvz]

the fact that you have measurable nitrite and ammonia indicates that the tank is not near mature enough to have such corals in it. Obviously that doesnt really help you now, but I can recommend being very aggressive with water changes (20% a week) to dilute the problems your having, as well as making sure the skimmer is performing at it's peak. I assume you have a skimmer, no?

 

[mortonl]

Yes, good Deltec 870 skimmer which is actually overkill for this size.

Doing 20% water changes about every 2-3 weeks, so I will try to increase frequency, and I do have pho-ban reactor. Changed media a few weeks ago.

The SPS came mostly from LFS, so varied lighting, but mostly similar MH. The thing is I have had most of this SPS for 1-2 months with no problems, and all of a sudden they are crashing.

Thanks for input

 

[mortonl]

Took piece of Acro to LFS who said it might be worms and he gave me a dip for the SPS. I guess I'll wait & see. He did not think there was a connection between adjusting my CA reactor and what was happening. Since my Zoa's & zenias are doing well he said he did not think it was a water quality issue, since if it was it would affect all items in the tank. FYI, the SPS is dying from the bottom up.

Any more thoughts?

 

[crvz]

Well, the zoas and softies are going to tolerate higher nutrient levels than SPS corals, so it could very well be an issue of water quality. And the fact that corals are dying from the base up, though mostly conjecture, could indicate that there is a source of phosphate in the rock they're attached to.

In any case, I still feel that you're in a little too deep this early in the life of the tank. How long has it been setup? Keep doing water changes (at least weekly) and test the water.

 

[abulgin]

do you have a lot of zoas or other softies in the tank/near the SPS? Zoas are pretty harsh on SPS.

As stated your phosphate is too high. In my experience, SPS dying from the base up is not a good sign.