SPS Gurus - help me out please

[dzhuo]

Will try getting a poly filter see if that helps

Yes I think it's worth a try especially the pad is so inexpensive.

Before you do the rock change and run a nutrient rich tank, how are the SPS? Besides the rock, have you replace anything (such as your sand bed) else?

 

[jimrawr]

Yes I think it's worth a try especially the pad is so inexpensive.

Before you do the rock change and run a nutrient rich tank, how are the SPS? Besides the rock, have you replace anything (such as your sand bed) else?

SPS werent well before the rock change either. Actually in this tank I havent had good SPS ever. I will have a few months with good growth and color to lose it without knowing why. Overall not very successful. Nothing else was replaced, just the rock

 

[dzhuo]

Let's see what the poly filter pick up (if anything). Are you currently running any carbon? If so, what brand?

 

[jimrawr]

Ya just a small amount of rox carbon from BRS. I think half a cup

 

[Met3112]

I wouldn't stop doing water changes because you want to get your nutrient level up.
Beside waste removal, water changes also replenish many elements you cannot test for.

 

[jimrawr]

I am going to do a 20% water change today. I ordered a few Poly Filters from marine depot, they should be here mid week. Also stopped the carbon dosing completely, and things still seem to be getting worse.. There is something definitely wrong, I just wish I knew what it was..

 

[pulit]

do you run a filter sock ? ifso take it off for a few weeks . i know this will not fix the problem but it should help with the nutes and feed the corals alil better .

 

[plyle02]

jimrawr,
You sound like me just before I took an exit from the hobby, back a year later, to give it another shot with a smaller system. During my break, I really looked back and realized that I was getting in my own way from achieving a great tank. I ran full zeovit, then tried pellets with zeo supps, than added a fuge, then to fuge with gfo, all to eliminate nasty algaes and beautiful coloration. Point being, I too did everything and the more I did the more complicated things became. I would seriously consider just the basics for a few months, do some large water changes, clean out the sump, blow off the rocks real good with a powerhead, then add a filter sock until water clears. At that point I would focus on fish health and Ionic balance. I think your tank needs a break, your corals will darken, this is a sign of your nutrients being elavated. FWIW, whenever I ran ANY c-source dosing type system, and I have tried them all, I have ALWAYS experienced some sort of nasty invasive alagaes. I will leave these systems to the well studied, experienced reefers and return to basics in marine keeping. Best of luck hope it works out for you...

 

[jimrawr]

Thanks yeah, you may be right. Maybe I need to just do water changes along with ca/alk/mg dosing and thats it. I went by a trusted LFS today who tested my parameters and came up the same with me. He suggested I may want to try some iodine dosing as it sounds to him like some trace elements may be missing but wasnt sure either. Going to dose some iodine for a week, and then Ill take a step back and just do the basics.

Also, I got some poly filter today, I dont have a filter to put it into so I kind of stuffed it into the over flowing so water has to go through it.. how long should I keep it in there for? A week or so?

 

[dzhuo]

how long should I keep it in there for? A week or so?

PBM Inc. (maker of poly filter) has a FAQ: Poly Filter® Fequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

 

[acropora1981]

I feel your pain Jim. I had similar issues with my latest tank; dull corals(all sps), no corraline growth, poor survival... Turns out I had gotten too good at keeping nutrients down and was starving my corals! Fixed the issue by getting some fish and using peroxide to kill off some caulerpa(it was the reason I was keeping nutrients so low).

I got fish in August or september and the tank has done amazing since upping nutrient input.

 

[jimrawr]

I have three lobos all of which look terrible right now. Two have open mouth now for a long time, and one of those is showing a lot of skeleton. The third is doing better than the others but hardly looks healthy. This is so frustrating, these corals have been in my tank for over two years and I paid more than $200 for them each, and I havent a clue as to why they are dying..

I did a 15% water change yesterday, and will probably do another 15% in the next few days or so..

 

[jimrawr]

This brain looked so amazing a few weeks ago.. really beautiful piece

You can see the STN in this picture. Most of my SPS are showing STN just like this piece, at the base

 

[acropora1981]

If it is excessively low nutrients, you could try what I did to start the process of increasing nitrates; I used potassium nitrate plant fertilizer (hydroponics grade). That's how I discovered what my issue was. Dosed small amounts of it while keeping all other parameters the same, saw improvements withing 72 hrs.

 

[jimrawr]

Im not sure if its low nutrients, my tank in general hasnt been a ULNS system, ive fought GHA a long time. When I started dosing NOPOX I felt like maybe it was becoming a ULNS so who knows

 

[sahin]

How is this tank doing? Any updates?

I would just feed the fishes really well and carry out weekly water changes. Only dose for Ca, Alk and Mg, nothing else. Keep doing that and within 3 months your tank should be better. Then add an SPS frag or two and see how it goes.

In any event, would like to know how things are going wiht your tank.

 

[Logzor]

I think you have a bad temp probe or are using bad refractometer calibration solution. Buy new solution and find out how old it is (yes it goes bad).

Buy a calibrated thermometer and make sure your probe is reading correctly.

I suffered for months with slowly RTNing sps, dull color, etc because my temp was actually 71 degrees and my salinity was over 1.030 due to bad temp probe and bad calibration fluid.

Don't just ASSUME your test kits are providing accurate results. You have to use a standard otherwise the measurements are totally useless.

 

[Allmost]

refractometer calibration solution. Buy new solution and find out how old it is (yes it goes bad).

Really ? they dont come with a expiry date ! only way for it to go bad is if you leave the cap open and it evaporates.

 

[Logzor]

Really ? they dont come with a expiry date ! only way for it to go bad is if you leave the cap open and it evaporates.

Well to solve my salinity issues I brought a brand new Pinpoint Salinity Probe. It came with calibration solution. Not knowing this I bought additional calibration solution. So I ended up with two different bottles of solution.

Not thinking about it, I used one bottle, calibrated, then corrected my salinity. It wasn't terribly off. Fast forward a few months, well things still don't look that great.

So I figure I'd re-calibrate using the same solution, same result as before. Then I figure I'll try the other bottle. The result was totally different.

Basically, two bottles of brand-new from PA calibration solution, stating they have identical salinity levels, ended up having totally different readings. We're talking 1.029 vs 1.0265.

I know which one is correct because I received orders from WWC and Cherry Corals and tested their water. They said they run between 1.025-1.026. Their readings matched very close to the "good" calibration solution.

I DO NOT recommend using PINPOINT brand calibration solution. The good stuff was made by Sybon.

 

[OneReef]

There seems to be an ideal nutrient to light ratio for best growth and color. Under norished corals seem to be much less tolerant to long photoperiods of intense light and pale out quick. Light gives them the energy they need to build the skeleton but they also need nutrients and organic compounds to actually create new tissue. My corals now seem to get more color in direct light so now I've started experimenting bumping up the photoperiod.

Look at the encrusting edges. Does the tissue look thin and translucent? Can you see the skeleton at the edges? It should be thick. If it's thin looking then they are probably nutrient starved.

I tried aminos too and it did not work alone. Nothing really worked for me until started feeding alot. I went thru 1 bottle oyster feast 1 bottle rotifeast 2 small packages of rods coral blend and 1/2 bottle aquavitro fuel in about 6 weeks plus feeding fish pellets and flakes 2-3x a day. Also note I had about 300ml of biopellets running too with carbon and no GFO.

I couldn't grow coralline either. All that grew was some brown patchy fuzz algae. Coralline growth exploded after heavy feeding and the brown patchy stuff died off.

I've backed off feeding corals about every other day now. Alternating between oyster feast, reef pearls, and rods coral blend. Soon I think I can just feed the fish alittle extra frozen and be good without and extra coral foods.

You just need to find that right balance of import/export. Seems like you are way heavy on the export side. How often do you need to empty your skimmer cup?

I agree. With SPS I am also a proponent of frequent water changes. I think you said you hardly ever do them. SPS need a lot of the trace elements that you will not get from dosing or supplements. Do you dose copper, cobalt, zinc, molybdenum, or many other trace elements? No, but you can replace these with water changes. I would bump up you water changes as well as the increased feeding.