SPS Help

[kruse47]

Hello all, i have a quick question. My tank is about 8 months old and has progressed well, better than most new tanks. I have recently started putting SPS into the tank and they just don't seem to show signs of life. my cousin also has a tank, and he is keeping sps without a problem. the only difference between the two tank is age, his being a year and eight months, and flow.
I understand that age is going to play a big factor, but we cant figure out why simple SPS don't do well in the tank. Could this be a flow issue? I current have two Koralias at the back point to the corners of the tank. My LFS wants me to try acropower. Any suggestions would be greatly welcomed.

 

[subxero]

There are many things that can affect sps such as water parameters, flow, lightings and other factors.

Perhaps you can start by listing the water parameters that you have tested.

 

[PaleHorse]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2430119

 

[Mark 75g]

Agreed. We need a lot more info to even try and help with your situation.

 

[Tweaked]

Only difference is not just age. You cant possibly be dosing and feeding exactly the same, have the same house temps, air quality, water quality, etc.

 

[kruse47]

Nitrate and Nitrite are both at 0, ammonia is also 0, salinity is between 1.022 and 1.023.

 

[mellowhead]

Nitrate and Nitrite are both at 0, ammonia is also 0, salinity is between 1.022 and 1.023.

- They will need readings such as Calcium, Alk, Mag (very important to SPS).
- Nitrate will need to be bumped up a bit, I'll let the guys explain this more if you have questions.
- What about phosphate?
- What temps do you run the tank at?
- Lighting is what? How long are the lights on and how how far away are they from the water surface and corals.
- What do you do for water changes and at what interval do you perform them?
- What salt brand?
- Where do you get your water..ie ro/di, etc
- dosing anything currently?
- And most importantly, provide decent pics if you can of the corals that are not making it (assuming anything is left)

Answer all that and they can help you more.

 

[kruse47]

Here is a more detailed look at the tank. Ill post some pick later.
1. already listed
2.Tao tronics led, Blues are about 5 ticks from max, and whites are about 7 ticks.
3.have no idea what flow could be, but im going to say medium
4. i dont dose any thing(yet)
5. I have an ATO, 30 gal sump/refugium, weekly water changes, i clean the skimmer cup at this time and change my filter sock as well.

 

[kruse47]

These are the only three in my tank, i have two more in my cousins tank. These three are a purple gorgonian, the Photosynthetic kind, Pink Birdsnest, and a blue challis

 

[alb_56]

Mellow head, He has no way to accurately read Alk, Mag, or Calcium yet. I assumed that these will atleast be somewhere in a stable range since we havent seen any signs of hypo or hyper of any three. His nitrate test is an API and I also assumed these were a touch higher than the test was telling him since the API test wont read such a minute concentration. His phosphates are very low last time I checked them but I havent checked them in the last month but he hasnt shown any rise in algae growth or other negative effects caused by high phosphate concentration. His tank temp is around 78 degrees +/- 2 degrees. He is using a taotronic AL-09 light at around 60-70 percent for a 12 hour photo period, the light sits approximately 6 inches from the water surface. Water changes are conducted weekly using reef crystals, this has been the salt that has always been used in his tank. Water reads at .002-.003 on my TDS meter, I believe that would mean its on par with a standard RO water source? Nothing was dosed before he posted this but he recently dosed Acropower to see if it might help his SPS snap awake and start to show some good health. It should be noted that the first picture he posted, the coral in question is the photo synthetic gorgonian I attached to an old bidsnest coral.

 

[alb_56]

Tweaked, both systems are extremely similar. I built mine specifically to promote growth in all coral types, when I helped him build his, I built it to operate in the exact same way and order as mine. He lives only three blocks from me and I would guess I use more chemical cleaners than he does. So I would assume his air quality is actually better than mine, thats not taking into consideration the age of the houses or how much dust/ old insulation is in the air but I would be very surprised if his house has a lower quality air than mine does. We do feed the same food, I know this because I advised him to buy the same food that I buy and I share any organic foods that might expire, with him. His water is from a different source but both sources read .002-.003 TDS, so unless those are the same left over solids as mine I do believe they could be a factor, but I have a hard time believeing that the minerals left over after filtration are causing such a large problem. His house is only about two degrees warmer than mine, I believe they keep their house around 70 degrees and I keep mine at around 68 degrees.

 

[epicurus84]

Flow, different corals too much light.

Imho flow is one of the biggest factors in any tank.

 

[Ratpack]

I suggest raising the salinity up to 1.025 at least. I keep mine at 1.026 and I believe that is where most reefers target the salinity. May try backing off the white light some more as well. My birdsnest does much better in a lower light area under my LED's.

 

[mellowhead]

Mellow head, He has no way to accurately read Alk, Mag, or Calcium yet. I assumed that these will atleast be somewhere in a stable range since we havent seen any signs of hypo or hyper of any three. His nitrate test is an API and I also assumed these were a touch higher than the test was telling him since the API test wont read such a minute concentration. His phosphates are very low last time I checked them but I havent checked them in the last month but he hasnt shown any rise in algae growth or other negative effects caused by high phosphate concentration. His tank temp is around 78 degrees +/- 2 degrees. He is using a taotronic AL-09 light at around 60-70 percent for a 12 hour photo period, the light sits approximately 6 inches from the water surface. Water changes are conducted weekly using reef crystals, this has been the salt that has always been used in his tank. Water reads at .002-.003 on my TDS meter, I believe that would mean its on par with a standard RO water source? Nothing was dosed before he posted this but he recently dosed Acropower to see if it might help his SPS snap awake and start to show some good health. It should be noted that the first picture he posted, the coral in question is the photo synthetic gorgonian I attached to an old bidsnest coral.

He needs to test for the basics and if he cannot he should wait until he can to add anything to that tank. Heck, go ask your local fish shop to test. Most places are willing to do so. We can't just assume here. I also wouldn't go adding anything until you/him have tested.

You may also want to reduce that lighting schedule a little. Not very familiar with those lights, but I typically don't run main lights longer than 8-10hours (this will vary depending on system/stock). This of course assumes those lights are strong enough to keep sps. Again I am not that familiar so take this with a grain of salt.

Then look at the flow in the tank and make sure it is efficient. ie random strong flow that isn't a pin pointed blast of water directly on the coral itself.

 

[alb_56]

My personal opinion on this situation is that the flow is too weak for SPS to thrive. I agree assuming is not the correct way to do things but I base the assumption on facts. The coral we have tried are easier coral to keep and less sensetive to swings. They are also less demanding in the trace element department, but I will note that I would not advise any one to skip those tests unless I was very comfortable with their system. All SPS systems should be tested for the big three before adding anything. The lighting schedule is a bit long I agree with that. The whites are on for 8 hours and the blues are on for 12 hours. The reason I set the timers like that is because all the SPS I have are on the same schedule and I wanted them to acclimate as quickly as possible when I transferred them from my tank to his. The lights arent the greatest but they have done a decent job of growing the same SPS in my tank so I have no reason to doubt the lights abillities. Salinity is a good point I also agree it is a little low, would it being .002 less cause the SPS to begin to die? I have had them at that salinity before and have never had any real problems from it.