SPS help

[nomorenames]

Hi all
While I sit in jury duty waiting maybe I can get some help I am having a hard time keeping SPS frags/LPS frags. In the past I always kept my alkalinity high around 13-14dkh and I had some luck granted my old setup had metal halides now I run 2 radions xr30w non pros set to the echotech white paper at around 40%tank is a regular 90 gal with 2 mp40s for flow set to random programs with the apex a refugium with cheto the tank is struggling to grow any frags really and i am not sure why the only thing that seems to thrive is GSP and zoos I will put the results of my last set of tests I have to test for phosphate tonight any suggestions would help I spent alot of money on things to make it easier and better and have had some poor results

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[rogergolf66]

Can u give more info... What's happening to the sps In The tank?

 

[nomorenames]

Acros=Tissue falls off and they die
Monti=they bleach out and die
Birdsnest=Tissue falls off and they die

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[rogergolf66]

Those numbers look ok to me. How long do the frags last? Is it a new tank? Was copper ever run in the system.? I'm not familiar with the white paper setting I don't run radions. You didn't post salinity? also what test kits are you using for the tests? How old are the test kits? Sps the most important test is alk. If always dosing balanced and always keep alk stable then cal should be good also. The number you keep are not as important as keeping the parameters stable. Having only 1 point of ref on the tests don't tell to much of past water. It honestly should a like a salinity issue or alk swings to me. Could also be temp issues. How much does temp swing? Also lower temps in my experience seems to be easier to keep sps healthy.

 

[Snookster]

PH? Or did I miss it?

I've had those same issues twice in the last year and it was PH both times.

 

[nomorenames]

Frags last anywhere from a week to 3 weeks right now i have a red planet frag that is alive for 2 weeks now fingers crossed on that one tank it's been up for ~4 years no cooper, salinity could be a issue I have a calibrated refractometer and I don't check all the time but I have seen it at 31ppt-35ppt right now it's 35ppt i have a ozmaltor for ATO and i suspect it adds too much water sometimes test kits are all salifert except phosphate is hanna ulr all are within expiration date I dose BRS 2 part on a dos' I have started to keep SPS since ~April

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[Snookster]

If all those tests are accurate, I'd start looking for bugs

 

[nomorenames]

Haven't really seen any bugs all frags are dipped before going in I know that's not 100% and the reason I stopped having SPS last time was Monti eating nudis which I waited ~2 years before coming back to keeping any coral other than soft

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[dbo863]

SPS help

Is that a phosphate spike and how did you drop it so fast are you running gfo if so you may be tumbling to hard I had a problem keeping SPS happy when using GFO. Like roger was saying ALK is the most important parameter to test for and from what I understand GFo can mess with it also. Monti's are super sensitive to ALK also.

 

[janes_mw]

Try and get a good reading on salinity also. Take measurement with your equipment then see if you can cross check with someone elses. In the past, I have had salinity swings lead to tissue loss. Also, GFO comment is something to look at (I don't use, but have heard this several times over the years). Some carbons can be pretty aggressive also, but probably not your issue.

 

[Chicago Kopka]

Try and get a good reading on salinity also. Take measurement with your equipment then see if you can cross check with someone elses. In the past, I have had salinity swings lead to tissue loss. Also, GFO comment is something to look at (I don't use, but have heard this several times over the years). Some carbons can be pretty aggressive also, but probably not your issue.

+1 on salinity. I had a similar issue but luckily caught it in time. I wasn't calibrating my refractometer correctly. Turns out my salinity was around 1.032. I got a milwaukee digital salinity reader and its glorious. Seriously the best $100 I've spent in this hobby.

 

[anbosu]

It seems like your alk might be fluctuating quite a bit - if you can flatten that out a bit it will help, especially with SPS.

 

[Reeferman1019]

maybe try dosing Aquavitro Fuel

 

[oblio]

maybe try dosing Aquavitro Fuel

Humbly disagree, get to the point of being able to keep SPS without them melting or bleaching. Then you have the option to start adding thing to the water column. If your having challenges, adding something like amino acids is not going to fix your issue. The vast majority of SPS keepers do it will no additives.

 

[Webmanny]

I can agree with salinity being a main cause of RTN on SPS. The group here knows of some recent issues I've had with my ATO dumping 2 gallons of fresh water into my sump and the effect that brought.

I also had an issue with salt where I had a bad batch and it almost kill everything in my tank because I was using the amount I always used and not measuring.

Bring your water to your LFS and just tell them to run every test possible on it. They may charge you a few bucks if you don't frequent them, but most will test for free. Also bring your calibration fluid and your refractometer if you have one. Let them test their water with it.

 

[polaravic]

Same problem

Same problem

I also have had problems keeping SPS and even some Zoas. However, I have been having more success lately by focusing on stability.

Right now my Ca is rather low - 350 and having been spending the last week slowly raising it.

MG is 1400, kH is 7.9 on last test.

I always had my alk higher and when it dropped drastically (6) I slowly raised it up to 7 with great difficulty. But Guess What? My sps greatly improved. So, now I keep my alk at 8 max. and try to keep it there. If it drops, I very slowly raise it back up to 8.

Salinity used to be 1.027 but now I keep it at 1.025 since that is where it ended up when my sps started improving.

I don't usually test for nitrates and phosphates. Instead I keep an eye on algae and dose Instant Ocean Natural Nitrate Reducer and AquaVitro phosphate remover. Right now, I am having a small problem with algae but not the corals.

I hope this helps.

polaravic

 

[nomorenames]

I am leaning towards sailinty or PAR I haven't checked that.. still on the list for the meter

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[nomorenames]

Also my MG is getting used alot I raise it from 1290 to 1320 and within a week it's back down to 1290 not sure why or what is causing that

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[CREATIVE AQ TMP]

Make sure no toxins entered your aquarium via aerosol, like scented candles, scented sprays, cleaning agents, exterminator, powdered carpet cleaners, etc. Such rapid coral death, usually does not occur due to perimeters being "slightly" out of range. And I have not seen pests be rapidly destructive. Long term, pests can be devastating.

 

[nomorenames]

I thought about this also but all fish and other corals are ok

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