SPS problems....Need advice please!!!

[dbraun15]

Andrew,

I had been dealing with the exact same issue and after a ton of trial and error I think I narrowed it down to excessive use of GAC (Rox 8.0) to be exact. You dont mention which you use, but since you got it from BRS, I would expect this to be the case.

What I have done is run a small amount (1/3 cup) one day a week for a 220g tank. This helps with any residual organics building up but does not strip the water.

Additionally, alk swings may also be some thing to look at. Check it daily at the same time for 4 days straight between your water changes. You may be surprised.

HTH,

 

[Enjoy]

Interesting... I am indeed using Rox 8.0 in the brs reactor. I will take the reactor offline as soon as I get home. Thanks for the idea, and I hope everything starts getting better for you/your tank.

When the corals were in QT they were in a completely different setup. ATI T5 fixture and everything was growing great. I can't imagine the switch back to radiums is what caused this. I have used this exact same setup previously with great success. Then I had pest issues, tore the tank down QT'd everything, and set it back up almost a year later.

Thank you to everyone. I really appreciate the helpful ideas/advice.

 

[sahin]

Would a high PH of 8.4 - 8.5 cause this?

I doubt it. At least if its consistently around that point. I have run my pH pretty high sometimes and my SPS werent affected.

I'd be inclined to ask you to slow down a little on the feeding, but keep feeding regularly. You might just increase the nutrient too much and get an algae attack.

Some tanks I've had SPS just wouldnt do well until the 9th month period.

I'd say do regular weekly water changes of at least 10-15%, run GFO, but reduce the amount of carbon or even take it out for a month.

Dont introduce any new SPS until at least 9 months. At that point introduce a few hardy SPS such as Digita's and caps. See how they go for a couple of weeks, if they dont become unhealthy then at that point introduce a couple of millis, like the regular green variety etc, I find there hardy. If all goes well, then go ahead and introduce whatever else takes your fancy.

I disagree re the temp; this is fine. I have run SPS tanks 82+

I do think that the pellets have stripped out too much of "something" and this is the cause of your problems. Let the tank progress for a couple more months and see how new frags do.

Have you checked your alk with someone else test kit? Just do that to double check.

Which carbon are you running? Is it the BRS Rox?

I'm sorry to see that you are going through this issue. Just take a step back, let the tank mature a while more and see how it goes.

 

[sahin]

OK, you just posted whilst I was typing my post. It seems BRS Rox may be the issue.

I would also do one thing:

Take out at least 3 of the unhealthy frags. Place these in a glass bowl containing tank water. Place white paper underneath the bowl.

Then get a turkey bastor and blast the Acro frags with water. I just remembered that the first time I got AEFW's I had similar symptoms.

Hopefully it is just the Rox/Pellets having stripped the water too clean and not AEFW's.

 

[TreyK]

+1 eliminate the roc and see what happens.. It's worth a shot, ive heard a few times that they can be pretty strong

 

[jimrawr]

IMO try new bulbs. I had zero success with radians and was asking the same questions as you. When I changed to a ushio bulb things took off

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

 

[asonitez]

radiums are plastered across this board as some of the best if not the best bulbs for growing SPS. there are countless number of TOTms that use radiums exclusively.

This is a water chemistry problem. I can't see equipment unless its leeching something bad into the system being an issue. I don't see algae issues and from the fish population i don't think they are contributing.

Personally I have seen and been reading INCREASING REPORTS about Carbon in tanks causing problems for both fish and for Corals when run 24/7. Some of these refined types of carbon are so damn powerful that they strip the water TOO efficiently. I would lower the amount of carbon use in the tank and try dosing some of the LESSER dosed nutrients..

Strontium/Molybdenbium etc.

 

[jbanks]

A couple of things you can check:

Stray voltage

Anything that may be rusting

If neither of the above is a problem, I would pull the GFO off-line for a while. You may be srtipping too much from the system and GFO is known to cause TN if too much is being used.

Good luck with finding the smoking gun!

 

[Enjoy]

Here are a few newer pics. Still having no luck with my SPS. They continue to slowly loose tissue from tips down, until they are dead. I have had some frags for over 3 months and they still look like poo, and don't seem to be heading in any better of a direction.

I took BioPellets offline, Carbon offline, started feeding even more, and I have been keeping a close eye out for pests of any kind. Nothing yet...
I plan to take GFO offline this week. I am trying not to make too many changes too quick.

Here are a few pics.

 

[OrionCC]

Just to mix things up.. I have used ROX 8.0 for over two years. 1/2 cup for a 50 gallon heavy stocked SPS tank. My guess would be your tank is close to ULNS and they are being shocked when introduced to your tank from where ever they came from. I run a zeo system and I always have to watch new additions to my system to avoid exactly what you are describing. SPS will thrive in an ultra low nutrient system, they just have to slowly be adapted to it. Hope you get things worked out; nothing sucks more than watching SPS die!

Try and find another reefer who runs a ULNS or close to it, get a frag from them and then compare that coral with the others.

 

[OrionCC]

off topic, I love the scape!

 

[northbay-reefer]

It is looking like the corals are being stressed by either flat worms or red bugs.

 

[Arkayology]

Are you getting a lot of coralline algae growth? Any nuisance algae? How are your inverts doing? Any losses recently?

 

[Enjoy]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

I have no problem algaes growing. Chaeto finally started staying alive and actually seems to be slowly growing. Within the last month I have seen coraline algae finally starting to spread on rocks, backwall, etc... I will try to get a frag from someone local with a ULNS, that's a good idea.
I highly doubt it is a pest. All of the frags were QT'd prior to entry, and I have dipped several times since finding no pests. Now if something in the tank is munching on them, that's a different story.
All inverts and fish are fine, no deaths other than the snails/crabs my blue throat has snacked on. But I have never seen him touch the sps.

 

[Enjoy]

I dipped all SPS frags again last night using CoralRX like always. Basted the crap out of them with a maxijet, and only found a few pods. No flatworms of any kind, and I inspected under a large magnifying glass for red bugs - found nothing.
I do have some left over Interceptor from my previous battle with Red Bugs, so I might resort to that if nothing else is found in the next month or so.

Any other ideas?

I was thinking about adding a Cuprisorb type filter to remove and metals in the water. I can't think of the name off the top of my head... :spin2:

 

[jusn317]

Man, I feel your pain. For years I was able to grow any sps corals I wanted in my tank, then after a tank upgrade have had all kinds of problems similar to yours. Hope you figure out what's going on soon.

 

[jimrawr]

IMO I still say its your lighting. You have a radium bulb with no supplementation(limited spectrum) looks like its hanging 12+ inches above your water with the frags on the substrate. I was in a similar situation to you, and after I changed to a 14k Ushio bulb my corals went from brown/STN'ing to colorful and growing within a month. I used a 400w Radium 20k bulbs for a year trying to diagnose my problem and in one month it was gone with a new bulb. This is my experience, its not an opinion. When the one month was up, I went back to the 400w radium 20k and after 3 weeks everything was brown again. This prompted me to change my lighting to ATI Sunpower because while the Ushio gave nice colors and growth, I didnt like the color of the water.

Many people swear by radiums, but most supplement the spectrum with something.

 

[lolgranny]

IMO I still say its your lighting. You have a radium bulb with no supplementation(limited spectrum) looks like its hanging 12+ inches above your water with the frags on the substrate. I was in a similar situation to you, and after I changed to a 14k Ushio bulb my corals went from brown/STN'ing to colorful and growing within a month. I used a 400w Radium 20k bulbs for a year trying to diagnose my problem and in one month it was gone with a new bulb. This is my experience, its not an opinion. When the one month was up, I went back to the 400w radium 20k and after 3 weeks everything was brown again. This prompted me to change my lighting to ATI Sunpower because while the Ushio gave nice colors and growth, I didnt like the color of the water.

Many people swear by radiums, but most supplement the spectrum with something.

Why would his lighting have anything to do with the tissue peeling off? I doubt the only thing you changed in your tank with browning corals / STN'ing corals was your bulb. Thats a minor change if you ask me. Water changes / feeding habits / flow / dosing changes?

 

[want2reef]

Have you checked your TDS in your RO/DI water?

My frags were doing the same thing until I found out my TDS was at 280 ppm.

I changed out my membrane and di resin on my RODI unit then did a 75% waterchange.

It has been 2 weeks since the waterchange, frags are doing much better now.

 

[acroholicreefer]

I would have taken the gfo offline first. Go ahead and take that off line and things will eventually get better.