STN, bugs or phosphate?

[reefinsomnia]

I have 38 sps frags/mini colonies. 12 of them are slowly stning. I checked for red bugs and check for flat worms. Neither are present. Are there any other pests that can be causing this?

35 ppt
ph 8.1
cal 480
alk 10.5
mag 1500
nitrate 0
phosphate .25

i had a phosphate spike do to some lr leaching it. took it out 3 weeks ago. can this be the aftermath?

 

[Bandos reefer]

Lower kh to 8.

10.5 I feel is a bit on the high side.

 

[Justin74]

Highly recommend NOT messing with the dKH! The best way to turn a STN to an RTN is drop the kH!! 10.5 is just fine! 9-10 is the sweet spot, never 8. This goes with any range, to all readers, never walk the fine line. Is 8 good? Yes, is 7? Absolutely not, what happens within a day or two of a stoney tank the kh goes down a point! So what sense does it make to balance on 8? None. Give yourself a buffer with all that you do, this will be in congruence with the all might mantra nothing good happens fast...Same with salt, same with everything, just because they recently discovered ppt equals 1.026 and is the naturally occuring number within an a reef or open ocean, doesnt mean it's safe for us in our closed systems, 1.026 safe? Yes, is 1.027? ABSOLUTELY NOT! See the pattern?

If you had a known Po3 spike, theres your culprit. Just because we wave our wands to fix damages that arise within a day or two, doesnt mean our corals reset that day. They do have a reset button, but usually dont reset until 2 weeks after everything has been fixed and maintained constant and consistant. The slower growers can take up to a month before they reset and start growing again! HTH!!

-Justin

 

[westreef]

Highly recommend NOT messing with the dKH! The best way to turn a STN to an RTN is drop the kH!! 10.5 is just fine! 9-10 is the sweet spot, never 8. This goes with any range, to all readers, never walk the fine line. Is 8 good? Yes, is 7? Absolutely not, what happens within a day or two of a stoney tank the kh goes down a point! So what sense does it make to balance on 8? None. Give yourself a buffer with all that you do, this will be in congruence with the all might mantra nothing good happens fast...Same with salt, same with everything, just because they recently discovered ppt equals 1.026 and is the naturally occuring number within an a reef or open ocean, doesnt mean it's safe for us in our closed systems, 1.026 safe? Yes, is 1.027? ABSOLUTELY NOT! See the pattern?

If you had a known Po3 spike, theres your culprit. Just because we wave our wands to fix damages that arise within a day or two, doesnt mean our corals reset that day. They do have a reset button, but usually dont reset until 2 weeks after everything has been fixed and maintained constant and consistant. The slower growers can take up to a month before they reset and start growing again! HTH!!

-Justin

Well said, Justin.
I had phos spike because of my long out-of-town vacation last fall. And I had STN. It took a few months after I set it back to normal range before all STN stop.
If you found the cause, that is good but be patience.

 

[danil]

I was experimenting with SPS frags in few small 10g tanks and confirmed (at least for myself) the theory of connection between available nutrients and alk level. If your nitrates are truly 0 your alk is too high and this phosphate spike just finish it. With higher alk you push corals to grow faster hence they need more 'material' to grow and if nutrients level is really low or/and phosphates are high their metabolism is failing.