STN: I'm In desperate need of advanced help.

[malx]

Yes dial everything back to the basics. The Stylophora is a tough coral and killing it is a good sign on things changing too much chemistry wise in the tank. You say you have Kessil lights one two? Every though of adding a couple of T5's lights to the mix?
I would just stop all dosing of extra chemicals and just work on keeping your cal and alk at an even 7 to 8 dkh. Do water changes and keep the tank clean. Good clean water and the proper amount of full spectrum light go a long way in making a tank successful.

Dialing back to basics is all I can do. I have both LED and T5s. See my first post for complete lighting breakdown and PAR measurements.


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[malx]

See here's one of the issues I have is that I get many conflicting statement. This woman on the local Reef Facebook group said:

"Looked at your post and it seems to me your corals look hungry/and or a fish/crab is picking at them which is stressing them out. Did you check iron levels? Nitrates and phosphates check out."

The crab hangs out in the stylo sometimes but I never see him pick at it. I'm referring to the "starving" comment.

Will check Iron levels today.


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[FoothillCorals]

I agree with justy. I have been keeping reefs since the mid '90s.

If I were you I would loose all the Zeo stuff for now. Concentrate on the basics: flow, light and stable water parameters. Be patient and add the other stuff later when things are working until then keep it simple. You also have a lot of light on that tank I would keep the LEDs turned way down or off until things turn around. Your corals look over illuminated and or nutrient starved.

 

[malx]

STN: I'm In desperate need of advanced help.

I agree with justy. I have been keeping reefs since the mid '90s.

If I were you I would loose all the Zeo stuff for now. Concentrate on the basics: flow, light and stable water parameters. Be patient and add the other stuff later when things are working until then keep it simple. You also have a lot of light on that tank I would keep the LEDs turned way down or off until things turn around. Your corals look over illuminated and or nutrient starved.

Why do you think I have too much light? Did you see my par measurements above? What par does your corals get and for how long? Can you tell me about your lighting period and how much par your corals get? I've tried lower light scenarios too and I got the same results, that's why I have been increasing light over the course of the last two months.


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[FoothillCorals]

I do not think you have too much light for the tank overall but rite now your corals looked starved to me. Too much light will kill corals before to little. I say that because you corals are stressed now. Big picture is your tank is still very young give it time don't force it. I have had tanks ready for SPS in a few months others for what ever reason have take much longer until they are stable homes for SPS.

I have no idea what my PAR numbers are. I run a 8 bulb Sunpower w two reefbrite strips over a 30x30x24. LEDs on 11 hrs, 2-T5s on 9 hrs., 8-T5s on 6hrs. Keep in mind basically the more established the tank and more nutrients you will be able to give the corals more light. The biggest thing is to get a good basic KISS recipe going, stick with it stop making changes and just work on keeping things stable.

 

[malx]

So after a complete water test the only issue I found was high phosphates. They are, honestly, through the rough at 0.24ppm. This is really odd, because when I tested a few days ago it was 0, however, things did go awry in about a week so I'm going to treat this number and slowly reduce phosphates over the next few days and see if the corals respond positivitly to that. I feel like an idiot but I guess we all make mistakes or get blindsided by things...

Here's what I'm working on today.

1: Doing a very small water change (don't want to shock the system).
2: Doing my ZEOvit Rock Change.
3: Dosing ZEObac for the next 10 days.
4: Sticking with my current dosing schedule EXCEPT removing CyanoClean and AminoAcids.
5: Patience
6: Re-tuning my Ca Reactor to ensure I can hold these CA and ALK numbers and as the corals re-gain strength they will hopefully start to suck some of that up.
7: Will re-rest phosphates on Monday and report back.
8: Also getting a Triton test done.
9: Reduce feeding! Will only feed 2x per day, frozen only, small amounts.

Here are my full water parameters.

Ammoni:a 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2.5
Salinity: 34/102.5
PH: 8.2
Ca: 449
Alk: 9
IronL: 0
Potassium: 398
Iodine: 0.06
Mg: 1350
Temp: 79.5

After I get my Triton results back, I'll be able to tell how accurate these are

Thanks everyone for your help! If you guys think that should change anything else as well let me know.

Cheers,
Joey

 

[malx]

im a zeo reefer, what is your flow through zeovit reactor/hr, what kz products and dosing schedule are you presently dosing, what is your potassium level. i would not increase lighting % if you are having trouble, also your tank is pretty young. did you start with dry rock or fresh quality livr rock? glad to help a fellow zeo head.

Hey dude, my reactor flow is 30GPH. Should I increase it?

Let me know,
Joey

 

[ComforablyNumb]

See here's one of the issues I have is that I get many conflicting statement.

Thats probably because no one knows what really causes STN/RTN, or how to cure it....altho some think its caused by Vibrio bacteria.

 

[malx]

Thats probably because no one knows what really causes STN/RTN, or how to cure it....altho some think its caused by Vibrio bacteria.

What is Vibrio bacteria? Can I kill it with Doxycycline?


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[malx]

Alright everyone, so I drove to my LFS and had them double check Calcium, which checks out. The result I got matches what my test kit has. Phosphates did not. They tested my Phosphates with an ATI test kit and it came up 0. Also what did not match is my SG. The SG of my tank is 1.024 instead of 1.025 which is what my refractometer said. So, in addition to what I said I would do today:

1: Doing a very small water change (don't want to shock the system).
2: Doing my ZEOvit Rock Change.
3: Dosing ZEObac for the next 10 days.
4: Sticking with my current dosing schedule EXCEPT removing CyanoClean and AminoAcids.
5: Patience
6: Re-tuning my Ca Reactor to ensure I can hold these CA and ALK numbers and as the corals re-gain strength they will hopefully start to suck some of that up.
7: Will re-rest phosphates on Monday and report back.
8: Also getting a Triton test done.
9: Reduce feeding! Will only feed 2x per day, frozen only, small amounts.

I am also going to work to raise salinity.

Will report back tomorrow with an update.

 

[Mr.Fishtank]

Just looking back though your tank profile and I think that your estimated water volume is off a bit. 56 gallon tank with live rock and sand will be more like 45-48 gallons. Your sump is a ruby 36. It holds 36 gallons before it overflows. With all of the rock and equipment in there it is more like 15-20 gallons. So to be safe I would say 65ish. So I would change your dosing amount to like 60 gallons. Always better to under dose then to over dose these types of products. Also when running a zeo system kz recommends that the kh be 6.5-7.5. With yours swinging form 8-9 that will be a problem.

Good luck and hope things turn around for you.

Few more things to consider. Temp needs to come down some. Try and keep it at 78.
Change the t5 schedule to only run 4hrs

 

[dirland]

2 mp40 in rhat size tank at 70 percent seems like an awful lot of flow

 

[nashorn]

I have about the same size tank. I carbon dose and not doing zeo so this might not apply.
I waited almost a year before my system was stable enough to grow. So how do you know if it's ready? Add a old school sps like slimmer and it will encrust within a week.
I believe your system is too young and not stable yet.
That being said what I would do is
Nothing for now. Stop adding anything including water changes.
There are just too many factors that can cause this.
Like everyone suggest go back to basics.
I do not believe it's light or flow. It would cause more of a rtn.
You need to be patience...lol you need lots of that with sps.

 

[nashorn]

Just looking back though your tank profile and I think that your estimated water volume is off a bit. 56 gallon tank with live rock and sand will be more like 45-48 gallons. Your sump is a ruby 36. It holds 36 gallons before it overflows. With all of the rock and equipment in there it is more like 15-20 gallons. So to be safe I would say 65ish. So I would change your dosing amount to like 60 gallons. Always better to under dose then to over dose these types of products. Also when running a zeo system kz recommends that the kh be 6.5-7.5. With yours swinging form 8-9 that will be a problem.

Good luck and hope things turn around for you.

Few more things to consider. Temp needs to come down some. Try and keep it at 78.
Change the t5 schedule to only run 4hrs

+1 I been run my tanks at 77-78 for years.

 

[dirland]

Disregard my post went back and read your flow pattern....

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[zsuman101]

i run aprox .5 litre zeolites and around 60 gals per hour, also try and keep your alk at 8 to 8.2. test a couple times per day and see whay
t your reef is using up, then calculate your dosage to keep just above 8. if it is 7 dont jump up a whole point at once try to doit in two doses , like no more than .5 point per day, slow and easy mr untill you get this beast on lockdown.... good luck,.... zsu

 

[Ucantwin]

Why not get rid of the Zeovit stuff? It's much easier to keep sps alive and understand what's actually going on in the tank when you are not having to dose different supplements.

 

[malx]

i run aprox .5 litre zeolites and around 60 gals per hour, also try and keep your alk at 8 to 8.2. test a couple times per day and see whay
t your reef is using up, then calculate your dosage to keep just above 8. if it is 7 dont jump up a whole point at once try to doit in two doses , like no more than .5 point per day, slow and easy mr untill you get this beast on lockdown.... good luck,.... zsu

Thanks for the tip. I've turned down the Ca reactor a bit and I'm going to test until it stays stable between 7-8. Keep in mind my alk tested over the course of two weeks it does not jump from 8-9 in one day.

I'm also going to adjust my dosing schedule to be 65 gallons and not 75. Asked G. Alexander about that. Are you on the ZEOvit forums?

Let me know,
Joey

 

[malx]

Why not get rid of the Zeovit stuff? It's much easier to keep sps alive and understand what's actually going on in the tank when you are not having to dose different supplements.

Because I have very minimal live rock and ZEOvit is great for that. I really want to dial it in! I love process and the media. I understand it might be easier but I think It'll be worth it once it's dialed in.

Thanks for the tip though I appreciate you reading.

Cheers,
Joey

 

[malx]

Disregard my post went back and read your flow pattern....

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No worries. Lots of people missed what I said because I put two much in two posts. Trying to be as complete as possible.

Cheers,
Joey