Tank Crashing...Any ideas??

[Jerzy]

I think my tank is crashing. Last week I had a candy cane receding. I took it out and gave it a Rx dip and it seemed to be doing better. Last night I noticed a bridnest closed almost all the way up, all the mushrooms got really small and my other 2 candy canes started to shrink.Everything has been in my tank for over 1 year now doing very good and growing great. I have a mixed reef, a few candy canes, a couple of hammers, 3 different birdnests, 2 monti, mushrooms, toadstools and a lot of spreading cloves. The only thing I've added was a doser about a month ago for 2 part which I used to add manually once a day for a year now. I do 5 gal water change 1 once a week. I check my water and all the tests look good.

Not really sure what else I should do? Any advice would be helpful, thanks.

50 gal. cube with 18 gal. sump here are my tests today:
PH 8
KH 8.4
Ca 425
Mg 1500
Phosphate .03
NO3 0-2 ( using Salifert test kit)
Salinity 1.026
Temp 78

 

[twon8]

Run some carbon and do a larger water change


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[Jerzy]

Thanks, do you think 10 gal should be enough?

 

[wildman926]

Consider launching an ats (algae turf scrubber). Algae is a natural filter to remove unwanted nutrients and toxins in your tank.

 

[heathlindner25]

Consider launching an ats (algae turf scrubber). Algae is a natural filter to remove unwanted nutrients and toxins in your tank.

Would this involve rocket boosters, Do you have a link?

 

[twon8]

Thanks, do you think 10 gal should be enough?

Maybe so, maybe not. 20 gallons would be better. 30 even better

 

[Sonyardo]

Are you sure that your make up water is free of Chlorine, Chloramines and residual ammonia? The Carbon block filter is often neglected for various reasons. I think it causes many people issues and they blame other mysterious things. Too many people think 0 TDS is the goal and loose site of the Chemicals in the make up water.

 

[Reef Frog]

Problems with a few corals doesn't mean a tank is crashing. Your parameters look pretty good. But that's just semantics.

Some of your problems are consistent with a too high light intensity. Did that change in some way?

Improper salinity is another idea. Calibrated refractometer?

Is it possible that some of your soft corals are getting too close & are "going I war" with chemicals?

Mushrooms often shrink up in very low nutrient conditions. Do you feed your corals and are there fish in the tank?

 

[Jerzy]

Maybe so, maybe not. 20 gallons would be better. 30 even better

I make 25 gals at a time, so I will try that first,I put a carbon reactor in last night. Thanks again...

 

[Jerzy]

Are you sure that your make up water is free of Chlorine, Chloramines and residual ammonia? The Carbon block filter is often neglected for various reasons. I think it causes many people issues and they blame other mysterious things. Too many people think 0 TDS is the goal and loose site of the Chemicals in the make up water.

I have a ro/di filter for make up water, I changed the filters about 6 months ago. Can things get past it?

 

[Jerzy]

Problems with a few corals doesn't mean a tank is crashing. Your parameters look pretty good. But that's just semantics.

Some of your problems are consistent with a too high light intensity. Did that change in some way?

Improper salinity is another idea. Calibrated refractometer?

Is it possible that some of your soft corals are getting too close & are "going I war" with chemicals?

Mushrooms often shrink up in very low nutrient conditions. Do you feed your corals and are there fish in the tank?

Something has to be really wrong for what I'm looking at in my tank.

Lights are the same, only change in the last month is adding the doser. I did check the refractometer, its good.

I think it might be the softies , everything is growing really good, maybe too good, softies are spreading so much I was just looking on how to try to remove a lot of them. Mushrooms everywhere, the toadstool is now 4 of them.

I have 4 small fish, I don't over feed, maybe even under feed. I do add reef chili a few times a week.

I'm going to try a couple of massive water changes this weekend, hope that and the carbon works.

 

[twon8]

The carbon should take care of any chemical warfare going on. Four small fish is not that much, do you feed them more than once a day?


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[Jerzy]

I feed every other day with mysis shrimp.

 

[Jerzy]

Thanks for all the advise. After 30 gal. water change and adding a carbon reactor this past weekend, seems like it must of been chemical warfare. I think it might of been my clove polyps. They are spreading the most in the tank and was really grew close to a red candy cane that had about 30 heads on it.

The red candy cane and 2 greens about the same size didn't make it. A large birdnest also died. I have 2 other birdnests, 1 seems fine, the other seems to have about 25% damage. 2 montis are fine and 2 hammers are fine. Strange that not all of them died. There are a lot of blue mushrooms all over that got really small but they seem to be getting a little bigger now.

I was running GFO with the carbon about 6 months ago, but after a few weeks everything in the tank didn't seem to like it so I stopped. Should of just stopped the GFO and keep the carbon going.

Again, thanks for your help...