We have a Red Sea Max 250, Steve's LED's, Red Sea salt. Tank had soft corals, Xenias, mushrooms, leather, Kenya trees with T-5 bulbs and a chiller. Corals were doing fantastic, great color and growth. We also had red planaria.
pH 8.4; Ammonia 0; Nitrite 0; Nitrate 0; Phosphate 0.22 (according to the LFS) but 0.00 using Red Sea test kit; Alkalinity 1.72; Calcium 1.03; salt 1.022
Two years ago the chiller died. When we got home, the water temp was 94 degrees and we lost all the corals and all but two of the fish.
After the crash and after waiting six months, we added bacteria to the water to restart the tank. Water changes have been done every six weeks for the last two years. Tank has been a FOWLER since the meltdown. Switched the tank to LED's about a month ago. In the last six months, I've noticed a deep maroon, almost black growth on the live rock but not on the glass or the back of the tank. The LFS called it a black sponge but it's not slimy. When I touch it, it is very smooth, not raised. I did a fresh water dip on a small frag and the stuff floated off. Looked like black pepper. It only grows on the top side of the rock where the light hits, not on the bottom.
After checking water parameters and thinking everything was fine, we bought soft corals two weeks ago, zoanthids and xenias and a Kenya tree. I bagged the corals, dripped them for 25 minutes, set them mid-level in the tank and not in the direct water flow. LED's were at 30%, less than the LED's in the frag tank at the LFS. Two days later they were dying. LFS says it is due to Phosphates. Phosphates, as far as we could tell with the Red Sea Phosphate testing kit, was OK. Could the stuff on the rocks be killing the new corals after only two days? Is this growth putting a poison into the water? Even after the water changes for almost two years, could there be poison from the red planaria dying? If so, why didn't' it kill the Pacific Sailfin Tang and the Orange Clownfish? Has anyone else gone through this nuclear meltdown and experienced this growth? Will we have to drain the tank, throw out the sand and the rocks and start over? Any suggestions, insight or anything else would be very much appreciated!
pH 8.4; Ammonia 0; Nitrite 0; Nitrate 0; Phosphate 0.22 (according to the LFS) but 0.00 using Red Sea test kit; Alkalinity 1.72; Calcium 1.03; salt 1.022
Two years ago the chiller died. When we got home, the water temp was 94 degrees and we lost all the corals and all but two of the fish.
After the crash and after waiting six months, we added bacteria to the water to restart the tank. Water changes have been done every six weeks for the last two years. Tank has been a FOWLER since the meltdown. Switched the tank to LED's about a month ago. In the last six months, I've noticed a deep maroon, almost black growth on the live rock but not on the glass or the back of the tank. The LFS called it a black sponge but it's not slimy. When I touch it, it is very smooth, not raised. I did a fresh water dip on a small frag and the stuff floated off. Looked like black pepper. It only grows on the top side of the rock where the light hits, not on the bottom.
After checking water parameters and thinking everything was fine, we bought soft corals two weeks ago, zoanthids and xenias and a Kenya tree. I bagged the corals, dripped them for 25 minutes, set them mid-level in the tank and not in the direct water flow. LED's were at 30%, less than the LED's in the frag tank at the LFS. Two days later they were dying. LFS says it is due to Phosphates. Phosphates, as far as we could tell with the Red Sea Phosphate testing kit, was OK. Could the stuff on the rocks be killing the new corals after only two days? Is this growth putting a poison into the water? Even after the water changes for almost two years, could there be poison from the red planaria dying? If so, why didn't' it kill the Pacific Sailfin Tang and the Orange Clownfish? Has anyone else gone through this nuclear meltdown and experienced this growth? Will we have to drain the tank, throw out the sand and the rocks and start over? Any suggestions, insight or anything else would be very much appreciated!
