The last 2-3 months I have driven myself crazy trying to figure out why my sps corals lack color, have minimal polyp extension, and lack growth.
In fact, it has been quite strange, none of the corals are going "brown" but they also don't appear faded/bleached either. It looks as if almost the coral tissue is just thinning....hard to explain....my corals simply look grayish with thin tissue, and minimal polyps.
Anyways, I have tried to eliminate all possible issues, my dosing (alk/ca/mag) is consistent (went through test kits for several weeks), weekly waterchanges, bought multiple thermometers to double check my controller, attempted massive waterchanges, ran carbon, check ammonia/nitrates/phosphates, fed more, fed less, raise light, lower light, check potassium, checked pH, etc...the list goes on. Anyways, I really couldn't pinpoint any major discrepancies and no intervention seems to work/help.
I even checked my RODI water as it has been some time since I replaced the filters, but got a TDS reading of 0. Weeks pass and I am still struggling with my tank. So I decide to see if my test kits/test equipment is failing. I check the TDS of my tap water and it reads 2 ppm!! So my tester is faulty, ordered a new one and it came today in the mail. I eagerly tested my TDS and it gave me a reading of 15 ppm from my RODI unit, around 300ish from the tap.
Now, before I get excited and think - just replace my filters and do a few water changes with the new fresh 0 ppm water and my corals will rebound - is this really my problem? Do you guys think 15 ppm TDS from my water is really bad enough to cause my SPS troubles? Any of you experience problems in your tank and found it to be your RODI water? If so, what were the coral symptoms?
I guess I am hopeful I have finally found the problem, but then again, no matter what I have done, my corals don't thrive. They survive, and some do okay, but I would really like them thriving again! Hopefully this is it!
Sorry for the novel, thanks for any input!
In fact, it has been quite strange, none of the corals are going "brown" but they also don't appear faded/bleached either. It looks as if almost the coral tissue is just thinning....hard to explain....my corals simply look grayish with thin tissue, and minimal polyps.
Anyways, I have tried to eliminate all possible issues, my dosing (alk/ca/mag) is consistent (went through test kits for several weeks), weekly waterchanges, bought multiple thermometers to double check my controller, attempted massive waterchanges, ran carbon, check ammonia/nitrates/phosphates, fed more, fed less, raise light, lower light, check potassium, checked pH, etc...the list goes on. Anyways, I really couldn't pinpoint any major discrepancies and no intervention seems to work/help.
I even checked my RODI water as it has been some time since I replaced the filters, but got a TDS reading of 0. Weeks pass and I am still struggling with my tank. So I decide to see if my test kits/test equipment is failing. I check the TDS of my tap water and it reads 2 ppm!! So my tester is faulty, ordered a new one and it came today in the mail. I eagerly tested my TDS and it gave me a reading of 15 ppm from my RODI unit, around 300ish from the tap.
Now, before I get excited and think - just replace my filters and do a few water changes with the new fresh 0 ppm water and my corals will rebound - is this really my problem? Do you guys think 15 ppm TDS from my water is really bad enough to cause my SPS troubles? Any of you experience problems in your tank and found it to be your RODI water? If so, what were the coral symptoms?
I guess I am hopeful I have finally found the problem, but then again, no matter what I have done, my corals don't thrive. They survive, and some do okay, but I would really like them thriving again! Hopefully this is it!
Sorry for the novel, thanks for any input!
