Unexplained sudden SPS death

[Ron Popeil]

thanks dave and mike, much appreciated. ill continue to look into this chloramine idea.

 

[Ron Popeil]

chloramines are between .02 and .08 for my area. not convinced this is my issue yet.

 

[Ron Popeil]

so i replaced my very aged PFO magnetic 400w ballast for an electronic SelectaWatt ballast....and some immediate changes occurred. not only did the light intensity increase incredibly, but the color of the bulb just looks better and....the corals have stopped dying.

during the course of the last month, after two 45 gallon water changes, replacement of all my RODI prefilters, removal of biopellets and upgrade to my halides....im finally seeing extended growth for the 3rd week in a row. normally right around the end of the first week any new sps added would lose polyp extension, tissue would tighten and recession from tip down would occur.

but now im seeing growth, intense coloration and vast improvement. i think the combination of biopellets and some sort of lighting spectrum issue contributed to the mysterious decline of my sps.

i appreciate all the help, and hope that others who are facing similar unknown issues get some resolution soon.

 

[skibum9884]

Interesting. Glad to hear you were able to find a solution. I wonder if people have problems with BioPellets because they drop Nitrates and Phosphates too quickly in the beginning and shock the system.

At any rate, hope you have continued success!

 

[mike810]

That's great news, Glad you remedy the problem. My tank seems to be getting better but only time will tell. I will have the change out my T5 bulbs soon also. Hopefully this will help. Hope everything stays on the up and up for u.

 

[Ron Popeil]

well in my case, i was running my alkalinity around 10 -11, and i was unaware that i should have been running it closer to 7-8....