Very unusual SPS problem

interesting, im having the same issues. curious, do you add any amino acids, carbon dose or specific branded coral foods and supplements?

No, I don't add anything to my tank except occasionally magnesium to keep the level up and the output of my calcium reactor. I usually feed only frozen food too and a little flake. Have you got any pics of your corals? Also more info on the system would be good.

Cam.
 
i'll see if i can get a pic.
but one thing i noticed is that i finished some carbon that was the small rock form that was mistakened ship to me as i always used the pellet form. not wanting to ship it back to exchange to the pellet form i went ahead and used it. i noticed that the small carbon rocks were passing through the sponges in my 2 little fishes reactor. i had over 2 lbs of the small carbon form. i had to put a micron sock to catch the carbon in not wanting to enter the display tank. wanting to save money i waited and used it all up before i went to the pellet form. that took about 3 maybe 4 months to use. now that im back to the pellet form for the past 2 weeks my sps corals are regaining and even plating out over the dead skeleton. weird though its not growing back onto the skeleton but actually plating out. im thinking my problem was the carbon ashes were entering the display tank and irrating the sps corals
 
perhaps too much flow combined with plenty of light???

The flow is described like that which we normally use for a four to six ft (i.e., larger) tank. Here, its in basically just 2 ft across and the rock arrangement may be adding to that so the flow is in fact pounding on all the corals.

You might consider turning 3 of the 4 off for a few weeks and see if things start taking a more normal growth form.
 
perhaps too much flow combined with plenty of light???

The flow is described like that which we normally use for a four to six ft (i.e., larger) tank. Here, its in basically just 2 ft across and the rock arrangement may be adding to that so the flow is in fact pounding on all the corals.

You might consider turning 3 of the 4 off for a few weeks and see if things start taking a more normal growth form.

i might have to agree with two much flow. i had 2 vortechs mp40 coupled with 2 modded koralia 4's with algae free impellers in a 90 gallon and my sps were growing alot of base instead of growing upwards. once i took off my modded koralia 4's my sps started growing upwards toward the light

comparing your tank pics to my tank i am not having a similar problem. im thinking its the carbon dust getting into my display tank and stn some of my sps. good luck on finding the problem
 
Given that the loss of tissue is around the base and not the tips, the two most logical culprits should be low light or low flow. However your light and flow look fine on paper. That really only leaves chemical and biological issues. I would start running carbon 24/7 (and possibly another resin or pad) to rule out most heavy metals and chemicals.
 
I had similar (although not as severe) issues with branching SPS. The undertow from my vortech was too much (polyps disappeared/skin bleached on the side opposite of the mp40).

I changed my rockwork around, started dosing Reef Chili, oyster eggs, and cyclopeeze every day or two and they all healed up within a month and resumed a more normal growth pattern. My plating/encrusting SPS were doing fine, just a bit pale and the extra feeding has helped tremendously.
 
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