What caused my RTN

[DivingTheWorld]

Reef Roids instructions do state for optimum results to turn off all circulation and target feed but do not say how long they should stay off. I figured 30 minutes was max that I am comfortable with at the time. They also state to disperse 1 tsp in tank water but don't say how much water. In the next sentence they say "Otherwise just disperse into tank"

I really wish they would be more detailed. You'd figure they put a lot of R&D into the ingredients they would do the same as to how it would best used to feed our corals.

Started feeding the roids again since everything looks settled and I have more polyp extension than in the past. I think they are hungry. I now turn off skimmer and return pump but leave all mp40's running.

I do Reef Roids like I do my Reef Chili. I add it to a small mixing container with tank water and shake up for 30 seconds. Then I just dump it in the tank with pumps going normally and it broadcasts it everywhere, to all the corals. Whenever I feed like this, the skimmer will drop an inch or so for about 30 minutes before it resumes so I've never seen the need to shut it down.

 

[krzyphsygy]

My advice....stop all the dosing and coral feeding. No system needs all that going in. Even the most full and mature tanks dont dose all of those chems. Pouring things in does more harm than good IMO.
Cal, alk, mag, k and thats it. Feed your fish and they will feed your corals. Trace elements will replenish during water changes. Everytime I get a bright idea to pour something into the tank, it never amounts to much other a lighter wallet. Feed the fish, they will feed the corals.

 

[macdaddynick1]

Did you increase your light a few weeks ago?


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[swnoob]

Did you increase your light a few weeks ago?

I did lower my light a couple of inches a couple weeks prior to the RTN. I usually keep the light 8" above the tank. Since the bulbs are 6 months old I'm sure the par isn't as strong as new. The highest coral is about 12" away from the light and they are doing fine. The coral that RTN'ed was about 18" away from the light.

 

[Acromaniac]

I would attribute the green hair algae to phosphates the actual plug is leaching into the water. I have no green hair algae on my rock structures. I do have some what I believe is red turf algae but it has remained the same for years. No die off at all or any additional algae growth.


What would explain the inverts dying? There has been no temperature swings, no salinity swings just the slight alk swing that has happened to me several times in the past with large water changes with IO.

Hopefully someone who has tried biggles juice can chime in. I've follows a few threads regarding biggles juice and most are dosing much more than I tried. Would dosing everything within minutes right at my return have a bad affect?

If that's the case then possibly the phosphates leaching from the plug irritating the coral.

 

[swnoob]

If that's the case then possibly the phosphates leaching from the plug irritating the coral.

14 other corals were mounted to the same type plug (buy by the bag full) with no issues. Two other identical smooth acro's had no issues.

The first frag that died came mounted.

I highly doubt it's a plug issue.

Everything seems to be doing fine. More polyp than in the past. I have a pink Floyd frag that had great polyp extension when I received in the bag. Days after it lost all polyp extension til now. Maybe dosing did help a bit. My Vivids rainbow delight finally started to branch out and coloring up. It didn't have any growth in the 4 months it's been in the tank.

 

[Acromaniac]

Sorry I don't understand what made you think it is the plug leaching the pO4 then.. I thought you purchased the frags on the plugs which came from another tank where it could have bound the pO4, not introduced a fresh plug to the system yourself, in which case the plug should be inert and pO4 free?, which would then go back to my first thought that pO4 is a problem in your system.

 

[swnoob]

Sorry I don't understand what made you think it is the plug leaching the pO4 then.. I thought you purchased the frags on the plugs which came from another tank where it could have bound the pO4, not introduced a fresh plug to the system yourself, in which case the plug should be inert and pO4 free?, which would then go back to my first thought that pO4 is a problem in your system.

Some frags were fresh cuts which i mounted and others came on the plug. I have close to 100 frags and almost all frags came from very nice tanks with fast growing colonies.

Just like there are plastics that release phosphates when used as water storage containers i would think that maybe a frag plug can also release phosphates if they are not cured before use and thats why algae grows on the plug itself.

Just tested all my parameters a few hours ago.

Ca 410
Mg 1600 (might be a bad Red Sea test kit. Salifert test kits in the mail)
Alk 7
Nitrate 1
Phosphates .08
pH 8
Salinity 1.026

Losing a bit of color but have great polyp extension. Maybe nitrates are too low? Going to try and aim for 5 ppm nitrate. Told myself i would not chase numbers besides alk but i figured i would test often and see at what numbers the coral look best to me.

 

[fishresponse]

I had a very similar issue but minus the iodine. I'm still trying to figure out what the heck happened.


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[swnoob]

I had a very similar issue but minus the iodine. I'm still trying to figure out what the heck happened.


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I don't think we will ever find out what happen. Too many similar stories but never resolved. Just have to move on and try and keep it as simple as possible.

One thing I did find is that my Red Sea Mag test kit is way off. I was getting readings of 1600 for several months without dosing. I had a local fish store test my water and it came back at 1150 using Salifert.

I will keep a 2nd test kit to on hand just in case something looks wrong but how certain are we that the second test kit will give a proper reading. Should I buy 3 different brands and take an average? LOL.

 

[fishresponse]

I've actually just noticed my Mg test kit is expired so wondering the same thing. I plan on trying the Nyos brand to see how it compares to salifert. Also, going to get new pH proves to see if that was presenting any false readings. Crazy time when you have to eliminate all factors it's like getting a lot of new equipment which is expensive not to mention the loss of corals. Ugh!!! This hobby!!!!