What do these SPS have in common????

[Stolireef]

30K Lokani
Icefire Echinata
Pearlberry
Oregon Tort
Suharsoni
Monti Caps (only blue)
Turoki
Sarmentosa

All of the above have either STN'd or bleached over the past six weeks. Most were smaller frags. All other SPS look fine. Palletta prostrata growing fast, millis growing fast, sunset monti doing quite well, stylos doing well. Onlyt think I can think of is smooth skin or color (bluish).

Dipped impacted frags in Bayer and no obvious bad guys.

Setup is 110 gal, 2x250W Ushio 20K, 2x54W Actinics, RO skimmer, Ca Reactor, sump, fuge with loads of pods. Fish doing great (2 tangs, two clowns, two cardinals, one anthias, one coris wrasse, all on the small but happy and healthy side). Parameters:
Ph 8.1
No ammonia or nitrite
Nitrate very low (barely detectable)
Phosphate undetectable (by lousy test kit)
Mg 1350
Ca: 420
Kh: 8.5-9

I was almost hoping AEFW or redbugs would drop off in dip (at least I'd know what I was dealing with) but no such 'luck'.

My personal opinion at this point is lighting but I'm not sure. Just seems that the corals I am losing (and I'm losing them at about one per day) all have a bluish hue. That said, Prostrata is doing very well, stylo's look OK, LPS all look fine, other milles (red planet, et al) look very good.

Help??

 

[Fig]

Maybe you placed them to high to start out?

 

[Yariel0527]

1+ on the high spot....

 

[reefmutt]

shot in the dark here...
light, only because the nutrient level is so low..
how much do you feed? maybe they are starving and the intense light is too much for them in that state..
are they getting pale before dying?

 

[Stolireef]

Lighting and nutrient levels have been and continue to be at the top of the list. With regard to lighting, these frags came out of tanks with nearly identical lighting as my tank. I've been trying to do a tank completely from frags that were not maricultured or wild so I know exactly how each frag was cared for.

With regard to nutrient levels, again, I know where these corals came from. The parent tanks were low (if not ULN) and with comparable water chemistry as my tank. I do think that perhaps the 20K Ushios are the wrong spectrum but others have had success with them. I was trying to get close to a Radium with them. I tried going without a filtersock and that didn't make a difference after three weeks. I've also tried playing with feeding. Fuge flora and fauna are doing fine so I don't think it's a problem with low nutrients.

Really odd problem. I started another thread recently about the fact that I'm angry with my tank. In more than ten years of reef keeping, I've never had this kind of problem. I'd rather deal with hair algae and aptasia than this (and having dealt with both, that's a big statement).

 

[kcrush4989]

Do you run gfo at all? If so how much? If I run a little much on the gfo my sps don't like it at all and some start to stn. But as soon as I pull the gfo it stops. That is something to look at. In a 120 gal volume I'm now running 1/2 cup no more.

 

[Stolireef]

Do you run gfo at all? If so how much? If I run a little much on the gfo my sps don't like it at all and some start to stn. But as soon as I pull the gfo it stops. That is something to look at. In a 120 gal volume I'm now running 1/2 cup no more.

Nope. I try to keep it close to standard berlin. Skimmer, sump, fuge, Ca reactor. Really good flow (3xtunze 6095 and 1 MP40 running at 100% reef crest). I do run about a cup of Reef Matrix carbon in a media bag in my sump. Change it out about once per month.

 

[ridetheducati]

Some smooth skin corals do not like to be dipped.

 

[sahin]

Can you try not running GAC for at least 3 weeks ans try some new frags? I have dipped turaki, lokanis suharsonoi etc and they are fine in my tank. Unless you dipped them too much?

I've had problems in the past with some sps when running too much GAC or GFO.

Have you run any form of organic carbon dosing recently or in the past?

 

[Frick]

Hey Allen if you are going to be at the meeting this Saturday let's talk. I would like to come over after and check it out for myself.

 

[Stolireef]

Some smooth skin corals do not like to be dipped.

As a general rule, I don't dip. Just did it to check for parasites.

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[Stolireef]

Can you try not running GAC for at least 3 weeks ans try some new frags? I have dipped turaki, lokanis suharsonoi etc and they are fine in my tank. Unless you dipped them too much?

I've had problems in the past with some sps when running too much GAC or GFO.

Have you run any form of organic carbon dosing recently or in the past?

I did low dose vodka but stopped several weeks ago. I tried going without gac for a while but thought the water clarity suffered a bit. Only run a cup and change about once per month.

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[Stolireef]

Hey Allen if you are going to be at the meeting this Saturday let's talk. I would like to come over after and check it out for myself.

Unfortunately I can't make it on Saturday. Would love for you to stop by when convenient.

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[Stolireef]

I swapped out the ushio 20ks today for XM 15K's. Let's see what happens.

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[Frick]

One thing that was not mentioned was your water flow situation. What are you using for pumps and how was the water flow on the corals that died? Water flow can be just as an important factor as lighting can be.

Also your alk looks fine, but is that what it stays at through out the day? I have lost more SPS myself to alk swings. Did something get adjusted to you big 3 (Ca, Alk, Mg) six weeks ago? Do some alk test through out the day and see what your highs and lows are.

 

[Stolireef]

Flow should be ideal. 3 tunze 6095s and an mp40 on 100% reef crest. About 8x on the return. No dead spots. I will do varied time alk tests to see what happens.

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[Blindside]

redbugs

 

[Stolireef]

Two dips didn't show any red bugs... or any other parasites.

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[Blindside]

in my experience redbugs arent affected by dips. Try looking very hard and close while coral is in tank. Not saying thats the problem just seems indicators point in that direction. Hope you get to the bottom of the issue!

 

[Stolireef]

in my experience redbugs arent affected by dips. Try looking very hard and close while coral is in tank. Not saying thats the problem just seems indicators point in that direction. Hope you get to the bottom of the issue!

Thanks. I thought dips were supposed to be effective with red bugs. That said, I've spent so much time staring at the tank, you'd think I would have spotted them by now.

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