What is causing corals to die?

[semperfi102582]

I have been keeping corals for a long time. I had a system that was doing fine on instant ocean and then when I switched to RC everything except my bubble coral started looking bad. I didn't instantly realize it was the RC until now. Could this salt be poison to my tank? I have gone through 2 200 gallon boxes since realizing that it may be the salt. I have tested nitrates, cal, and alk. I took my water in to the fish store and they checked my numbers and I had them check Nitrites and Ammonia too even though I doubted these were an issue since all my fish are healthy and I have other corals thriving. It's really SPS and some LPS that aren't doing well. I also have a finger leather that is melting. All my numbers are within coral keeping parameters and I keep all parameters stable. I have ran through all the common problems that could cause corals too die. I also checked for parasites but to no avail. If there is anything anyone knows of that could be a mystery coral killer or has had bad experience with RC please let me know. I have not noticed any fish picking, I have 3 250 w radiums, I dose 40 ml of BRS 2 part in 10 ml increments at night to minimize PH swing, I use RO water from my house that reads 0 ppm on a TDS meter. I've been battling this for a year. Please HELP!!

 

[semperfi102582]

Also I have a few shrimp and crabs that are doing fine so I think that would rule out copper.

 

[Sk8r]

Industrial accidents happen, and if quality control slipped, it is possible the first batch was bad and set up a problem---it's not as if there's the kind of quality testing we get on human food and drugs. Aquarium stuff is sort of the wild west in that department. If you've run every test and can look back on that change as your problem, you might consider going back to the salt you were using, and doing some massive water changes. If your local store has stopped carrying the brand, you can still get it online.

 

[semperfi102582]

Thanks for the reply. I've done about every test I can think of that would logically be the problem. I think the only 2 things it can be at this point is either the 2 part additive from BRS or the Reef Crystals.

 

[Reef Frog]

It's always a possibility that your salinity readings and/or your Ca, alk & mg test kits could be giving you inaccurate readings. I started with IORC and remember the alk levels were high. That combined with strong dosing could be problematic I would think. Just s possibility. Hoping you can work it out.

 

[semperfi102582]

Yeah I would agree but Alk levels have to get pretty high to kill stuff. As long as they are stable the corals can withstand quite a bit. I checked all of my readings against the LFS test kits and they matched. My alk is around 11dkh

 

[rt67ghy]

Yeah I would agree but Alk levels have to get pretty high to kill stuff.

Although this is generally true, RC salt has very high alk and if your alk spiked by as little as 1 dkh during a WC it could affect your sps corals, which you pointed out were the ones suffering the most. A 1 dkh spike wouldn't affect your LPS but they would be affected by the chemicals being released by the dying sps and would start to die also.

Or, if there was no change in your alk during a WC, a WC using a different salt would stress out sps which could have led to the initial problem unless the WC was very small (10% or so).

 

[semperfi102582]

OK I will get a new alk test kit. Is there a specific one that RC members recommend? I also bought a Poly Filter just to see what that does.

 

[rt67ghy]

I like the hanna alkalinity checker. It gives a digital readout and I know where I stand with it.

 

[semperfi102582]

Unfortunately that's the one I have :hmm2:

 

[outssider]

Unfortunately that's the one I have :hmm2:

try another reagent, if that aggress with the reagent you're now using then my guess is it's correct. I love my hanna meters. :love2:

 

[NotYoNano]

Switched to Red Sea Coral Pro, haven't looked back. Even only changing 1 gallon every week, my corals looks better (and growth is WAY more noticeable) than when I used Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals, Fluval, Tropic Marin...

I think standards are slipping.