What is wrong with my system?

[RoscoPColtrane]

My first thought was too much light. The first year I owned my tank I had bleached coraline and terrible growth from my LPS. I switched out my 10K XMs to 14K Hamiltons and everything took off. I don't have much experience with T5s but could you run only 4 bulbs or switch to lower PAR bulbs? If this is the case it may take the corals a few weeks to adjust. How long did you run the 4hr photoperiod?

 

[cardiffgiant]

This is certainly puzzling, and I have been experiencing it on a much smaller scale. I've had this happen to a couple of corals, but I'll usually see some of my best growth right before they go down hill.

Questions:
Dumb question, but are you shaking the Alk container to mix it up before dosing?
Have you recently started mixing new water from a fresh salt bucket?
Are you testing the Ca and Alk levels of your freshly mixed water before water changes?
Another way to approach the issue is what corals in your tank are doing very well? Is anything responding very well to the environment that might give clues as to what's going on?

I would consider testing your Alk 2x a day for the next few days to see if there are significant intraday and day to day swings. As others have suggested, adding your Alk part daily in small doses is beneficial. But that wouldn't explain why your tanks was doing so well... then stopped doing well.



I noticed that two encrusting monti (purple haze and poker star), and my green slimer bleached. I also had a portion of my birds nest die off. I don't know what one thing may have lead to all of this, but here are observations of what was going on at the time, and maybe something on the list helps:

-Two weeks before the bleaching I changed my 12 month old geisman actinic blue with a new ati blue+.
-One week before the bleaching my MP40 became dislodged while I was out of town and the turnover in the tank was reduced to about 25x for 3 days. Softies responded favorably, LPS seemed unaffected.
-The week that I noticed the bleaching the NO3 in my system "spiked". It's been consistently undetectable with my salifert kit for ages. Then all of a sudden it was .05. 10% water change and replacing 6 week old ROX carbon with a fresh cup of rinsed carbon reduced No3 to undetectable.
-This is the week after. My Alk reading is "low". It's always between 9.0-9.3. Yesterday it was 7.4. I noticed that the line coming from my dosing pump was clogged. I also noticed that a lot of the soda ash in my Alk part had settled at the bottom of the two part vessel. I keep shaking it, but it just settles again. I suspect that it is resulting in inconsistent dosing, so I will be testing 2x a day for the next few days..

 

[cardiffgiant]

My first thought was too much light. The first year I owned my tank I had bleached coraline and terrible growth from my LPS. I switched out my 10K XMs to 14K Hamiltons and everything took off. I don't have much experience with T5s but could you run only 4 bulbs or switch to lower PAR bulbs? If this is the case it may take the corals a few weeks to adjust. How long did you run the 4hr photoperiod?

A couple of people have suggested that 6 bulbs might be a bit much over this tank. The 65 gallon is a 24" high tank, so the height is 24" like a 90 or 120. I know that 4 bulbs can be used for SPS over a 55 and even a 75, but I don't know if it's enough over a tank that's 24" tall.

But it might not be a bad idea to pop into the grim reapers T5 question & answer thread and get his feedback on whether this is the right amount of light or too much for your tank and corals (in terms of # of bulbs, bulb selection, and the number of bulbs that you've changed at one time).

 

[Newreeflady]

I was under the impression that regardless of how many bulbs you put over a tank, the penetration depth will be the same. IE, you can do 2 x 150w halides over a 24" tank vs 1 x 250w over the same tank and you will likely have more par at lower level with the later. Can someone confirm?

-A

 

[Conesus_Kid]

How close are these corals to the lights?

 

[Johnny C]

The only thing that catches my eye is that you remove and rinse your sandbed weekly with water changes. I wouldn't recommend doing this.

Additionally, if you'd like, stop down the street and I'll test your water for you, just in case your getting a faulty reading.

 

[Bluephish13]

I am in the process of posting pics of the entire system. lots to take into consideration thanks again all for participating.

lets see how i should start to attack this after you all see the system.

some of you have seen it in person.

 

[Bluephish13]

I have no idea how to work my new camera yet so the white balancing may be off a little.


full

lights

controllers

sump area

monti grown from small single 3 inch frag. I fragged it multiple times as lt grew to get all the shelves. This still grows slowly and looks decent.(hot pink in life)

sunset milli odd growth formation. Grown from small fragment, was totally bleached at one point. Has a little color now and still grows at a steady pace.

prob my most colorful acro and growth decent. got as small frag not encrusted.

so thats the system and some sps that was growing. pics all taken today.
Next ill try to get some pics of the corals that are currently stning. Not much to look at but blotches of flesh and polyps missing.

Now i look at this post things are worse in life then they look in the pics lol

 

[Bluephish13]

i just tested alk 8.5 and checked it with the 7.3 check solution and it was dead on. salitferts kit.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

The only thing that catches my eye is that you remove and rinse your sandbed weekly with water changes. I wouldn't recommend doing this.

Additionally, if you'd like, stop down the street and I'll test your water for you, just in case your getting a faulty reading.

good suggestions.

Based on everything I've taken in here so far I would be concerned that fluctuations in alkalinity are wreaking havoc on sensitive corals. If you're feeding fishes and have microfauna there's no need to feed Rod's coral food.
I'd suggestion doing an experiment: stop using GFO and GAC. Feed fishes well and do regular water changes. Dose liquid two part daily. See what happens and get back to use here in a few weeks.

 

[toddmh]

wow when I was over your place a couple months ago your tank looked great..No idea if this has anything to do with your problems..But you had some monster bubble algae going on..did you get rid of those or pop any??

 

[Bluephish13]

I will remove both now.

cali- that would be great.

i feed rods rarely ever

should i try to run any poly filter just to see if i get any odd color change.


todd i still have the bubble algae, i have popped many of them trying to remove them. I doubt its the bubble algae but maybe it is what is causing the bubble algae. Maybe my trates and po4 will rise a lot after a remove the GFO & carbon, could the gfo & carbon be masking a high nutrient problem.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Newly added 4" deep sugarfine deep sand bed in fuge never had nitrate be for but i guess i really wont now.

this new RDSB could have caused a 'blip' in stability that had a negative effect on sensitive corals

 

[450reef]

id say too much light too much flow

 

[Bluephish13]

maybe but i had this same looking problem with really light corals and random stn for a yr now.

The RDSB was just a recent stab in the dark to add some fauna and some extra filtration. Every thing(parims) was already at zero, and corals bleached and stning, be for i even added the RDSB.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

seeing which corals appear stressed I have a strong opinion that too much flow and too much lighting isn't the culprit.

 

[Bluephish13]

I removed the gfo & carbon yesterday. Today my ph peaked at 8.32 a bit higher than normal 8.25 previously.

 

[Bluephish13]

well it has been 15 days since i removed my gfo and carbon.

In that time i did one 10 gallon water change.

I did syphon clean my sand a little but did not remove it this time.

I went to arc today had them run some tests.

Po4 .02
ammonia-0
trites-0
nitrates-0 or as low as the scale would read. Same on my api tests at home.

at home on saliferts i tested
kh 8.5 Accuracy also checked with the 7.3 solution. Checked a few times during the 15 days and never varied. 25ml of bionic part 1 & a little more of part 2 hast me at 8.5 every time i checked.
cal-425
mag-1380
all fairly new saliferts kits.

can i get closer to NSW?!

so in 15 days my po4 only went from 0.01-.02

I also been feeding a little more 2-3 times a day. Spectrum , a little flake, and sometimes cyclops.


My observation - I do now see some darkening in 1 or 2 acros.



A few days after the GFO, and carbon was removed necrosis/bleaching continued appearing on more colonies localized too the tips . Some colonies just showed up the one day sporting a little brown algae on some white tips. The polyps are even extended out of the white skeleton looking coarlites(correct term?).



Any new suggestions or should i just continue the course of letting my nutrients rise. ?????


Please & thank you

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I'd stay the course and continue to export PO4 with regular partial water changes

 

[cmacld]

+1 on the bad test kit (just went thru the same thing)
and it was the same salifert run with the check solution!
good luck