What's wrong here?

[sponger0]

I have to agree with the combination of big temp swing and high salinity are the issue. Get the temp min 78 and no more than a 2 temp swing if you can.

Do a water change with 1.025 and then wait a few hours and test your salinty again. Wait a day or 2 and do another water change and continue until you hit 1.025/26.

Once you get both if those in order, give it a week and see if you see some improvement. I will pretty much bet thats it. One time with my temp got low, some of my SPS started to STN.

 

[gdubs97]

I have to double check when I get home tonight, but I believe they are at 80% and I know for sure that they are 8" off of the water.

what % are the radions set to? and how high off the water are they

 

[gdubs97]

I did a series of water changes yesterday. End result...the SG is now at 1.026 in the tank. Hopefully I didn't change it too fast. I will check it every day. The polyps went out like crazy after my first massive water change and then things went back to normal.

As far as the temp goes, my apex is set to turn on the heater when it drops to 78.8 and turn off the heater when it goes above 79.2. I'm not going to add a chiller. I am using a $30 heater in my sump. Maybe I need a better one?? My temp swings used to be way worse (when colors were great) and maybe the temp does not go all the way down to 75. I want advice, but from my experience I don't think it's the temp issue at all.

I have a log of all my tests and the main change has been the SG going up...this coincides with the loss of color and change in quality of my corals.

I have to agree with the combination of big temp swing and high salinity are the issue. Get the temp min 78 and no more than a 2 temp swing if you can.

Do a water change with 1.025 and then wait a few hours and test your salinty again. Wait a day or 2 and do another water change and continue until you hit 1.025/26.

Once you get both if those in order, give it a week and see if you see some improvement. I will pretty much bet thats it. One time with my temp got low, some of my SPS started to STN.

 

[sponger0]

Im sorry you dont feel the temp is a big deal. But honestly, when the weather got warm and I keep my house at a very cool 72 degrees. My tank was on 79 everyday, allday. Then then my heater couldnt keep up, I lost an Oregon tort in 6 hours and lost a red milli I had for over a year in 2 days. My temp wouldnt go higher than 76 until I added another heater.

So yes a temp problem can create a big issue for SPS.

 

[sirreal63]

Sponger, the difference is his corals are acclimated to a daily temp swing and your are not, temp is not the problem here.

Temp can be an issue if your corals are not acclimated to a variation. You created the situation in your tank where the corals were killed by the temp swing that they were not acclimated to. The biggest mistake people make is trying to avoid a temp fluctuation, it kills corals when inevitably something does happen to cause the temp to vary from what the corals are acclimated to, such as a heater failure, electrical outage or other issue. The sad thing here is this information has been known for many years yet people still falsely labor under the idea that they must run a cold tank with no variation. A little reading for you, by two of the people who have studied this...

From a post by Greenbean36191...
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=18363071&postcount=11

There are many great posts by Greenbean, who was a grad student when he started here and now is a scientist studying marine life. Do an advanced search under his username and use temp in the search field, he has a wealth of knowledge on the subject.

This is a good thread on the subject, read the articles that MCsaxmaster did on the great temp debate, it helps explain in more detail why temp variation is a good thing.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2203610

Temp can be a big deal if you try and keep it in a narrow range, in fact it can be lethal quickly because the corals are not expecting it, it is far better to let the tank have some swing. Many of us have had as much as 5-7 degrees daily with no ill effects, why? Because it is something corals have evolved with over the ages and if within their normal range, they handle it as easily as we breathe.

 

[gdubs97]

Back to 1.028 the next day. I guess that's more realistic considering what I did. Maybe it needed time to mix up in tank. Will take out water and add rodi to top off maybe a few cups at a time.

 

[gig]

so when you add the new SW to the tank, do you pour it into the display or into the sump?

I normally go right into the display, as my SG matches the display. It should mix, you could check after an hour.

you might need to pull out a gallon of water and replace with RODI in the sump once a day until you get there.

 

[gdubs97]

When I do the water changes it is directly from sump. It just makes things cleaner/neater for me. I think I will have to do just what you said. I'm just anxious to get the sg down as I am looking forward to getting some color back in my corals. Not to mention I bought some nice sps frags that are coming in tomorrow.

so when you add the new SW to the tank, do you pour it into the display or into the sump?

I normally go right into the display, as my SG matches the display. It should mix, you could check after an hour.

you might need to pull out a gallon of water and replace with RODI in the sump once a day until you get there.

 

[gdubs97]

So I decide to make the DIY salinity calibration fluid. I did it exactly as stated. After calibration I find out my salinity is 1.021. Now what. Do I do? I don't want to do anything. When I calibrate my refractometer with rodi water my reading goes back to 1.028. Any suggestions?

 

[Biocubehqi]

You don't have a LFS or local club where you can get a third opinion? Have someone else check the salinity so you can figure out what's going on. Mine is always +.001 I understand its nothing like yours.

 

[Acronic]

def get a second opinion on that SG before proceeding. The calibration fluid is about $7 from BRS. Enough to last you a Looooong time (I made the mistake of buying two, 3 years ago)... I still have one full and the other is half full. Try to backpack on a BRS group buy with someone and offer them a couple bucks shipping

 

[blakers82]

Totally agree. Get a second opinion on SG before you do anything else. And yes, SG calibration fluid is a good thing. Snag some and then rest easy you've got a refractometer that's on point. Just reading this was a good reminder to recalibrate mine. :thumbsup:

 

[gdubs97]

I got a second and third opinion last night. To make a long story short, my SG is at 1.021 due to me using an uncalibrated refractometer. If I calibrated it from the start, I would have found my salinity was dead on.

So..back to the original post. If my salinity is/was stable and right around 1.025, why am I having issues with alot of the corals?