White bugs/water flies on my acropora

OnceTrueFalseBr

New member
So im worried my acropora is s goner.

It negan bleaching last week snd niw there are bug flying on and off of it. Is it a sign its dead?

Water params from last night

Salinity 1.027
Mag 1000ppm (i doses today)
Cslcium 460 ppm
Kh 9
Ph 8.0
Ammonia 0.5
Nitrite 0.25 ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
 
What kind of acropora? We're your parameters stable or was there a swing? What is your water change pattern? Do you have a picture. Those parameters should ideally be 0. Were they always that high, or did something die
 
What kind of acropora? We're your parameters stable or was there a swing? What is your water change pattern? Do you have a picture. Those parameters should ideally be 0. Were they always that high, or did something die



They were consistent til last night. Or leading up to it.

No fish deaths or Lps or inverts.

I'm guessing the acro died and RTN caused spike somewhere.

I do weekly water change and bi weekly tests. So the test prior was as follows

12/11/14

Salinity 1.027
Magnesium 1100ppm
Calcium 420
Ph 8.1
Kh 9
Ammo 0.1
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 10


Nitrates went down, but ammonia skyrocketed
That's when i did a water change
And put carbon media back in

It was Australian purple acro. Wild caught.
 
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Ammonia and nitrites are not going to treat a wild cought acropora well. Or any other for that matter.
 
Honestly if you have detectable ammonia your mag levels are the least of your concerns. How long has the tank been set up
 
Honestly if you have detectable ammonia your mag levels are the least of your concerns. How long has the tank been set up


I am thinking i may have rushed into the SPS a bit.

should i remove the skeleton if it is dead? would leaving it in there cause param swings?

it has been setup for 3 months
 
when you set up a tank and just let it run with out providing an ammonia source, the tank wont cycle and hasnt yet. Alot of newer reefers make that mistake. (Putting rock and water in the tank and thinking it is cycling but it really isnt) SPS are the least ofyour worries just do some reading and research before moving on. You really shouldnt have any corals with ammo and/ nitrite in the tank.
 
I would agree with the other posters you shouldn't have any amount of ammonia in a reef tank, as far as the dip goes revive by TFL has been good to me.
 
Do you have a decent amount of coralline growing on your pumps, walls, overflows etc? To me that is a good sign that your tank MAY be stable enough to support SPS. Usually that starts to happen at around 3-4 months for me.

Wild caught acros are notoriously difficult to acclimate. I would start off with some easy montipora or stylophora maybe.
 
when you set up a tank and just let it run with out providing an ammonia source, the tank wont cycle and hasnt yet. Alot of newer reefers make that mistake. (Putting rock and water in the tank and thinking it is cycling but it really isnt) SPS are the least ofyour worries just do some reading and research before moving on. You really shouldnt have any corals with ammo and/ nitrite in the tank.

no i would believe it is cycled, but maybe not stable enough yet.

i have LPS that are flourishing, Clownfish (one died yesterday from brooklynella) and a lot of inverts.

I have coralline growing on the LR. Not on the glass yet (however i clean the glass weekly with the magnet scrubber)
 
Do you have a decent amount of coralline growing on your pumps, walls, overflows etc? To me that is a good sign that your tank MAY be stable enough to support SPS. Usually that starts to happen at around 3-4 months for me.

Wild caught acros are notoriously difficult to acclimate. I would start off with some easy montipora or stylophora maybe.


Yes I think it was the "wild caught" issue being the problem.

acclimating it into my tank wasnt going to ever happen. it wasnt suitable for that situation.
 
no i would believe it is cycled, but maybe not stable enough yet.

i have LPS that are flourishing, Clownfish (one died yesterday from brooklynella) and a lot of inverts.

I have coralline growing on the LR. Not on the glass yet (however i clean the glass weekly with the magnet scrubber)

After the other clown kicks the bucket, you'd probably save some frustration going forward to fallow the tank (of fish) for a few months, and get a QT up and running for future fish additions. A little OT, but just another friendly bit of advice that might help improve your success going forward.

Also, FWIW, given how little biomass SPS have, I don't think the dead acro is what caused your ammonia to rise.

It might make sense to take it slow and focus on getting all your params stable and in the "ideal" range before giving it another go.
 
After the other clown kicks the bucket, you'd probably save some frustration going forward to fallow the tank (of fish) for a few months, and get a QT up and running for future fish additions. A little OT, but just another friendly bit of advice that might help improve your success going forward.

Also, FWIW, given how little biomass SPS have, I don't think the dead acro is what caused your ammonia to rise.

It might make sense to take it slow and focus on getting all your params stable and in the "ideal" range before giving it another go.

That is what im doing now on my bigger tank. slow and stead wins the race!
Thanks!
 
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