Alkalinity Consumption stopped. STN on some frags

[Scubabum]

Setup a Red Sea Reefer 525XL 9 months ago using Pukani Dry Rock that I Bleached and Acid washed. This is the first tank I've ever setup with dry rock. Always used Live in the past. Using RO/DI TDS 0 , Aquaforest Reef Salt, Been dosing Aquaforest Component 1 2 3 in equal parts at 26ml. I'm also using ABVE (AF trace elements) and my parameters have been very stable for the last 4 months. Alk 8.4 Ca 445 and Mg 1340 I have 25 SPS frags and 8 LPS corals and a few Zoa's and all were encrusting, growing and doing well. I added 10 sps frags 7 weeks ago and have been testing Alk daily, expecting an increase in Alk consumption. My alk has been rising approx .1-.2 dkh daily. (Hanna Test) I backed off my dose 2ml and still had increase. backed off 4 ml and still had increase. I completely shut off my doser for 30 days now, and my tank seems to have stalled at consuming ALK. Lost a few LPS and a couple of SPS frags and have STN on a couple more. Only change to the tank is I purposely raised Nitrate and Phos Gradually to try and fight a small Dino outbreak. Currently my Nitrate is at 10ppm and Phos is .10 Prior to raising my nutrients my Nitrate was 2ppm and Phos was .02 Not sure if raising nutrients could have an affect on Alk consumption. At this point I'm just monitoring daily and will re introduce my doser once I see a drop. I reached out to the AF group and I performed a 30 gallon water change as recommended but trying to avoid water changes due to the Dino I'm experiencing. After my water change I tested today and my params are Alk 8.3, Ca 452, Mg 1500 Nitrate 10ppm and Phos .10 SG 1.026 Temp 78. Dosing pump still turned off. I thought I'd post here on the Reef Chemistry forum for thoughts, suggestions or ideas on why this is happening? I've been reefing for a really long time and never have experienced anything like this before. Thanks in advance.

 

[Scubabum]

Forgot to mention that Polyp extension was great before but now is non existent during the day but ok at night. Most of the remaining coral still have good color but no signs of growth.

 

[Nburg's Reef]

.1 phosphates can be considered high if they're not acclimated to those levels but shouldn't be that bad. Most people seem to aim for 5ppm NO3 and .02 ppm Phos. Any changes in lighting, or have you noticed any pests?

I had something similar happen and it turned out to be red bugs. used interceptor and they have been gone for well over a year. Growth and color returned almost instantly.

 

[Scubabum]

.1 phosphates can be considered high if they're not acclimated to those levels but shouldn't be that bad. Most people seem to aim for 5ppm NO3 and .02 ppm Phos. Any changes in lighting, or have you noticed any pests?

I had something similar happen and it turned out to be red bugs. used interceptor and they have been gone for well over a year. Growth and color returned almost instantly.

I normally try and run 5ppm for NO3 and .03 for PO4 but raised them in hopes to beat this Dino problem I'm having. No changes to lighting. Radion G4 Pros running Coral lab AB+ program max intes at 48% Par at the top of my scape is 300 avg and 140 on the sandbed. I'm not seeing any pests but I do have some interceptor on hand in case I do.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I don’t know what is bothering the corals, but I expect the reduced consumption of alkalinity and calcium is a symptom of problems in the corals, rather than the cause of the issues.

 

[TheBeardedReefer]

I'm experiencing a very similar issue. Any update on what ever happened?

 

[Scubabum]

I'm experiencing a very similar issue. Any update on what ever happened?

My consumption stalled for approx. 3 months. Doser was completely shut down. People told me that was impossible but I watched it happen in my reef. I continued to test alk daily and finally saw a drop and everything went back to normal with regular consumption. I've never experienced anything like this and sorry but do not have an explanation. I would just recommend to continue testing regularly and wait for the consumption to happen again.

 

[Cory]

I noticed reduced consumtion with dinos in my tank fwiw.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

When I had dinos my alk consumption went to almost nothing. I did lose a Duncan colony and nearly lost my hammers before finally winning the battle with dinos.
Then my alk consumption shot up again

 

[biecacka]

I switched from halides to leds and upon the switch had a reduction. In about 5 weeks or so it went from 8.5 to 10.6. Still new so waiting for it to all settle down again.

Corey

 

[oldfaithless]

When I had dinos my alk consumption went to almost nothing. I did lose a Duncan colony and nearly lost my hammers before finally winning the battle with dinos.
Then my alk consumption shot up again

I'm think I'm having the same problem. Can I ask how you managed to beat your Dino's I've been battling them for almost a year now and feel I've tried everything!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm think I'm having the same problem. Can I ask how you managed to beat your Dino's I've been battling them for almost a year now and feel I've tried everything!

You can ask, but Pennywise has not been on for a long time.

What is the nutrient situation in your tank?

 

[oldfaithless]

You can ask, but Pennywise has not been on for a long time.

What is the nutrient situation in your tank?

Yes I had seen that but thought it was worth asking, so I just completed a 5 day black out so had a lot of die off so doing tests yesterday I have the following:

Nitrate: 75ppm - (Hannah high range checker)
Phosphate - 0.4 (Hannah checker phosphorus)

Obviously I know very high but this normally happens after a black out which knocks the Dino right back but unfortunately they just keep on returning. and I've started running rowaphos to bring phosphate down.

I find that this type of Dino's I have actually absorbs nutrients from water as I have to be careful to not let it drop too low and avoid that zero readings and sometimes I have to dose phosphate and nitrate.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Yes I had seen that but thought it was worth asking, so I just completed a 5 day black out so had a lot of die off so doing tests yesterday I have the following:

Nitrate: 75ppm - (Hannah high range checker)
Phosphate - 0.4 (Hannah checker phosphorus)

Obviously I know very high but this normally happens after a black out which knocks the Dino right back but unfortunately they just keep on returning. and I've started running rowaphos to bring phosphate down.

I find that this type of Dino's I have actually absorbs nutrients from water as I have to be careful to not let it drop too low and avoid that zero readings and sometimes I have to dose phosphate and nitrate.

Are you sure that they are Dinos?

Do you know which strain?

 

[oldfaithless]

Are you sure that they are Dinos?

Do you know which strain?

Being completely honest, I guess I can't be 100% sure but I'm fairly confident due to the nature of the way it reacts with different treatments. I've dealt with cyano etc in the past but this stuff is very persistent and just keeps on coming back and I believe is toxic to the corals. Most are unaffected but are just stunted in growth, but every few days it might cover the corals and stop them extending their polyps and the trapped air bubbles are very noticeable.

I have attached some pictures.

I'm open to any advice though and maybe I have got it wrong but I've been keeping marine fish for 10 years now and never experienced anything like this before.

 

[CoachRichardson]

Dosing the Nitrate will increase your Alk. That might explain why you were seeing the increase even with your corals consuming it.

 

[MPCReefer]

Forgive me if a dumb question, fairly new to the hobby. But I'm assuming GHA would also suppress Alk consumption by corals? I'm currently battling GHA and have had to dial down dosing as Alk has increased.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Forgive me if a dumb question, fairly new to the hobby. But I'm assuming GHA would also suppress Alk consumption by corals? I'm currently battling GHA and have had to dial down dosing as Alk has increased.

Unless they are competing for a nutrient or trace element, I’m not seeing a way that algae necessarily deters calcification by corals.

 

[MPCReefer]

Unless they are competing for a nutrient or trace element, I’m not seeing a way that algae necessarily deters calcification by corals.

Interesting. Thanks for the reply. I've noticed some STN and definite decreased Alk consumption that coincided with the GHA growth. Will have to look for some other sources of the slowdown.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Interesting. Thanks for the reply. I've noticed some STN and definite decreased Alk consumption that coincided with the GHA growth. Will have to look for some other sources of the slowdown.

Might be coincidence, but it also might be the other way around: whatever caused the STN (and the associated alk consumption drop from thst coral no longer calcifying ) might be spurring the algae.