All coral are struggling

[Bozburn]

Hey everyone,

Im about to my wits end with my saltwater tank and cant figure out what the heck is going on with any coral I put into the tank. Just went through a whole ordeal where my Blonde Naso stopped eating for 2 weeks and now he is finally recovering and now my staple corals are starting to retract. I have 2 RBT nems in the tank and they are huge and doing great.

All SPS that I put into my tank have died and now my Torches, Duncan and Chalice are all retracting as well. Had some Acans but the copperband decided to start munching on those, and the wife loves the CBB so no more acans for me.

Parameters - These are from an ICP test a week or two ago and have since been checked and are similar.

SG: 34 (bringing it up to 35)
Temp: 77.2
ALK: 7.13
PO4: .012
NO3: 21
Ca: 434
Mg: 1389

I've got a 260 gal tank with 3 radions on top, I stopped dosing anything when all of my SPS died since I now only have 2 torches, duncan, chalice, lobo and some zoas. Currently have brown algae and a section where Cyano has started to come back and am trying to figure out why that is coming back as well. I took out the GFO when my Phosphates hit zero and took out the carbon as well, but am going to put that back this weekend and change it out every 2 weeks.

I was dosing Cal, Mag and Alk but no longer are doing that with the low coral count. I did start the Reef Moonshiners program this past weekend.

Fish -
2 Clowns
Orange Back Fairy Wrasse
Melanurus Wrasse
White Tail Tang
Desjardini Sailfin
Blonde Naso
Copperband Butterfly

Any thoughts and thanks for reading and input.

 

[1112-425XL]

Other than Temp and Alk everything looks good. I keep my temp at 78.5 and Alk as close to 9.0 as possible which keeps my ph between 7.9 and 8.3. Not sure any of this will make a difference.

 

[Pod_01]

PO4: .012

If that is not a typo, that is low and will lead to dead SPS in new system. If your PO4 was sinking as the post indicates that is likely why your SPS didn’t survive. From my experience sinking or low PO4 on new tank with dry rock and use of GFO is guaranteed way to starve SPS. Also ICP doesn’t measure PO4, it measures P only unless they do other type of test.

took out the carbon as well, but am going to put that back this weekend and change it out every 2 weeks.

I would put that back in but use 20ml of activated carbon/ per 100L, 25gal and change every 4-6 weeks. You want it to remove things gently not scrub the water clean.

Also consider to feed your corals with good quality coral food. Contrary to popular belief corals do need to eat and lights will not provide what corals need.

In general when corals suffer 90% of the time it indicates there is water parameter issue, something is missing or fluctuations etc… Other 10% is light or other potential problem. I would focus on the water stability/quality and provide food for corals.

Good luck,

 

[dbroncos]

If that is not a typo, that is low and will lead to dead SPS in new system. If your PO4 was sinking as the post indicates that is likely why your SPS didn’t survive. From my experience sinking or low PO4 on new tank with dry rock and use of GFO is guaranteed way to starve SPS. Also ICP doesn’t measure PO4, it measures P only unless they do other type of test.


I would put that back in but use 20ml of activated carbon/ per 100L, 25gal and change every 4-6 weeks. You want it to remove things gently not scrub the water clean.

Also consider to feed your corals with good quality coral food. Contrary to popular belief corals do need to eat and lights will not provide what corals need.

In general when corals suffer 90% of the time it indicates there is water parameter issue, something is missing or fluctuations etc… Other 10% is light or other potential problem. I would focus on the water stability/quality and provide food for corals.

Good luck,

Idea reef parameters for Phosphate are 0.01-0.03

 

[apb03]

Maybe something got into the water? What is your water change schedule? I would probably consider making a few large water changes.

 

[Lavey29]

Idea reef parameters for Phosphate are 0.01-0.03

No it's not

 

[Doctorgori]

Idea reef parameters for Phosphate are 0.01-0.03

thats a lil thin for my taste

No it's not

succinct no
Yeah honestly for me anything under .1 but over .05 is cool …I don’t even try to slice it down to .03 as the math is easier using fives LOL

I dunno about that Alk at 7ish but lately I’ve been liking 8ish to 9ish

 

[Bozburn]

My Hannah test for Phosphates is .07 so I think thats in range.

I am getting some new carbon this weekend (pellets and not the granulated stuff) so I will be putting that back in this weekend. Don't have GFO in there anymore.

 

[Doctorgori]

My Hannah test for Phosphates is .07 so I think thats in range.

I am getting some new carbon this weekend (pellets and not the granulated stuff) so I will be putting that back in this weekend. Don't have GFO in there anymore.

Opinions might vary on this but if its a case of mystery nasties I might go more nuclear with some sorta Chemipure or Polyfilter option. …Carbon is absolutely cool but I’m thinking may as well cover all bases while you are at it …somebody, maybe Brightwell make some kinda resin that allegedly does heavy metals and/or radioactive stuff or sumthin. maybe look up that stuff also

 

[Bozburn]

Opinions might vary on this but if its a case of mystery nasties I might go more nuclear with some sorta Chemipure or Polyfilter option. …Carbon is absolutely cool but I’m thinking may as well cover all bases while you are at it

Just ordered a polyfilter to throw in there!

 

[Uncle99]

How old is your system?

 

[Bozburn]

How old is your system?

Put water in it about a year ago, but had a big ich outbreak towards the end of last year and all my fish got wiped out, so I left it empty for 90 days. Id say 7-8 months with fish. I have been very intentional on where I get my fish now and go slow when adding fish back.

 

[Uncle99]

Ok, so not new, so rule that out.
It seems SPS are the issue, not the others.
I have some concern with running Alk that close to 7dkh, if the test was even a bit off you could be lower than 7dkh in which the water becomes acidic, and over time, could in fact dissolve corals.

I see no bad reason not to run 9-10dkh which gives some play on either side.

GFO is a good binder, but, may reduce Phosphate quickly which creates instability in our chemistry.

So, in the end, I would:
Increase and maintain a higher level of Alk.
Maintain phosphate no lower than 0.07.
Hold adding any more SPS until Alk, Nitrate and Phosphate have completely stabilized, ie, remain unchanged as measured daily for 4 continuous weeks.

Then add an easy fast growing SPS like a digi.

 

[dbroncos]

thats a lil thin for my taste

succinct no
Yeah honestly for me anything under .1 but over .05 is cool …I don’t even try to slice it down to .03 as the math is easier using fives LOL

I dunno about that Alk at 7ish but lately I’ve been liking 8ish to 9ish

Agree tolerable parameters are 0.01 - 0.1 should have included that.

 

[Bozburn]

Ok, so not new, so rule that out.
It seems SPS are the issue, not the others.
I have some concern with running Alk that close to 7dkh, if the test was even a bit off you could be lower than 7dkh in which the water becomes acidic, and over time, could in fact dissolve corals.

I see no bad reason not to run 9-10dkh which gives some play on either side.

GFO is a good binder, but, may reduce Phosphate quickly which creates instability in our chemistry.

So, in the end, I would:
Increase and maintain a higher level of Alk.
Maintain phosphate no lower than 0.07.
Hold adding any more SPS until Alk, Nitrate and Phosphate have completely stabilized, ie, remain unchanged as measured daily for 4 continuous weeks.

Then add an easy fast growing SPS like a digi.

Was thinking the same thing, just now have to figure out what amount of Alk I am going to dose daily to start bringing it back up.

My issue is testing for Alk, I have the trident, Salifert and Hannah and between those 3 the range is significant. Trident is in the 6's and hannah is high 7s.

 

[Uncle99]

Was thinking the same thing, just now have to figure out what amount of Alk I am going to dose daily to start bringing it back up.

My issue is testing for Alk, I have the trident, Salifert and Hannah and between those 3 the range is significant. Trident is in the 6's and hannah is high 7s.

Increase Alk very slowly.
I use the Hanna. I don’t know the trident.
Anyways, start your increase.
I see zero benefit in running low in the range Alk.
I run 10 for years because that’s where the system likes to run based on dosing and water changes.
I run elevated parameters and elevated nutrients.
Work towards the smallest daily change flux as possible.
The smaller, the better.
Good luck!

 

[dbroncos]

No it's not

It actually is:

Ideal: 0.01 - 0.03 and Tolerable 0.01 - 0.1

 

[Doctorgori]

the disparity between testers won’t be consistent from reagent batch to batch …I’d re-calibrate and see what’s up 1st before trusting any…or pick one and just go with it…so long as you stay away from the extremes it doesn’t matter that much really

 

[Pod_01]

Idea reef parameters for Phosphate are 0.01-0.03

Out of curiosity where did you get that information from?
Sea might be at that level (nutrient rich with particulate but no phosphate) , unfortunately we have a box that is very much nutrient poor and with low phosphate you will end up with dead corals. Assuming you have new tank, dry rock and no phosphate.
Tried it done it and the result is always the same, dead SPS and later on other corals. In my box, not ocean.

Here is example of low PO4 level (0.01-0.03):

Same coral with PO4 (0.1-0.25) range:

Expert reef keepers who have long established tanks, live rock and lot of fish with established reefing procedure can run with low PO4.

 

[dbroncos]

Out of curiosity where did you get that information from?
Sea might be at that level (nutrient rich with particulate but no phosphate) , unfortunately we have a box that is very much nutrient poor and with low phosphate you will end up with dead corals. Assuming you have new tank, dry rock and no phosphate.
Tried it done it and the result is always the same, dead SPS and later on other corals. In my box, not ocean.

Here is example of low PO4 level (0.01-0.03):

Same coral with PO4 (0.1-0.25) range:

Expert reef keepers who have long established tanks, live rock and lot of fish with established reefing procedure can run with low PO4.

See my above post

Reef Tank Water Parameters

Need to know reef tank water quality specs? Save this reef tank water parameters chart as a handy reference.

www.bulkreefsupply.com