Almost all sps is bleaching! And zoas wont open!

robert · Oct 11, 2015

actually your sand and tank don't look as bad as I imagined them to be...alot of stuff looks recoverable...

Never stir your sand so that too much stuff in it gets into the water column. That alone can kill some sps corals.

I would try and get the sandbed out - but thats just me. You could probably get by just vaccing the top 1/2 inch or so of the sand.
Don't distrurb the deep sand - just the top 1/2" or so. If you go down to 1" its ok too...just don't stir up any more than you have to...

If you've not done this before you'll be amazed at how much junk has accumulated in your tank. You may also want to augment the flow in the system as that too will help generally.

If this is it, I think you should see better things in a short period of time.

Get a gravel vac at pet-co or your LFS - see this video on how to use it:
Good-luck...

James7733 · Oct 11, 2015

kyla bidwell said:
I have no idea what tds means......sorry :-\

Total desolved solids. This is tested using an electric TDS meter stick. Very cheap to acquire on eBay. My question is are you using a RO/DI filter system to make your water? Because if you are then you would use the TDS meter to insure the level is as close to zero as possible!!

Pete polyp · Oct 11, 2015

If your nitrate really is that low then alkalinity at 10 dkh will be a problem with sps. Let it fall back to about 8 and see what happens.

Pete polyp · Oct 11, 2015

You may also want to check for stray voltage in the tank too

kyla bidwell · Oct 11, 2015

Robert: THANK YOU so very much for all of your help. I appreciate your quick responses. I will get a vacuum tomorrow. thank you thank you thank you!

James: Ive used distilled water since the very beginning. From what i understand, tds isnt an issue in distilled water. Please correct me if im wrong though.

Pete Polyp: When I let my alk lower than this, it seems to make my ph fall too low. Its been as low as 7.8 when my alk was lower. Any ideas on how to keep a good ph level while lowering my alk?

As far as stray voltage goes..... I do not even know where to begin with that. What kind of meter is used to test for volts underwater? where would I get something like that? I am a woman who knows very little about electricity and such.

Thank you ALL for your help so far! Im hoping that Roberts advice will save my coral. That seems to be the easiest fix. If anyone else has any ideas, please keep them coming though. Incase vacuuming dosemt work, ill have this thread to look back at for ideas.

Thanks again everyone! And happy reefing!

kyla bidwell · Oct 11, 2015

Robert: I just watched the video and I know ill be able to vacuum without any problems. I drip acclimate everything I put in my in my tank, and this looks very similar to drip acclimating. Just with a bigger hose. So im not afraid of it anymore lol. I guess I should have been doing this for a while now huh? How should I go about replacing sand though? Dosent is harm the bacteria if I put new sand on top of old sand? Should I add any new sand at all?

robert · Oct 11, 2015

No you don't want to put new sand on top of old...that would make your issues worse later on.

Its much easier to keep a tank without sand...if it were my tank - I'd take it out and not replace it. But some people really like the look of sand - which is good too - just more work.

To siphon out the sand - take the big part of the vac off so you just have just the hose. with the water flowing into the bucket use the hose end in the tank to pick up the sand and let it flow into the bucket. Snail shells, bits of corals and rocks will clog the hose so avoid them as much as possible. Don't try and scoop out the sand - it will make a mess of your tank - use the hose to siphon it out.

You don't need to get it all at once...just work in one section an take everything in that section out. Don't for example take the top 1/2" of the entire sand bed - but instead take the whole left front corner. The idea is to keep the exposure of the deep sant to the water to a minimum.

Do a section - replace the water - wait a couple of days - do a section - replace the water. Repeat till you got it all or most of it...
You can leave sand under rock work and stuff...

If you put it back rinse it very well - very very well - it will be full of organics which can cause an ammonia spike if you put it back in...
Best to replace with fresh is your going to keep the substrate.

Pete polyp · Oct 11, 2015

Nothing would be wrong with ph at 7.8. Low ph is generally caused by high co2 inside the house. Cracking open a window nearby will help with the pH coming up. To check for stray voltage you use a multimeter.
http://m.kmart.com/craftsman-8-func...ispla=9990000031937511P&kpid=9990000031937511

kyla bidwell · Oct 11, 2015

Ok so I just spent a long time looking at every little thing in my tank, and I saw some spider looking things. I dont know how I missed them before. They are clear. I did a Google search amd ot turns out that I ha e colonial hydroids. Could this be the cause of the coral damage?

kyla bidwell · Oct 11, 2015

Here is a photo of the biggest hydroid I could find. If you look close you can see its clear spider like tentacles.

robert · Oct 12, 2015

If there are alot of them the could irritate some corals and cause them not to open...I've had plague levels of these before in zoa tanks because I fed small particle foods...not your problem but something to keep an eye on...

Ginu · Oct 13, 2015

I haven't read every single post, however I think your problems might be related to tank parameters not light...
You need to get different and accurate test kits and API is not the answer.

If you happen to have a syringe lurking around, measure 5ml and add to their test vials... you will notice the line will not match your measured 5ml. That's almost a 10% change if not more... on top of it the accuracy on API Alk kit is 1 dkh and 20 on the Calcium kit. so basically your measurement of 10 alk can be anywhere from 8-12 dkh... and the calcium can be anywhere from 412-548... at least have a friendLFS test your water and compare readings to make sure where about your parameters are sitting at.
What is your Magnesium at? what is your Potassium at? How often and how much water do you change? is GFO the only nutrient export method?
Low pH is OK as it fluctuates during the day/night, here is my reading on Apex on PH
Minimum: 7.9 Average: 8 Maximum: 8.11

Also zero nitrate/phosphate is not a good thing unless you're running a ULNS with very low parameters and in that case you would be feeding the corals different coral foods and amino acids.

Also I would not look into stirring the sand at this moment, I doubt your problem is caused by the sand, especially since your system is 1.5 years old, just make sure you have the appropriate sand cleaning critters around, like snails and gobies.

kyla bidwell · Oct 14, 2015

Ok guys heres an update. I took a water sample to lfs and the owner said all of my levels are excellent except for my salinity. My sg is .31 he thinks this is the reason for my sps bleaching. Obviously my hydrometer is WAY off, as I was showing .25 to .26 (right in between the 2) so ive ordered a refractometer.

So my first question is, could a salinity level really make coral bleach this badly?

My second question is, is it ok to feed bleached corals? Will it help them recover? Since I know now that nitrates and phosphates arent a problem. Ive always fed ROE and oyster feast 2 to 3 times a week. But I stopped when I saw the first sign of bleaching. Is it ok to resume feeding now? And was my feeding regimen an acceptable one?

Ginu · Oct 14, 2015

high salinity would cause bleaching and rtn over night... id reduce the salinty slowly

Pete polyp · Oct 14, 2015

kyla bidwell said:
Ok guys heres an update. I took a water sample to lfs and the owner said all of my levels are excellent except for my salinity. My sg is .31 he thinks this is the reason for my sps bleaching. Obviously my hydrometer is WAY off, as I was showing .25 to .26 (right in between the 2) so ive ordered a refractometer.

So my first question is, could a salinity level really make coral bleach this badly?

My second question is, is it ok to feed bleached corals? Will it help them recover? Since I know now that nitrates and phosphates arent a problem. Ive always fed ROE and oyster feast 2 to 3 times a week. But I stopped when I saw the first sign of bleaching. Is it ok to resume feeding now? And was my feeding regimen an acceptable one?

The feeding should be fine as long as it doesn't cause excess nutrients

Ginu · Oct 15, 2015

Also, something else crossed my mind.. I suggest checking for any magnets or equipment which could rust like veggie mags, pumps, magnet mounts etc...
I had an incident where my Tunze care magnet blade was rusting and magnetic mounts can be notorious for this...

kyla bidwell · Oct 16, 2015

Ginu : now that you mentioned rust. I have something that i just added about a month ago as a frag rack. Its not rusting, but could it be leaching something into the water thats harmful? Ill post a pic of it. Its just one of those little racks that people get from Wal-Mart or target. It is by the plastic storage totes at walmart. I think its metal with a plastic coating but im not positive. I just needed something to keep my frags off the sandbed bc sand kept accumulating on them.

kyla bidwell · Oct 16, 2015

Mattrg02 · Oct 17, 2015

Pete polyp said:
Nothing would be wrong with ph at 7.8. Low ph is generally caused by high co2 inside the house. Cracking open a window nearby will help with the pH coming up. To check for stray voltage you use a multimeter.
http://m.kmart.com/craftsman-8-func...ispla=9990000031937511P&kpid=9990000031937511

Has anyone any concrete evidence that stray voltage does anything? I mean, current would have to have a place to flow to ground in order to flow. Changing electromagnetic fields, such as from a power head or heater, cannot be avoided as the field extends into the tank.

Pete polyp · Oct 17, 2015

Mattrg02 said:
Has anyone any concrete evidence that stray voltage does anything? I mean, current would have to have a place to flow to ground in order to flow. Changing electromagnetic fields, such as from a power head or heater, cannot be avoided as the field extends into the tank.

Ib have concrete evidence. I have been electrocuted several times before and it's not fun