Another thread about dying sps

[Midrats]

My father in law has had beautiful hibiscus growing indoors for years. I have attempted multiple plants in my own home without success. They always mysteriously die regardless of what room they're in. There are too many other beautiful plants that do great for me to bother with hibiscus anymore.

 

[Mattrg02]

I definitely agree even at a year my tank is far from mature. I will definitely add some pods plus I'm sure my pipefish would appreciate it. Also I've always stayed away from pellets from the fear of adding to many nutrients to the water column. I use strictly frozen foods which I thaw and strain besides the lrs. If pellets will help I'll give it a shot.

I'll have to look into that..mine peak from 12 to 8 so much longer. I've seen people stagger their lighting and have always wondered the reason

I have my blues right now at %50..whites I keep at %15. I've been wanting to go full t5 as I find it much easier than messing with leds. I know some people that are great at figuring them out and have amazing results. Guess I'm just not one of them lol

Yes my tank just hit 1 year. I do %10 WC every Saturday. A while ago my whole overflow was covered with coralline but slowly died off..as for my rocks it's always popping up everywhere and is plating in a few areas. The marine pure was originally put in for nitrates. Not sure how well it helped. The whole top of it is covered in coralline..would it hurt anything to suddenly remove it? At this point I'm willing to try anything but do not want to cause and abrupt changes. Also should the t5 be on from the time my leds stop ramping in the morning and start in the evening or the whole photo period?

50% blues is too low. Especially over a big tank. I have a 34g display and have my blues over 100%.

I’d max them out, well over 100%, and set acclimation for 1 month and 50% reduction.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sounds like you're using whites? To what level of brightness?
I and many I know utilize high Blues and low whites( I run 95% Blue, 32% white, 65% red and 36% green( and my water movement is moderate- Not blasting plus a gyre unit in the center at Pulse mode and two wavemakers staggered. Not saying this is the setting you want as every system differs But high light and flow can be an issue to SPS.

 

[TexasTodd]

I'd add some good established rock from somewhere if you can. It won't hurt and likely will help. I have a good friend that has kept many successful tanks with SPS. His latest he started with dry rock and LEDs. Lots of problems, some due to LED but he finally added some rock from a very established system and things turned around soon after. It could have been something else but again, good rock isn't going to hurt.
Easy on the white LED power.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'd add some good established rock from somewhere if you can. It won't hurt and likely will help. I have a good friend that has kept many successful tanks with SPS. His latest he started with dry rock and LEDs. Lots of problems, some due to LED but he finally added some rock from a very established system and things turned around soon after. It could have been something else but again, good rock isn't going to hurt.
Easy on the white LED power.

Seeded rock helps but an established tank is essential as it will be stable and with nutrients. Stability and proper chemistry, water flow and lighting are minimal requirements for successful SPS husbandry

 

[Neoalchemist]

50% blues is too low. Especially over a big tank. I have a 34g display and have my blues over 100%.

I’d max them out, well over 100%, and set acclimation for 1 month and 50% reduction.

I was thinking the same but didn't want to recommend it because I'm running sbreef lights not hydras. A pair of the 16" pro's only about 8" above the water 90% blues 35% mixed white and am considering cranking the blues up more and they I believe are 250 watts each,

 

[happyhourhero]

I am going to suggest a different route than most. Have you ever considered going with saturated limewater for your alk and cal dosing? The ph boost it provides is a game changer in a lot of cases and has always made growing sps easier for me. I’ll leave the light tinkering suggestions to the others.

 

[Phillyd1990]

Sounds like you're using whites? To what level of brightness?
I and many I know utilize high Blues and low whites( I run 95% Blue, 32% white, 65% red and 36% green( and my water movement is moderate- Not blasting plus a gyre unit in the center at Pulse mode and two wavemakers staggered. Not saying this is the setting you want as every system differs But high light and flow can be an issue to SPS.

Yes I use whites but only at %10. As for flow I have a gyre 230 on each side. Sometimes I'm worried I have to much flow but others say you cant have enough. As for stability my params have all been the same for quite a bit now. I test alk every day and it never fluctuates which is why I feel like it has to be something besides whatever chemistry.

I'd add some good established rock from somewhere if you can. It won't hurt and likely will help. I have a good friend that has kept many successful tanks with SPS. His latest he started with dry rock and LEDs. Lots of problems, some due to LED but he finally added some rock from a very established system and things turned around soon after. It could have been something else but again, good rock isn't going to hurt.
Easy on the white LED power.

I've been wanting to add some rock but have had trouble finding someone with a well established tank to let me use some rock

I am going to suggest a different route than most. Have you ever considered going with saturated limewater for your alk and cal dosing? The ph boost it provides is a game changer in a lot of cases and has always made growing sps easier for me. I’ll leave the light tinkering suggestions to the others.

I started a while back putting kale in my top off but all was always too high even with a small dose per gal.

 

[TexasTodd]

I've used Kalk in every sps system I've setup. I use it first, then add dosing or CARX when Kalk can't keep up with needs. Cornerstone in my book.

 

[Phillyd1990]

I've used Kalk in every sps system I've setup. I use it first, then add dosing or CARX when Kalk can't keep up with needs. Cornerstone in my book.

I have a ton of kalk..do you use in your top off or do you drip it in?

 

[Robinson]

Hello,

I saw the your PH is 8.1 and that's good, but how you test this? Also how munch your temperature fluctuated during the day?
Asking this because I was in the same situation like you when I had my nano tank, constant low PH (7.5 to 7.9) was not allowing me to grow practically anything. I figured out after adding an Apex controller. Also a lot of corals dying because RTN, and also with the controller I was able to see that the temperature was fluctuating 3 to 4 degree daily. CO2 scrubber and better control of the temperature and the RTN stopped and growing started. Im not saying that this is your case and that you have to chase numbers with the PH, I dont recommend that. But having a higher PH and constant temperature was a key factor to me. Also as others have suggest, If you started with only dry rock, adding some quality live rock will help with the maturity of the tank. Good luck

 

[happyhourhero]

You should be able to go with a half teaspoon or less for a while and as your demand increases, add more kalk per gallon. It maxes out at 2 tsp per gallon of RO unless you bring vinegar into the mix but then you are carbon dosing which has its own effects.

 

[madweazl]

I'd suggest dropping PAR significantly (like 200 PAR total vs 290) and observe for a while (e.g. two weeks). Dont mess with the individual channels for coloration, leave it be and just change total intensity.

 

[Reeferdood]

I would pull the marine pure block since I have had horrible luck with them. I believe they leach aluminum and or other metals, after removing from my system everything turned for the better. I would also bump up the magnesium to @1400, your montiporas will love you for it.

 

[TexasTodd]

Currently Kalk via ATO but only because I've not figured out which pump I want to use for a 24/7 drip, which is the best. The pump I've used in the past is no longer made. I agree with lowering your light intensity and see. They're not going to die from going down some on lights.

 

[Phillyd1990]

Hello,

I saw the your PH is 8.1 and that's good, but how you test this? Also how munch your temperature fluctuated during the day?
Asking this because I was in the same situation like you when I had my nano tank, constant low PH (7.5 to 7.9) was not allowing me to grow practically anything. I figured out after adding an Apex controller. Also a lot of corals dying because RTN, and also with the controller I was able to see that the temperature was fluctuating 3 to 4 degree daily. CO2 scrubber and better control of the temperature and the RTN stopped and growing started. Im not saying that this is your case and that you have to chase numbers with the PH, I dont recommend that. But having a higher PH and constant temperature was a key factor to me. Also as others have suggest, If you started with only dry rock, adding some quality live rock will help with the maturity of the tank. Good luck

I've been keeping track of my ph and temp with apex. Ph probe calibrated again after 3 months. Temp is always the same. I recently (2 weeks ago) stopped using a scrubber. Had it going for 4 months and always kept my ph between 8.2 (night) and 8.3 (day). I took it down because it cost a fortune to get media and my sps were still dying

I'd suggest dropping PAR significantly (like 200 PAR total vs 290) and observe for a while (e.g. two weeks). Dont mess with the individual channels for coloration, leave it be and just change total intensity.

I actually did this for a while..back when. All these problems began 7 or so months ago I thought I was burning everything so I turned it way down and then added the t5 fixture. A little while later I got a seneye and saw my par was 190 on top rocks. Over the past couple 8 weeks I've been increasing them very slightly

I would pull the marine pure block since I have had horrible luck with them. I believe they leach aluminum and or other metals, after removing from my system everything turned for the better. I would also bump up the magnesium to @1400, your montiporas will love you for it.

Your the 3rd person to suggest this. Honestly I don't even know if it's doing any good so I will be removing it I just don't want to cause and sudden changes in the system. As for mag I actually dosed a little last night. I'd like to keep it above 1400 but I need to test it every weeks so I can figure out how to keep it steady. It usually sits at 1380

 

[vetteguy53081]

I've been keeping track of my ph and temp with apex. Ph probe calibrated again after 3 months. Temp is always the same. I recently (2 weeks ago) stopped using a scrubber. Had it going for 4 months and always kept my ph between 8.2 (night) and 8.3 (day). I took it down because it cost a fortune to get media and my sps were still dying

I actually did this for a while..back when. All these problems began 7 or so months ago I thought I was burning everything so I turned it way down and then added the t5 fixture. A little while later I got a seneye and saw my par was 190 on top rocks. Over the past couple 8 weeks I've been increasing them very slightly

Your the 3rd person to suggest this. Honestly I don't even know if it's doing any good so I will be removing it I just don't want to cause and sudden changes in the system. As for mag I actually dosed a little last night. I'd like to keep it above 1400 but I need to test it every weeks so I can figure out how to keep it steady. It usually sits at 1380

AGREED ON THE MAG. BUT. . . . bump it up gradually

 

[maroun.c]

I was in the same boat for 4 years on a much larger system and changed a million thing and nothing worked for years till one day things just fell into place and corals started thriving... some comments about what was discussed:
-Low par does kill coals or makes them brown out and look ugly but not in the described 2 weeks (funny 12-14 days was the time for all my new corals to die)
-High light kills corals especially with LEDs but that is a rather easy issue to see as you get bleached colors especially on the top part before they RTN...
-water changes help or hurt based on whether your issue is in the water (checkout some threads on chloramines) I sent my water to a lab here as at the time there was not Triton testing.... had a tiny bit of chloramines but that wasn't the cause.
-anything coming in the new water is a big issue and your main issue is top off where you evaporate distilled water and add water that has something so water changes might still be better than not.
I would make sure the RODI is in perfect condition, Change all pre filters especially Carbon and if your RO is pushing higher TDS then maybe replace the membrane and check that it's a zero after the DI or replace the DI.
-cross check your tests with another quality testkit at least ones not checked by Triton.
-Do you dip your corals on arrival? might be that the dip is too aggressive?
-I would get a few frags from a friend or a store that have been fragged weeks back and properly healed this way you make sure they're not struggling from fragging and also that shipping stress is minimal.
start them up low on sand level or decrease your lights down to 30-40 white and blue (yes blue does give a lot of par that our eyes don't perceive much) frags might brown out a bit but that' s not a big issue. 2 weeks after getting the frags, raise them up slowly to their final position (around mid tank for now) and raise your lights intensity 5-10 percent every 10 days while observing them for light stress.
hope you get it solved.

 

[Phillyd1990]

I was in the same boat for 4 years on a much larger system and changed a million thing and nothing worked for years till one day things just fell into place and corals started thriving... some comments about what was discussed:
-Low par does kill coals or makes them brown out and look ugly but not in the described 2 weeks (funny 12-14 days was the time for all my new corals to die)
-High light kills corals especially with LEDs but that is a rather easy issue to see as you get bleached colors especially on the top part before they RTN...
-water changes help or hurt based on whether your issue is in the water (checkout some threads on chloramines) I sent my water to a lab here as at the time there was not Triton testing.... had a tiny bit of chloramines but that wasn't the cause.
-anything coming in the new water is a big issue and your main issue is top off where you evaporate distilled water and add water that has something so water changes might still be better than not.
I would make sure the RODI is in perfect condition, Change all pre filters especially Carbon and if your RO is pushing higher TDS then maybe replace the membrane and check that it's a zero after the DI or replace the DI.
-cross check your tests with another quality testkit at least ones not checked by Triton.
-Do you dip your corals on arrival? might be that the dip is too aggressive?
-I would get a few frags from a friend or a store that have been fragged weeks back and properly healed this way you make sure they're not struggling from fragging and also that shipping stress is minimal.
start them up low on sand level or decrease your lights down to 30-40 white and blue (yes blue does give a lot of par that our eyes don't perceive much) frags might brown out a bit but that' s not a big issue. 2 weeks after getting the frags, raise them up slowly to their final position (around mid tank for now) and raise your lights intensity 5-10 percent every 10 days while observing them for light stress.
hope you get it solved.

I'm usually pretty good at changing out my filters on my rodi..every 4 months. I just did recently a little over a month ago. I have a TDS meter in line with my system and it only reads 10 coming in and 0 coming out. I've always wondered how accurate it is. Not sure about the chloramines. I change the filter for that quite often as well. It's a 4 stage unit with an extra resin added in. As for the lights I was just saying that I had them low for quite a while. Like %30 low since I thought that was the issue at first but it never helped which Is why i recently started increasing them little by little. I also do dip my corals using revive with the recommended amount. Not sure if that's causing an issue. The weird thing is as I was saying earlier in the thread I have a monti cap that a while back double in size and after 2 months of growth it turned white in th middle and grew algae..but now is growing again in a few spots. Acros are still dying though

 

[Robinson]

I've been keeping track of my ph and temp with apex. Ph probe calibrated again after 3 months. Temp is always the same. I recently (2 weeks ago) stopped using a scrubber. Had it going for 4 months and always kept my ph between 8.2 (night) and 8.3 (day). I took it down because it cost a fortune to get media and my sps were still dying

Stray voltage? everything looks good, hard to know what is your problem. Good luck