Any reason EcoBalance from Dr.Tims would bleach SPS?

[Mateusz]

So after using EcoBalance (1/4 dose) from Dr.Tim my SPS frag tank decided to take a nose dive. The SPS didn't RTN per say. It took until about the end of day 2 to see negative effects. Setosa, Walt Disney, Orange Passions, PC Rainbow, all my tenius, slowly began to peel away or had this brown jelly encompass them, and it proceeded like that for multiple days. At this point what is left alive is some completely white bleached Rainbow Montis and a few other random pieces. Softies, LPS, etc. are completely uneffected in my other system, but SPS is cooked like a boat.

Monitoring alk, phos, nitrates, etc. the only change I had was the phosphates going from .10 to .25 which I then reduced back down with Lanthanum Chloride, but i've never had an issue with SPS even at .25.... nor have I seen SPS get encompassed by a brown jelly.

My system is stable currently at:

Alk 7.8
Nitrates 8
Phos .15
No detectable ammonia or nitrite which I did whip out an API test kit just to confirm since it's all i've got for those two, not something I would regularly test for, but it came back negative.....

At this point it's my 5th dose of Ecobalance and although the SPS has totally cooked itself at this point, what remains seems to be holding onto life or perhaps slowly recovering. I'm curious if anyone would know why SPS responded so negatively to the Ecobalance dose? I've been sticking with the 1/4 recommended dosage for 5 weeks now and just would love to know what in the heck happened that my SPS bombed itself in such a way when as far as detectable stuff nothing changed.... Could it be some kind of bacteria die off, replacement, something I need to just suck up and deal with the losses for things to get perfect in the long term?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Luis1992]

I’ve need doing dr Tim’s in my mixed reef for about 3 weeks now and haven’t noticed any issues with my sps what so ever. I’m currently doing 2/3 the recommended dose. Possible bacteria die off is the only thing I could think of.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'd be surprised if there was a direct cause and effect from the Ecobalance.

 

[Mateusz]

I'd be surprised if there was a direct cause and effect from the Ecobalance.

2 days after adding it, immediately downhill. I've added nothing else at all. I keep it simple, no coral foods, just frozen for the fish and thats it, checking all levels everything remained consistent except phosphates raising slowly. Couldn't see how 4-5" colones could go from healthy to slow death when before they were colored up brightly.

I'm not blaming what is in Dr.Tims product at all, i'm more curious what is going on here or maybe changing in the biome if there is something...

 

[Mateusz]

I’ve need doing dr Tim’s in my mixed reef for about 3 weeks now and haven’t noticed any issues with my sps what so ever. I’m currently doing 2/3 the recommended dose. Possible bacteria die off is the only thing I could think of.

Thats the only thing I could think of, some sort of change or battle going on I got no idea lol

 

[chicago]

Sorry to hear.. keep us posted.. question.. why did you decide to add in the first place?

 

[Mateusz]

Sorry to hear.. keep us posted.. question.. why did you decide to add in the first place?

Mushroom corals are 50/50 some melt some live... SPS never has gotten alot of color, i've tried all the other things on the market and nothing has worked over like 3 years... Some of the SPS appears to be turning around, the stuff that didn't totally die.... So I guess we shall see. I've been continuing the dosing of Dr.Tims and whatever bad nonsense was happening seems to be possibly done with. I would love to know what the heck was going on though.

 

[Mateusz]

Not very many reviews of information you can find on Dr.Tims products for some reason. Find way more stories about Vibrant destroying tanks lol.

 

[chicago]

I am having a similar issue.. but not sure if it is Dr. Tim or just issues with adding in these types of products. I had a tank for decades that never had issues like I have now.. The issues back then were Ick and a tank wipe out event.. Now with all these newer additives and products.. seems like when I do add them I have some type of issue .. be it STN or Cyno, Brown jelly.. ect... my older tank with a remote DSB rocked for a decades.. then I messed with it.. and down hill from there... again just my 2 cents.. i think there is a place for these products.. but in the end.. I am going back to old school. feed .. feed the fish.... and go slow...

 

[Spare time]

I doubt its the eco balance. It is essentially a bottle of mixed bacillus bacteria that live in the water column and what not. It is easy to fall into the correlation causation issue in this hobby so I would keep that in mind. I have dumped a few bottles of eco balance in my mixed reef with no problems.

 

[Mateusz]

I doubt its the eco balance. It is essentially a bottle of mixed bacillus bacteria that live in the water column and what not. It is easy to fall into the correlation causation issue in this hobby so I would keep that in mind. I have dumped a few bottles of eco balance in my mixed reef with no problems.

Sure except all my SPS colonies were fine until the day after I dosed EcoBalance. After that, hell broke loose slowly. It's been over 2 months now, and things finally seem to be getting better. So whatever is in EcoBalance didn't like whatever is in my water.

I can believe it's a mix of bacillus, but without sending in a sample of the stuff there is no way to know. When I tried Vibrant a long time ago it nearly sent my entire tank to the stone age. Every coral was affected and I had to just do a 100% water change to resolve the issue.

I'm not blaming what's in the product, i'm just trying to figure out how I can resolve my issue of poor coloration. I give SPS frags to friends with the same lights, same general parameters, same salt mix, etc. and their gets loads of colors. Mine on the other hand, just like to stay green. Makes no sense why this is, or even why a bacteria would cause the SPS to brown jelly.

 

[Tuffloud1]

Sure except all my SPS colonies were fine until the day after I dosed EcoBalance. After that, hell broke loose slowly. It's been over 2 months now, and things finally seem to be getting better. So whatever is in EcoBalance didn't like whatever is in my water.

I can believe it's a mix of bacillus, but without sending in a sample of the stuff there is no way to know. When I tried Vibrant a long time ago it nearly sent my entire tank to the stone age. Every coral was affected and I had to just do a 100% water change to resolve the issue.

I'm not blaming what's in the product, i'm just trying to figure out how I can resolve my issue of poor coloration. I give SPS frags to friends with the same lights, same general parameters, same salt mix, etc. and their gets loads of colors. Mine on the other hand, just like to stay green. Makes no sense why this is, or even why a bacteria would cause the SPS to brown jelly.

Any updates? Did you figure out what may have been the issue?

 

[spicymikey]

Seems like a coincidence. If any bacteria in there was that "toxic" to the corals it wouldn't have taken 2 days to show such dramatic effects. "Brown jelly" you say? Sounds like Brown Jelly Disease from that one clue. Its a disease that seems to be caused by a protozoan and becomes an infection that spreads. Just look it up and learn how to spot and treat it. Can effect almost any coral but SPS are more sensitive. Be careful, it can jump from one coral to the next and do serious damage. Best thing to do when you see that starting is to immediately remove the coral and quarantine it. Regardless, its usually too late at that point and it will spread across the entire Coral in a day or two. If the Coral is one that can be fragged, then do it to save the healthy sections. I lost most of beautiful large Birdsnest that way. Only was able to save a small section before it spread