Anyone else lose corals this way?

[A Toadstool Leather]

Whenever I lose a coral a single coral dies off while the rest of them continue to do fine. This usually tends to happen to me even when my water parameters are all correct. Is this a common issue in reef tanks?

 

[AdamNC]

Not common but it does happen.

 

[mcarroll]

It's correlated to something though, even if you can't see what it is. Corals don't die for no reason.

Flow is the most transparent parameter, so I'd consider unseen changes to flow as the #1 suspect.

Something upstream that blocked flow most likely: maybe one or more corals growing out or that have been added, maybe even a pump problem or delayed maintenance just reducing overall flow. This throws all borderline flow areas into problem status if it happens. And it's not easy to see – we're not talking about a dead zone of no flow. Just where flow has gone from adequate to inadequate.

Other things can happen too.

Maintaining a low-nutrient system might make this more likely as you end up messing with the coral's phosphate supply.

Borderline flow combined with borderline nutrient availability gives you a potential for problems like this. Most folks aren't thinking too much about phosphate requirements these days just "nutrient eradication"....that can be tough on corals, especially in some circumstances.

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

It's correlated to something though, even if you can't see what it is. Corals don't die for no reason.

Flow is the most transparent parameter, so I'd consider unseen changes to flow as the #1 suspect.

Something upstream that blocked flow most likely: maybe one or more corals growing out or that have been added, maybe even a pump problem or delayed maintenance just reducing overall flow. This throws all borderline flow areas into problem status if it happens. And it's not easy to see – we're not talking about a dead zone of no flow. Just where flow has gone from adequate to inadequate.

Other things can happen too.

Maintaining a low-nutrient system might make this more likely as you end up messing with the coral's phosphate supply.

Borderline flow combined with borderline nutrient availability gives you a potential for problems like this. Most folks aren't thinking too much about phosphate requirements these days just "nutrient eradication"....that can be tough on corals, especially in some circumstances.

The point you made about flow is a great point since flow is essential to bringing nutrients to corals. There has been some more algae growth in my tank, perhaps they are getting access to the phosphate first. Im going to test my phosphate later since I have had issues with 0 ppm readings in the past.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Is it common? I can't say. It has happened to me on occasion.

There was a poll here a few days ago about how much you've lost monetarily in fish and coral. I fell into the $1000 to $2500 range and I was only marginally surprised to find that was the biggest group. It's a reef and stuff dies on the reef, so we shouldn't be surprised it happens in our tanks.

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

Is it common? I can't say. It has happened to me on occasion.

There was a poll here a few days ago about how much you've lost monetarily in fish and coral. I fell into the $1000 to $2500 range and I was only marginally surprised to find that was the biggest group. It's a reef and stuff dies on the reef, so we shouldn't be surprised it happens in our tanks.

As bad as it sounds at least people dont lose that much in fish. Corals are easy to propagate in captivity compared to any fish.

 

[Ron Reefman]

As bad as it sounds at least people dont lose that much in fish. Corals are easy to propagate in captivity compared to any fish.

I agree. And in 15 years in this hobby, I've probably sold as much or more in coral (mostly) as I have lost in corals that have died in my tanks.