Can’t keep SPS alive

[ac4570]

Hi all,

I have been having issues keeping SPS alive. Pretty much all SPS going into my tank gets STN within the first month. Easier coral like Zoas always do fine. I’ve posted info on my tank, hopefully someone has an idea of the cause! Thanks.

22 gallon display with 15 gallon sump
-Tank has been running 2 years, 4 months
-Dosing tropic Marin carbocalcium
-dosing a tiny amount of brightwell aquatics phosphate - E
-Daily .6 gallon water changes
-Using protein skimmer
-PH 8.06 at night, 8.3 during the day
- temp fluctuates 77.5-78.8 throughout the day

parameters below (I used multiple tests and there is a variance between brands):
-Alk (trident) - 8.8-9 consistently
-Alk (Hannah) - 9.8
-Alk (salifert) - 9.6
-Cal (trident) - 500-520 consistently
-Cal (Salifert) - 470
-MG (trident) - 1221
-Nitrate (salifert) - 2ppm
-Phosphates (salifert) - .25ppm

 

[brahm]

Mag seems low, phosphates high. How’s your flow and lighting? Amy pictures.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Most likely the phosphates

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

what kind of sps cant you keep? Cannot really compare zoas to sps

There are a lot of easier sps such as monitora's, and some other encrusting sps's. Have you tried these and can you keep these alive?

If you're talking about Acros, they are super hard and need really perfect water paramaters

 

[SamMule]

Your mag is a little low and calcium is pretty high.
If you want to grow SPS, I recommend a Hannah Phosphate ULR tester.
.25 phosphate is fine, but the test you are using is notoriously unreliable.
Also, alk of 9.8 is not going to be very forgiving with SPS. Most of the SPS gurus seem to run it around 7-8dkh.
How much are you feeding?
Heavy in, heavy out seems to be the name of the game when it comes to SPS.

 

[ac4570]

what kind of sps cant you keep? Cannot really compare zoas to sps

There are a lot of easier sps such as monitora's, and some other encrusting sps's. Have you tried these and can you keep these alive?

If you're talking about Acros, they are super hard and need really perfect water paramaters

I have tried multiple cheaper SPS over the past year or so, I don’t have the specifics (I can reach out to my LFS on that) but I’ve tried encrusting and plating montis, and low end branching acros. All die with tissue loss.

Mag seems low, phosphates high. How’s your flow and lighting? Amy pictures.

I have tried lowering phosphates in the past, but it seemed to cause issues with other corals (acans and candy cane) so I brought it back up. I assumed Mag was acceptable since it was just below the 1250 that seems to be the recommended range, but I can dose that as well.
I can post a picture of lighting + power heads shortly. Currently running 2 ai primes and previously tested par, which seemed to be in an acceptable range (can’t remember exact numbers). I have 2 returns from the sump on the back pushing inward and a mp10 and an ai Nero 3 on each side of the tank.

Your mag is a little low and calcium is pretty high.
If you want to grow SPS, I recommend a Hannah Phosphate ULR tester.
.25 phosphate is fine, but the test you are using is notoriously unreliable.
Also, alk of 9.8 is not going to be very forgiving with SPS. Most of the SPS gurus seem to run it around 7-8dkh.
How much are you feeding?
Heavy in, heavy out seems to be the name of the game when it comes to SPS.

I am dosing the tropic Marin carbocalcium trying to keep the Alk stable at 9. Maybe I should dose for cal and Alk separately?
Planning on buying the Hannah ULR tester actually, love the Hannah checkers. Will update with results if I can get to the store after work.
I always assumed I was at 8.8-9 due to the trident (which I calibrate often) but the salifert and Hannah checker have me a little worried now. I never know which to trust. I did previously test the salifert and Hannah alkalinity tests using the trident calibration solution and they both were reading high so I assumed they were both off.

I feed twice a day, pellets during the day and rods original frozen around 6:30. I’m assuming I am not over feeding due to nitrates never rising from 2ppm.

hopefully I answered everyone’s questions! Sorry if formatting is bad as I am on mobile at the moment!

 

[ac4570]

Hopefully I am not breaking a double post rule (can’t seem to find the rules and can’t remember if that is a rule). I’ve attached some pictures of the tank and an acro. There is an aptasia in the background (don’t want to get into that mess), but none have been touching the coral when the tissue loss started.

 

[Yodeling]

Your PO4 is fine, I’ve had much more finicky acros thrive in higher ppm than that. Are you sure the aiptasia isn’t not touching them? All it would take is one sting.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

High phos maybe

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

There’s nothing wrong with your parameters. I would look at your lighting (par specifically) first…assuming your source water is good and there is no contamination going on or stray voltage. Prime 16 hds are not very powerful unless you crank up the blues, v, uv and whites. You’re robbing even more par (+20%) with those diffusers. I know bc I tried them.

 

[ac4570]

Your PO4 is fine, I’ve had much more finicky acros thrive in higher ppm than that. Are you sure the aiptasia isn’t not touching them? All it would take is one sting.

About 99% sure. The acro was originally not near any when the tissue loss started/progressed. I cut the part that was having loss from the rest, dipped them, and moved them back to the tank in different locations. There is always a slight possibility, but this issue has been happening prior to any aptasia.

There’s nothing wrong with your parameters. I would look at your lighting (par specifically) first…assuming your source water is good and there is no contamination going on or stray voltage. Prime 16 hds are not very powerful unless you crank up the blues, v, uv and whites. You’re robbing even more par (+20%) with those diffusers. I know bc I tried them.

Water should be clear. Reading 0 TDS with my RODI water. Never really thought about stray voltage but I could always purchase a grounding probe if that is a good option.

I increased my light output after putting on the diffusers, can’t remember how much (had them for a while) Attached is a pic of my current light schedule. My tank is 36”x12”’x12’”

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

12” 6g cube no diffusers

You don’t have near enough light

Looks like the necrosis is in the shade…compounded by probably too much flow on those areas as well.

 

[Reeferdeluxe]

Have you sent out your water for analysis? Your po4 should be fine.

 

[ac4570]

12” 6g cube no diffusers

You don’t have near enough light

Looks like the necrosis is in the shade…compounded by probably too much flow on those areas as well.

Wow! I did originally take par measurements over a year ago and I believe they were a decent range (my lights are 10” from the water line btw), but your SPS’s are clearly doing better than mine! Maybe it’s time to (slowly?) crank things up.

Have you sent out your water for analysis? Your po4 should be fine.

Completely forgot I did one back in September and had no idea how to interpret the results.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Move the corals to the top of the rocks

 

[ac4570]

Move the corals to the top of the rocks

Will do! The way the coral is shaped, it is causing shade over some parts of itself.. will that cause issue?

 

[ryshark]

Wow! I did originally take par measurements over a year ago and I believe they were a decent range (my lights are 10” from the water line btw), but your SPS’s are clearly doing better than mine! Maybe it’s time to (slowly?) crank things up.

Completely forgot I did one back in September and had no idea how to interpret the results.

It shows Copper in the ICP. I’m not sure if that is an acceptable amount or not.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

It shows Copper in the ICP. I’m not sure if that is an acceptable amount or not.

I’m not sure the tolerances but that’s 4x the reference value. I’ve always had a tiny bit of copper but that much could definitely be an issue.

 

[ryshark]

How do you like that one, icp-analysis vs the others you’ve tried? Similar results?

I’m not sure the tolerances but that’s 4x the reference value. I’ve always had a tiny bit of copper but that much could definitely be an issue.

 

[ac4570]

It shows Copper in the ICP. I’m not sure if that is an acceptable amount or not.

Have had 0 problems with inverts dying. Still probably worth using some cuprisorb and running another icp test.