Cant Keep SPS or LPS Alive! Help!

jsbzcmcdaniel · Feb 28, 2020

Guys - need some advice. I can’t figure out why I can’t keep LPS or SPS coral alive.
Below are the details on my system.
Waterbox 130.4
Bare Bottom
ATI 8x54 Sunpower
2 SB Reef SB Actinic fixtures
4 MP40’s
Nyos 160 Skimmer
Klir Fleece Roller
Neptune APEX
Neptune Trident
Coral box Dosing pump
Using ESV 2 Part
7 Stage RODI producing 0 TDS
Red Sea Blue Bucket
Current water parameters
Salinity 1.025
Temp 78.5
ALK - 7.1
Calcium - 450
MAG - 1200
PO4 .23 Hanna Phosphorus LR
NO3- 5 Red Sea Pro Test
The tanks been up and running for 17 months. Early on I struggled with cyano and various algae so 12 months ago I went bare bottom. The SPS were dull and not really growing so I started dosing nitrates and phosphates. I had roughly 30 SPS frags that we’re doing great with decent color, growth, and PE. About two months ago I started to see a drastic change in PE and shortly after I started losing color and then death. I really don’t understand what’s going on besides higher than optimal PO4.
I dip all coral entering the tank with Bayer. I used a microscope on some of the frags I was losing and could not find any unwanted pests.
I just sent in another ICP test yesterday so I should see if anything odd shows up. Previous tests didn’t show much that I would attribute to my issues.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Pdash · Feb 28, 2020

Hard to say, pictures of tank and corals might help though. Do you have logs of water test results?

jsbzcmcdaniel · Feb 28, 2020

Here is a link to the last test in November. ATI reported my salinity at 30.87 but thats impossible! I test with a refractometer, APEX, and Hanna Digital tester.

ATI Aquaristik Lab

lab.atiaquaristik.com

Pdash · Feb 28, 2020

jsbzcmcdaniel said:
Here is a link to the last test in November. ATI reported my salinity at 30.87 but thats impossible! I test with a refractometer, APEX, and Hanna Digital tester.

ATI Aquaristik Lab

lab.atiaquaristik.com

Have you calibrated lately and bought new calibration solutions? I wouldn't trust the apex much, just the other two.

jsbzcmcdaniel · Feb 28, 2020

The hanna tester is 3 months old and calibrated. It matches the refractometer to the T. I will check again

Softhammer · Feb 28, 2020

Take all that equipment, throw it in the trash and then give sps a shot again. Has worked for me since day one. It isn’t needed.

jsbzcmcdaniel · Feb 28, 2020

Softhammer said:
Take all that equipment, throw it in the trash and then give sps a shot again. Has worked for me since day one. It isn’t needed.

Well thats no fun! LOL

jsbzcmcdaniel · Feb 28, 2020

jsbzcmcdaniel said:
The hanna tester is 3 months old and calibrated. It matches the refractometer to the T. I will check again

Recalibrated the refractometer and hanna tester and both read 1.025. Worth a shot but not it

ycnibrc · Feb 28, 2020

Do u start with dry rock only and do ok for a year then start declining? If it is then read this thread

Why cant u keep sps?

Water change is a way to export nutrients? Yes but it also change your alk and others parameters. A bad bag of salt can crash your tank easy.

www.reef2reef.com

Hemmdog · Feb 28, 2020

Mag is low

svogun · Feb 28, 2020

Parameters look pretty good. Alk is a little low for my taste and mag needs to come up. Interested to see what the ICP test shows.

Nicholas Dushynsky · Feb 28, 2020

Just a couple thoughts, 1 Have you checked the magnets on the mp40s as I hear the wet side the rears can get compromised and split, 2 stray voltage?

C. Eymann · Feb 28, 2020

Have you tested alk, cal and mag with a test kit? like Salifert/Redsea?

I wouldn't trust Trident results without regularly comparing them with standard kits.

I agree with @Softhammer , go back to the basics.

jsbzcmcdaniel · Feb 28, 2020

ycnibrc said:
Do u start with dry rock only and do ok for a year then start declining? If it is then read this thread

Why cant u keep sps?

Water change is a way to export nutrients? Yes but it also change your alk and others parameters. A bad bag of salt can crash your tank easy.

www.reef2reef.com

I did....I have no added any bottled bacteria only a cycle with raw shrimp. Interesting.....I will need to read this. Thanks

jsbzcmcdaniel · Feb 28, 2020

Nicholas Dushynsky said:
Just a couple thoughts, 1 Have you checked the magnets on the mp40s as I hear the wet side the rears can get compromised and split, 2 stray voltage?

I clean the wet side monthly but thats about it. I will need to look into that

jsbzcmcdaniel · Feb 28, 2020

C. Eymann said:
Have you tested alk, cal and mag with a test kit? like Salifert/Redsea?

I wouldn't trust Trident results without regularly comparing them with standard kits.

I agree with @Softhammer , go back to the basics.

I do test using the manual test kits every two months to confirm the readings are accurate. So far they have been pretty dead spot on.

Nicholas Dushynsky · Feb 28, 2020

jsbzcmcdaniel said:
I clean the wet side monthly but thats about it. I will need to look into that

What do you clean it with?

Pdash · Feb 28, 2020

jsbzcmcdaniel said:
I clean the wet side monthly but thats about it. I will need to look into that

If you clean with vinegar I'd suspect rusty magnets.

Nicholas Dushynsky · Feb 28, 2020

Pdash said:
If you clean with vinegar I'd suspect rusty magnets.

This was my thinking.

SuncrestReef · Feb 28, 2020

If you run out of things to check, you might consider sending in a sample of your water for microbiome testing. I've had my tank tested a couple times and the results are fascinating. The sample is analyzed for populations of bacteria strains, including known coral and fish pathogens. I lost a couple of chromis and anthias for unknown reasons, until I saw the test results showing my water contained a certain strain of Photobacterium damselae which can kill these fish.

See https://aquabiomics.com/

And this thread has more details about it: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ong-testing-for-microbes-in-our-tanks.656595/