Coral and Fish EMERGENCY!

[Heavymman]

I turned off my GFO reactor to allow PO4 to build up, and started dosing Spectracide stump remover (potassium nitrate) to increase NO3 for about a week or 2. With slightly increased fish feeding the NO3 and PO4 levels were where I wanted them and remained steady. I haven't needed to dose for nitrates since, and turned the GFO reactor back on to keep PO4 from getting too high.

Thanks ! I’m only running a skimmer. Bio load is 4 fish in a 60g w/ cuc. I took the filter sock out and increased feeding to two times a day. Tank has only been established since oct 18 so I will see if I can get them up or I will be dosing the KNO3. Never did I think I would have this problem lol

 

[SeaDweller]

Definitely don't resort to using tap water, since most city water sources contain measurable amounts of chlorine.

While I don't have any answer why you're seeing sudden changes, I can say that the photos of the retracted corals look exactly like what I experienced when my phosphates and nitrates were at zero. Corals need at least some of these nutrients to be healthy. Once I got my PO4 and NO3 levels up, they've been much more extended and colorful. I now keep NO3 around 4 ppm and PO4 around 0.05 ppm.

I know his problem is resolved, but you can tell by looking at his tank his PO4 isn’t truly at 0.0 ppm as he has an abundance of GHA. The GHA is using the PO4 up, so I doubt his issue was the “lack” of PO4.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Did you add anything such as alk or mag ? What is tank temperature?
Additionally- what is your salinity reading and run some carbon if you have. This is all a start.
Now that LFS should be open - take a water sample to a trusted LFS and have them test for Ammonia, PH, salinity and phosphates to compare WITH YOUR READINGS AND VERIFY CURRENT CONDITIONS.