Coralline algae stopped growing? Sps dying.

[Zbutcher]

Rockwork looks awesome and I like the coralline I see. Tanks been going for a while so we can rule out stability issues due to a really young tank.

I noticed you have no sand though and wonder if your tank is having issues catching up with processing uneaten food and waste. Do you have any media like marine pure blocks of sphere to make up for the BB display?

I’ll be honest, if you don’t know what is causing the issues, doing some water changes with a salt mix that mixes close to your parameters is the best option. Solves for a bunch of problems that might be going undiagnosed as well. Even if you did an ICP I’d still be doing 10% WC every few days

I have a marine pure block in the sump and aragonite in there too. Not a ton but still.

I usually did like 20 percent a week but didn't have corals at the time and my levels were off the charts high for some reason. So once I added coral I let him come back down to have my trident read the proper levels. Things were fine for a while after that.

 

[Zbutcher]

How long ago was this?

4 months ago ish?

 

[Shirak]

I haven't but ICP will tell me. How do you even being that up? My mg is 1429 pretty much all the time and it never fluctuates and I don't dose. But if coralline isn't growing that explains the lack of fluctuations

1429 or 1340? Your initial post said 1340 Mg. Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) can be used to boost Mg but if it's 1429 then should be fine there. If Mg is good then might look into potassium. But if you are doing 20% water change/week that's a lot more than typical and your tank water should be practically identical to your salt water mix.

I like the idea of confirming salinity. If it's off without realizing it, that could lead to many issues and would show as off the charts high levels of Ca, Mg, alk etc..or really low levels if it's off on the down side.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Lots of variables and changes going on. I’d start doing some WCs regularly to rule out the basics and don’t change too much else. Aim for stability.

hope your issues subside. Cool looking tank!

 

[gentlefish]

There have been some thoughts over the years that Marinepure leaches aluminum. I can not vouch, I never used it.

 

[Zbutcher]

1429 or 1340? Your initial post said 1340 Mg. Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) can be used to boost Mg but if it's 1429 then should be fine there. If Mg is good then might look into potassium. But if you are doing 20% water change/week that's a lot more than typical and your tank water should be practically identical to your salt water mix.

I like the idea of confirming salinity. If it's off without realizing it, that could lead to many issues and would show as off the charts high levels of Ca, Mg, alk etc..or really low levels if it's off on the down side.

Sorry I meant 1420 mg. I attached a screenshot.

 

[Zbutcher]

Lots of variables and changes going on. I’d start doing some WCs regularly to rule out the basics and don’t change too much else. Aim for stability.

hope your issues subside. Cool looking tank!

Thanks bud appreciate the help. I hope so too

 

[Zbutcher]

There have been some thoughts over the years that Marinepure leaches aluminum. I can not vouch, I never used it.

I mean j reckon it's possible but I have buddies who use it too and have had it longer then I have and there tanks are immaculate

 

[blasterman]

Coraline refuses to grow in my main SPS tank and yet I'm literally throwing SPS in the trash its growing so fast. Never judge tank health via coraline. It waxes and wanes.

What type of SPS RTN are we talking here? Most common cause of large scale acropora death in my experience is a sudden spike in nutrients, not a decline. Montipora is much tougher and its usually a biologic like dead turbo snail causing problems.

Declining GHA and a phosphate value of .16 doesn't make sense. With that much phosphate it would take an air strike of agent orange to kill it.

At the least I would do water changes to get phosphate in its more normal .03-.05 range and nitrate around 10 ish.

 

[Zbutcher]

Coraline refuses to grow in my main SPS tank and yet I'm literally throwing SPS in the trash its growing so fast. Never judge tank health via coraline. It waxes and wanes.

What type of SPS RTN are we talking here? Most common cause of large scale acropora death in my experience is a sudden spike in nutrients, not a decline. Montipora is much tougher and its usually a biologic like dead turbo snail causing problems.

Declining GHA and a phosphate value of .16 doesn't make sense. With that much phosphate it would take an air strike of agent orange to kill it.

At the least I would do water changes to get phosphate in its more normal .03-.05 range and nitrate around 10 ish.

I wouldn't really call it RTN quite yet. My green slimer and forest fire Digi and stellata do not have the polyp extension they used to. One of my Montis is a bit pale etc. My LPS seems fine imo. The phosphates are probably a bit higher because I cleaned my scrubber off last weekend so as it gets bigger the more it will take out the water.

 

[AutumnReefs]

So you posted in another forum you had a GHA outbreak so you dropped feeding down.. the GHA is dying off as you are running an oversize skimmer and an algae reactor. And you wonder why the coralline has stopped growing and your corals are receding. They are hungry IMO

+1 I was gonna ask what nitrate test they are using because it sounds like they might benefit from an amino acid supplement.

 

[Zbutcher]

+1 I was gonna ask what nitrate test they are using because it sounds like they might benefit from an amino acid supplement.

They are using the red sea test kits.

Sure I can get like acropower or something but even still do you really think that's what's causing the issue?