Corals are not doing so great, need help!

[PegasisR]

For a few months give or take my corals have not been doing so well... My parameters have been good (find that below) but for some reason my corals have been taking a turn for the worse.

Things ive changed recently:

removed all marine pure at once(leeching aluminum and doing water changes to take that out but i only had one slate of it)

started to feed every other day instead of daily (only feeding dry instead of mix of dry and frozen but started feeding frozen/dry again yesterday)

Cleaned out my sump fully that hadn't been touched for 2 years

Cleaned skimmer entirely(body mainly, the cup is taken out when its full) hadn't been touched for half a year

Changed light schedule (acclimating currently)

Increased flow (minuscule increase)

Cleaned sand bed(Cleaned it out well and made sure any sand bed gunk didn't get into the water column)

Had some polyfilter in to takeout the aluminum(Dont think that worked as the polyfilter didnt change to red)


Thats all ive done recently from what i remember


Parameters before these changes mainly nitrate and phos, dont remember alk, calc, and mg numbers

Nitrate: 5ppm
phos: 0.25ppm

Now

Alk: 8.6-8.7
Calc: 500
Mg: 1313
Nitrate: 2ppm
Phos: 0.03

What can i do to rebound and get my corals open and not lose any other corals?

Edit*
Forgot to mention my rodi unit is 7months old and ive got a flush kit on it but my di resin is brown and still producing 0tds water and there is a little bit of gha and cyano and a little bit of red hair(infant stages) aswell as algae growing on the coral

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Have you tried a Triton water test or similar? It might reveal other levels of trace or related that might be giving you problems as well. Just a thought.

 

[PegasisR]

Have you tried a Triton water test or similar? It might reveal other levels of trace or related that might be giving you problems as well. Just a thought.

Yes i have! I had one sent in about 3weeks -1month ago and everything came back fine except for aluminum but definitely will send another one out soon

 

[BeejReef]

Seems like you've done some good work on your tank.

Did you begin all of this cleaning because your corals weren't performing as you hoped, or do you think your corals are reacting to the changes you've made.

If they were fading and your maintenance hasn't improved their condition, you have a bit of a mystery on your hands.
If you've just been having problems since the changes you've implemented, they could just be adjusting to their new cleaner (but also lower nutrient) environment.

Also, what kind of corals do you mainly keep. Your new parameters are real close to "ultra low." Not everyone likes that.

 

[PegasisR]

Seems like you've done some good work on your tank.

Did you begin all of this cleaning because your corals weren't performing as you hoped, or do you think your corals are reacting to the changes you've made.

If they were fading and your maintenance hasn't improved their condition, you have a bit of a mystery on your hands.
If you've just been having problems since the changes you've implemented, they could just be adjusting to their new cleaner (but also lower nutrient) environment.

Also, what kind of corals do you mainly keep. Your new parameters are real close to "ultra low." Not everyone likes that.

Thank you Well most of the things listed needed a cleaning anyways and i did that after taking out the marine pure. But Im not sure whats going on... and as you said the maintenance ive done should improve the corals health but i lost a torch coral and acan since and one flower pot. I have a scoly and 3 mushrooms in my tank and 1 aussie gold torch. The scoly is irritated but not closed and the mushrooms have been in a stint aswell but they are okay for the most part and the scoly, mushrooms and even gold torch(retaining colour even when closed) are retaining their colour aswell. same here i dont like the ULN parameter i have would love to see my nitrate at 5ppm and phos at 0.10ppm

Also forgot to add that i have gha on the rock, red hair algae is coming in slowly aswell as some cyano and the gha seems to be growing on the corals skeletons...

 

[Edp251]

Went thru something similar recently and turned out to be by RODI was putting out water at well above 0 TDS. I had never checked it. i just assumed a 5-stage filter would work. Stopped using my own water and did several 20% water changes with purchased steam-distilled water while i sorted out my RODI. tank has truly never looked better. Not sure if this will help but Best of luck!

 

[PegasisR]

Went thru something similar recently and turned out to be by RODI was putting out water at well above 0 TDS. I had never checked it. i just assumed a 5-stage filter would work. Stopped using my own water and did several 20% water changes with purchased steam-distilled water while i sorted out my RODI. tank has truly never looked better. Not sure if this will help but Best of luck!

Ill definitely try that! I did happen to keep the flush valve on recently aswell but correct me if im wrong... i dont think that would do anything since its flushing out the waste water. But its weird too since my RO system is only 7months old

 

[Edp251]

Ill definitely try that! I did happen to keep the flush valve on recently aswell but i dont think that would do anything since its flushing out the waste water. But its weird too since my RO system is only 7months old

Mine was very new as well. Well under a year old which is why I had not checked it. Good luck!

 

[PegasisR]

Mine was very new as well. Well under a year old which is why I had not checked it. Good luck!

What did you change out on your RO system? Everything?

 

[Edp251]

What did you change out on your RO system? Everything?

Eventually, yes but not initially. Soon as I suspected my RODI, I received some great advice from my local coral shop. He suggested i go get Walmart steam-distilled water, make up some salt and do the 20% changes. When that solved my issue, only then did i upgrade to a 7-stage RODI. Great advice that allowed me to see my tank improve almost instantly without a major purchase that may not have solved the issue

FYI - I am in MA and Dong at AcroGarden in Concord, MA is the best!

 

[PegasisR]

Eventually, yes but not initially. Soon as I suspected my RODI, I received some great advice from my local coral shop. He suggested i go get Walmart steam-distilled water, make up some salt and do the 20% changes. When that solved my issue, only then did i upgrade to a 7-stage RODI. Great advice that allowed me to see my tank improve almost instantly without a major purchase that may not have solved the issue

FYI - I am in MA and Dong at AcroGarden in Concord, MA is the best!

Okay Ill do exactly as you did and you did 7 of those water changes with the water from walmart before things changed?

 

[Edp251]

Okay Ill do exactly as you did and you did 7 of those water changes with the water from walmart before things changed?

Nope. sorry. i did 3 total water 20% changes over a one week period. I saw results, improved polyp extension, the morning after the first 20% water change. I was extra careful on matching salinity, temp and parameters as i was changing so much water over a short period of time.

Maybe get enough steam distilled water for 1-2 20% changes and see if it helps.

I eventually replaced my 5-stage RODI with a 7 stage RODI. My tap water is 320 TDS! The 5-stage was putting out ~30 TDS when I first tested it. After changing all my media/filters/resin and flushing properly, the best the 5-stage could do was ~6 TDS which is not really bad considering the 300+ TDS going in...

This is when I decided to upgrade to a 7-stage.

Good luck!

 

[PegasisR]

Nope. sorry. i did 3 total water 20% changes over a one week period. I saw results, improved polyp extension, the morning after the first 20% water change. I was extra careful on matching salinity, temp and parameters as i was changing so much water over a short period of time.

Maybe get enough steam distilled water for 1-2 20% changes and see if it helps.

I eventually replaced my 5-stage RODI with a 7 stage RODI. My tap water is 320 TDS! The 5-stage was putting out ~30 TDS when I first tested it. After changing all my media/filters/resin and flushing properly, the best the 5-stage could do was ~6 TDS which is not really bad considering the 300+ TDS going in...

This is when I decided to upgrade to a 7-stage.

Good luck!

Thank you Ill follow exactly

 

[PegasisR]

Nope. sorry. i did 3 total water 20% changes over a one week period. I saw results, improved polyp extension, the morning after the first 20% water change. I was extra careful on matching salinity, temp and parameters as i was changing so much water over a short period of time.

Maybe get enough steam distilled water for 1-2 20% changes and see if it helps.

I eventually replaced my 5-stage RODI with a 7 stage RODI. My tap water is 320 TDS! The 5-stage was putting out ~30 TDS when I first tested it. After changing all my media/filters/resin and flushing properly, the best the 5-stage could do was ~6 TDS which is not really bad considering the 300+ TDS going in...

This is when I decided to upgrade to a 7-stage.

Good luck!

Also any specific brand of steam distilled water?

 

[FacebookJail]

Cleaning sand bed is the only thing that seems like a potential problem (aside from maybe calcium being 80ppm too high)

I know a lot of people have had success doing it but when I had a sandbed and tried I had very detrimental effects. Ich outbreak as well as several acropora colonies RTN'd and upset corals all around.

 

[PegasisR]

Cleaning sand bed is the only thing that seems like a potential problem (aside from maybe calcium being 80ppm too high)

I know a lot of people have had success doing it but when I had a sandbed and tried I had very detrimental effects. Ich outbreak as well as several acropora colonies RTN'd and upset corals all around.

Okay then if that was the problem what could i do? Wait it out? Tank is only 2 years old for reference

 

[PegasisR]

Cleaning sand bed is the only thing that seems like a potential problem (aside from maybe calcium being 80ppm too high)

I know a lot of people have had success doing it but when I had a sandbed and tried I had very detrimental effects. Ich outbreak as well as several acropora colonies RTN'd and upset corals all around.

but also if the sand bed did have an issue wouldnt my nitrates be higher?

 

[smartwater101]

When you say "changed recently" how recently do you mean? Nothing you're doing seems crazy but if its all within the span of a few weeks the system doesn't have time to adjust and its putting more stress on everything.

I'd say change out your RODI, or at least the pad and carbon filter. (Certainly can't hurt) and start cleaning your sump out a couple times a year. As for siphoning the sandbed... this is a MUST! Sure, some people "get away" without touching it, but its an absolute ticking time-bomb. Our little boxes of captivity can't sustain a clean-up-crew large enough to take care of it all. And if left too long, will cause major issues when stirred up. Simply make a bit of sand-siphoning a part of your water change routine.

Parameters seem okay. (maybe up your nutrients a bit if you're running alk closer to 9?) Also, you mentioned aluminum in your Triton test, get another one out ASAP in case you need to use DETOX to curb that. (And of course search for any metal pieces that may have accidentally ended up in the water.)

Overall, it seems like you're doing some great maintenance! I'd just say, remember to take it slow.

 

[PegasisR]

When you say "changed recently" how recently do you mean? Nothing you're doing seems crazy but if its all within the span of a few weeks the system doesn't have time to adjust and its putting more stress on everything.

I'd say change out your RODI, or at least the pad and carbon filter. (Certainly can't hurt) and start cleaning your sump out a couple times a year. As for siphoning the sandbed... this is a MUST! Sure, some people "get away" without touching it, buts its an absolute ticking time-bomb. Our little boxes of captivity can't sustain a clean-up-crew large enough to take care of it all. And if left too long, will cause major issues when stirred up. Simply make a bit of sand-siphoning a part of your water change routine.

Parameters seem okay. (maybe up your nutrients a bit if you're running alk closer to 9?) Also, you mentioned aluminum in your Triton test, get another one out ASAP in case you need to use DETOX to curb that. (And of course search for any metal pieces that may have accidentally ended up in the water.)

Overall, it seems like you're doing some great maintenance! I'd just say, remember to take it slow.

I would say over the span of weeks and some things, months or things that i know wouldn't pose a threat doing it together. And ill add that to the weekly regiment Also would feeding more be good? I feed every other day what would be the recommended action on the nutrients? Ive also got some Gha thats growing on the rocks and some skeletons of coral and red hair algae is coming in a bit mainly on the rocks

 

[smartwater101]

I would say over the span of weeks and some things, months or things that i know wouldn't pose a threat doing it together. And ill add that to the weekly regiment Also would feeding more be good? I feed every other day what would be the recommended action on the nutrients? Ive also got some Gha thats growing on the rocks and some skeletons of coral and red hair algae is coming in a bit mainly on the rocks

I definitely prefer adjusting my feeding regimen when I want to change Nitrate/Phosphate (side note: I do the same when they are too high. I really don't like carbon dosing unless they get reeeally far away from me lol. Simple things like feeding, skimmer, fuge, and water changing will keep things in line)

As for the algae, do you run a fuge/chaeto? Manually removing the algae will help the chaeto become the dominant nutrient hog. After "pulling the weeds" from time to time, it becomes so dominant it will get to the point where you won't have to worry about ugly algae growth.

Depending on how bad the algae issue is, start with removal and see if your nutrients change much. Then, yeah, up your feeding slowly, and monitor that change. If you struggle with bringing it up, you could dose Nitrate/Phosphate, but that's not something you really need to consider just yet.