Corals not looking good after Red Sea Reef Energy

[JCas06]

Hello,

I have been struggling with my tank overall and corals losing color and some slowly dying off like my war coral. I had low alkalinity and calcium numbers so I purchased a doser and brs 2 part which has been up and running for 4 months. Last week I purchased Red Sea Reef Energy A and B to see if it would help my corals in regaining their coloration. I dosed 6-8ml for 2 or 3 days in a row of both and then I noticed many of my corals had retracted polyps and my monti’s were bleaching around the edges and other spots on the corals. Nothing else changed during these few days or even couple weeks before other than I started dosing the Reef energy. I also started to feed my one fish (clownfish) more and also the corals through increased use of marine snow/mysis/cyclopeze mixture every couple days for the past two weeks. I had been reading forums and figured I had been starving my corals as I only had one fish and did not feed the corals hardly at all. I will include pictures and tank parameters below.
Tank is a 72 bowfront with Rubbermaid 20 gallon sump
Filter sock with carbon in it
Used to run phos guard but stopped months ago
Automatic doser for alk and cal
1 clownfish, snails, hermit crabs
5 year old tank
4 ATI bulb T5 lights
All tests are Salifert unless otherwise noted:
Alk - 9 dkh
Cal - 445
Mag - 1500
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0
Ammonia - 0.15
Ph - 7.8
Phosphate - 0
Phosphate - 0 (Hanna ULR)
Ph - 7.9 (API)
Temp: 80 degrees Fahrenheit

I use coralife salt but just got Red Sea coral pro salt in. I did a 15 gallon water change after noticing the coral problems yesterday and then a 20 gallon water change today. I stopped using reef energy after 2 or 3 days of use and noticing of coral decline.

You will notice in my pictures I do have algae on the gyre pump, in the overflow, and on the sand bed.

Notice the Duncan’s all retracted, birds nest polyps retracted, birds nest frag has 50% rtn, bleaching around edges of monti pieces.

Things I would advice on:
How are tank parameters?
Do you think reef energy is to blame for coral unhappiness?
I purchase beautiful frags and they lose color quickly? Superman monti is almost white with little polyp extension
Any other advice welcomed

I am about to transition over to a new 100 gallon tank and would like to get everything going good again.

 

[Kalibur2]

If your nutrients are truly zero then you need some nutrients in there. Even with reef energy it can take weeks. U need more fish your corals are starving. Raise nutrients slowly with some dosing potassium nitrate and phosphate or get more fish. Your alk is to high for those low nutrients. You need to be between 7-8 dkh Confused why your ammonia is that high.

 

[flowflezy]

Also go slow with changes. U mentioned a bunch of changes. Salt changed, u started using A and B 5 or 6 ml- how big is your tAnk? How big of skimmer? Also u said u started using snow and other products to spot feed the corals?
1st salt- did u check all perimeters of new saltwater before putting it in what is your salt level?
2nd the a and b will add phosphates looks like maybe phosphate or alk. Swings when I use this stuff I start to dos small and skim heavy
I had to leave socks in longer to get more nitrates to help feed The corals.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It’s always hard to judge what zero really means, but it is possible the corals need more N and P.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

My guess is that it is the ammonia in the tank that is causing the trouble. That probably got there because your bio load is so small that your bacteria filtration isn't that large. Adding that much food to the tank recently has probably started a mini cycle.

 

[Jdeleon]

id lean towards to low nutrients, I had same bleaching when mine drop down to 0, Find a source of nitrates that works for you and dose that. I use potassium nitrate (stump remover) and all my coral colored up in over 2 weeks. also that ammonia, that's odd,

 

[Jdeleon]

Also I think 6-8 ml of each A & B is to much for your 75gl specially if there hasn't been growth and consumption.

 

[JCas06]

If your nutrients are truly zero then you need some nutrients in there. Even with reef energy it can take weeks. U need more fish your corals are starving. Raise nutrients slowly with some dosing potassium nitrate and phosphate or get more fish. Your alk is to high for those low nutrients. You need to be between 7-8 dkh Confused why your ammonia is that high.

The ammonia reading was very hard to judge the color of. It could be lower I really just guessed at what I thought was the closest match on the color card it is a very poor test

 

[JCas06]

Also go slow with changes. U mentioned a bunch of changes. Salt changed, u started using A and B 5 or 6 ml- how big is your tAnk? How big of skimmer? Also u said u started using snow and other products to spot feed the corals?
1st salt- did u check all perimeters of new saltwater before putting it in what is your salt level?
2nd the a and b will add phosphates looks like maybe phosphate or alk. Swings when I use this stuff I start to dos small and skim heavy
I had to leave socks in longer to get more nitrates to help feed The corals.

The only changes I did prior to the corals having issues was to feed more and started to dose the reef energy. The coral issues happened quickly after dosing reef energy a few days in a row. No water change had been done for around 3-4 weeks prior to me noticing the corals were having problems. Only after seeing the bleaching and closed up corals did I do a 15 gallon water change with the last of my regular coralife salt and then a 20 gallon water change the next day with the new Red Sea salt. So all the problems were before water changes or change in salt mix. Also I have always fed marine snow and Cyclopes and mysis it’s just I started doing it more often the last 4 weeks or so.
I have no skimmer
Tank is 72 gallons with 10 gal in the sump

 

[JCas06]

It’s always hard to judge what zero really means, but it is possible the corals need more N and P.

Randy, what is the best way to accomplish this? Also should I try dosing the reef energy again? I am worried to say the least

 

[JCas06]

Also I think 6-8 ml of each A & B is to much for your 75gl specially if there hasn't been growth and consumption.

Yeh I just followed the directions which said 2 ml for every 25 gallons

 

[IslandLifeReef]

My guess is that it is the ammonia in the tank that is causing the trouble. That probably got there because your bio load is so small that your bacteria filtration isn't that large. Adding that much food to the tank recently has probably started a mini cycle.

The ammonia reading was very hard to judge the color of. It could be lower I really just guessed at what I thought was the closest match on the color card it is a very poor test

I think you need to pursue this ammonia reading a little further. If you don't have a good test kit, get one. If everything always looked good with your ULN system, and then you started feeding a lot more with only one fish to consume the food and no skimmer, you probably have decaying food in the tank. Without a large bacteria colony to digest the resulting ammonia, that could be the problem. Ammonia is one of the most toxic elements in a reef tank. Ammonia processing is the first stage in the biofilter process. I would start there.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Randy, what is the best way to accomplish this? Also should I try dosing the reef energy again? I am worried to say the least

You can feed more, or dose nitrate and phosphate. A surprisingly large number of people are finding that useful.

 

[jbarn1225]

Not saying this is the problem but When I does reef energy I does it to my sump. I noted when I dose it directly to my display my corals seam to close up or shrivel up bit

 

[O'l Salty]

No problem here with Reef Energy. 40 breeder and 4ml each every third day. IMO nitrates and phosphates are too low. I dose phosphate with Seachem Flourish Phosphate.

 

[JCas06]

I agree my nitrates and phosphates are too low and I need to start adding them somehow. But why all the sudden did so many of my corals take a sharp turn for the worst after dosing Reef energy? I also tested ammonia with API and it looked to be at or near zero. Again your just judging the color. I will buy a better ammonia test kit but for now salidert and API is all I have to go on.
Some have suggested a mini cycle but wouldn’t I see signs of that in my tests?
Could my algae have something to do with my low readings?
If it is indeed a mini cycle that is harming my corals should I feed the tank or stop feeding

 

[O'l Salty]

I wouldn't do anything other than dosing 2 part. You might try turning your lights down a little bit since you have such low nutrients. I don't think all of your problems are related to low nutrients. Some of the deterioration looks similar to some I've had and I have higher nutrients. Have you checked for pests? The encrusting montiporas look the same as mine at one time and it was nudibranchs. Probably the best thing right now is to stop doing anything and let the tank stabilize. You are going to lose corals and that's just part of the deal. I really don't think Reef Energy has anything to do with your problems. That's all I dose other than two part.

 

[HB AL]

I dose 40ml of each A & B, straight into my 92G dt once a week and have never seen any of the corals react negatively. I would look for something else to be the issue.

 

[vetteguy53081]

HOW WAS TANK prior to switching salt mix?
what is your water flow and lighting schedule? Looks like light burn OR nutrient deficiency but there is more to this

 

[JCas06]

HOW WAS TANK prior to switching salt mix?
what is your water flow and lighting schedule? Looks like light burn OR nutrient deficiency but there is more to this

Tank was not great before switching salt mix. Corals have been losing colors for a long time. But I want to emphasize that there was no bleaching, rtn or closed up polyps before adding the reef energy. Also I switched salt mix AFTER the bleaching, rtn and closed polyps occurred. I ordered my regular coralife salt mix from Dr. Fosters and Smith but when the package came it was Red Sea coral pro. I don’t know why this happened but I figured I try it and I needed the salt. But again, this was after the corals took a turn for the worst. The only things that changed prior to the corals going downhill was feeding the corals more than I had been and dosing Reef energy. Something I have not mentioned was I did purchase a lot of frags at reef a palooza and did not have coral dip. But two weeks had gone by between introducing the frags and noticing some of my corals bleaching at edges, rtn, and closed polyps. Also note not all my corals are showing these signs many are fine.