Don't skip the simple solutions

revhtree · Oct 21, 2015

Yep it happens to the best of us! Not that I am a "better" hobbyist but I do have some experience.

That being said I skipped something and I wanted to warn you not to do the same!

Lately I have been having polyp bail out on various lps corals. Naturally it has to be a problem with the flow, or the lights, or possibly a nipping fish? Maybe it's that additive I have been using or maybe my alkalinity is a tad high?

Nope it was Nitrates! What?!?! Nitrates? Are you kidding me? As experienced as I am? I haven't checked nitrates via a test kit in years! I usually just look at my corals and they tell me when something is wrong.......oh..errr...whoops!

Yep I did it, it was me. I perform regular water changes, I don't feed that much, but it was the 10PPM Nitrates that have probably been the biggest contributing factor to my recent coral woes.

Word of advice. Don't skip the "elementary" steps. Actually go through those first!

Ok off to figure out the source, change the water a few times and tweak the skimmer.

Oh for any of you who need a refresher or want to dig deeper into Nitrates then check out this article by Randy Holmes-Farley.

revhtree · Oct 21, 2015

I'm all alone....

whatchamacallit · Oct 21, 2015

Lol I haven't tested for nitrates in... Years. Sorry to hear about the PB!

melypr1985 · Oct 21, 2015

Sorry to hear of your coral woes. 10ppm nitrates did that? Seems like a small amount to effect the corals in such a way.

reefwiser · Oct 21, 2015

i test in once a month

Nano sapiens · Oct 21, 2015

10 ppm nitrates isn't all that bad, IMO, and I wouldn't expect polyp bailout at that level. I'd suspect something else is causing the bail-out response

brandon429 · Oct 21, 2015

Nano are you directly reading my keyboard as I type through some nsa engineered browser hacq

I couldn't find any link between even 25 ppm nitrate and polyp bail out> I find strong links to zooxanthellae density and coloration but never calcification inhibition or stress responses at anywhere near 10

Randy or someone else may have alt documentation, but from what Ive read about pbails its a legit asexual reproduction response when bits of regenerative tissue are left behind in the skeleton preceding the bail and then clearly as a stress response to save the coral some species try a planting elsewhere. there are so many reefs at 20ppm w full sps and lps it was hard for me to make a strong tie into that low of a level causing bail out?

watchguy123 · Oct 21, 2015

I agree with the above comments that 10 ppm is not high nor out of range.

So...., have you checked your salinity lately?

djbetterly · Oct 21, 2015

My two cents, don't skimp on your nitrate test kit. I always test for nitrates and realized my kit was way off...I mean 50ppm++ off! If you're concerned, buy another kit and double check your numbers. Lastly, Red Sea checked out best of three kits.

Diesel · Oct 21, 2015

Well, yes 10ppm isn't that bad but we not looking only to the No3 here.
If ALK is high or low it will have a totally different effect than we think.
Just imagine the effect of a ULNS and high ALK.
It's not only one part that does or doesn't do the trick here.

Nano sapiens · Oct 21, 2015

Agreed that we do need to know all the tank params before attempting to figure this out.

Rev refers to 'various LPS corals', so my guess is this isn't an ULNS tank.