Established Reef Dying and cant find the Answer, HELP!
- Thread starter Alabamareef
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Jeffanator
Community Member
Could be bug spray, this new stuff that the pros use is designed to go on wet and turn to an air born micro dust , this protects the user from being exposed to the air born pest dust , I know this because I am a property manager and this is what a pro explains to me as I get building treated often. On the other hand I believe if you had shrimp and crabs they would have been the first to go if it was from the bug spray. I dip in bayer insect killer and had crabs and shrimp die very fast with very little affect on coral and fish.
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Alabamareef
Well-Known Member
Thanks Jeff. Guess I'll not let them spray in the area anymore. Shrimp and all are good. Actually the tank is looking better. I've got to send my light back to the company to have some work done on it. I hope when it gets back all continues to improve.
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Alabamareef
Well-Known Member
Eienna, Thanks for asking. So I’ve lost all the SPS in my tank. I was able to cut some frags and farm them out to some local friends. The hair algae was growing ramped. It was crazy because for almost three years never had hair algae. I really was at a point where I did not think I could control it. I called a local maintenance person and ask them to come clean. He came and opened up the aquascape and cleaned the sand bed very good. After that I bumped up my GFO and got my biopellets back online. Every week I would clean out the sand bed and brush the hair algae off the rocks. It seemed like a never ending battle. About a month of that and I’m think I’m ready to get my SPS going again. I’ve also got a new light over my fuge to see if the macro could grow better to help control any future problems. It seems to be doing ok. Also I had sent my light fixture out to be repaired and it should be here soon. I borrowed a fixture from my maintenance person that’s two MH, 175w with two fluorescents to keep my anemones alive and the few LPS. So as of right now I’m showing great improvements but my tank looks like the moon. I’m so ready to see those sticks
Rjramos
Valuable Member
I like my set ups as simple and natural as possible. For one thing I don't like canisters with media that get neglected because they take time to service. Then the water going through them distributes all this waste throughout your tank. From my experience, I have found that around the 4-5 year period of reef tanks running problem free, hair algae becomes a problem in some cases. I attribute this simply to loss of microfauna in sand beds and live rock. These micro cleaners are just as important as your visible clean up crew. I'm referring mainly to worms, copepods, amphipods and others. I had a tank set up years ago that suddenly started growing hair algae, which no matter what I tried it just kept coming back! Including up to 50% water changes every 2weeks. The solution to my problem was starting a mud refugium and growing Chaeto. I also gradually removed the sand by vacuuming with each water change. Within 2 months, and with the help of several emerald crabs, blue legs and snails the algae was gone! I then added app 1 in of sand. I have been running mud refugiums with a protein skimmer and nothing else since, and hair algae has never again been a problem. Hope this helps.
Rich.
Rich.
Eckolancer
LED GURU
There has been bad carbon in the past look up threads about it. People have lost whole tanks due to carbon. If you are running any. Maybe change salt brands could be a bad batch. Also start changing 10~20 % every couple days just to flush the system. Stop. Check your dosers make sure they are not clogged and working right.
Jeffanator
Community Member
It happens , untested metals, bug spray, water temp, lights, stray voltage, sulfer, I'd do like last post Change wAter often with new RO DI salt water . Some times we get lazy and don't do full 20% water changes and then bad things can and will build up most of we can't test for and they over take our systems . Very important to change 20% weekly or here's how I keep my 180 alive week 1 10% week 2 10% week 3 20% week 4 20% then I start back at week 1 10% week2 10% you get it. At least 60% of my water is renewed monthly And this keep my reef good to go. I'm not saying this is the best way to do water changes people do a lot of different things depending on their system but it works for me. If you can afford reef salt then change 20% every week . Good luck
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Alabamareef
Well-Known Member
All back to normal. After weekly water changes, everything taken apart and cleaned, rock out and scrubbed,weekly cleenings and water changes, carbon and double the GFO I've got it back to normal. I've added back in some SPS and it seems fine. Got my light back by waiting on a few new things to add it back. Long process and have yet to put my finger on the cause. I think a combination. My jab it's were not to bad before but know I'm staying more on top of things. Thanks everyone
Flameback Pair
started reefing 1999
Grasping at straws here, high carbon dioxide in the ambient air?
Are you close to a highway, something in the air, carbon monoxide?
Are you close to a highway, something in the air, carbon monoxide?
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Alabamareef
Well-Known Member
Jeffanator
Community Member
People think too far out side of the box, when 99.9% of the time it is in the box to start with . Weekly water change with good name brand salt and that's pretty much it as long as you have good proper lighting and water movement should be good to go. Or it could be star dust from a bad ozone layer that was passed thru a network interface Controle apparatus ported to a hydrostatic nuclear processor caused by reversed evaluation presses . LOL I made that up.
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Alabamareef
Well-Known Member
Have great lighting. Overachiever on water movement. Coral Pro salt and was doing weekly water changes. Maybe some bad stardust did pass through the window. I do believe in keeping it simple. That does it 99.9% of the time. Think I fell into that 0.01% catogory. Needless to say I went back to the basics and started from their. I think the complexity of the systems can do more harm at times.
But anytime something is not going right my first priority is do a water change, give it time and if your still having the same problem you've got a good starting point
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Alabamareef
Well-Known Member
Over a period of several buckets
Jeffanator
Community Member
I still would look into the star dust theory. Lol. Really don't sweat it too much, it happens to all reefers yes all of us have had many fails . If you find someone who said they didn't have things go bad they are lying. I have a 5 gallon bucket of fails . I'm saving them as a reminder that in a blink of an eye coral can say good by. Good luck mate and keep reefing bro. It's very rewarding to us and keeps us out of the bar.
Jeffanator
Community Member
I one time had a crash and I was doing weekly water changes , I found that I wasn't changing enough water so over a years time a certain toxin was slowly building up at a rate slightly higher then the 10% water change could keep up with . So now every 3 months I do two 20% water changes in two days. Been going good so far . Like said before things in the water that we don't even check for ,thousands of different elements , metals, minerals, bacteria,we just can't test for other then the basic stuff we do test for. Keep reefing bro & good luck.
