Frustrated

DSC reef · Jan 20, 2019

How often do you test alkalinity, etc? I see necrosis around the plug as well. If it was nutrient related I would think LPS would be showing signs of stress by now. Microbacter 7 I believe feeds the bacteria in the tank so believe it's a form of carbon dosing but I could be wrong. I'm leaning towards light and chemistry.

MTBake · Jan 20, 2019

Thinking it's from shading or lack of flow myself. Pests or sudden changes could also be the issue.

Any new additions or changes recently?

Charlie’s Frags · Jan 20, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
Yes I can:

http://www.artificialreefs.org/Corals/diseasesfiles/Common Identified Coral Diseases.htm

Is there a reasonable treatment for any of these, specifically stn. I ask because I have many frags and mini colonies that are all doing great, but I can’t keep a homewrecker or angry birds alive to save my life. I’m watching round 4 of each slipping away as I type this, while everything else looks better than ever.

That almost looks from shading. Not enough light.

Charlie’s Frags · Jan 20, 2019

Is there a reasonable treatment for any of these, specifically stn. I ask because I have many frags and mini colonies that are all doing great, but I can’t keep a homewrecker or angry birds alive to save my life. I’m watching round 4 of each slipping away as I type this, while everything else looks better than ever.

Flippers4pups · Jan 20, 2019

Chaswood79 said:
Is there a reasonable treatment for any of these, specifically stn. I ask because I have many frags and mini colonies that are all doing great, but I can’t keep a homewrecker or angry birds alive to save my life. I’m watching round 4 of each slipping away as I type this, while everything else looks better than ever.

We are getting off topic for the op, but there's a video series that strikes accord with me :

And treatments:

Charlie’s Frags · Jan 20, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
We are getting off topic for the op, but there's a video series that strikes accord with me :

And treatments:

Great informative video but it doesn’t s look like there’s a realistic treatment option for non marine biologist.

markalot · Jan 20, 2019

Looks like you had an alk spike or rapidly dropped PO4. Look for the simplest answer first, worry about the more esoteric issues if something simple is not the issue.

Flippers4pups · Jan 20, 2019

Chaswood79 said:
Great informative video but it doesn’t s look like there’s a realistic treatment option for non marine biologist.

Well your right on corals, nothing directly for that. I suspect in the future there may be treatments focused on these diseases.

Identifying what is causing the issue will always be kinda difficult, but the after effects are relatively the same.

Pests are pests and treatment for them is pretty straight forward. Bacterial issues are another animal.

Broad spectrum antibiotics that cover gram positive and gram negative strains used for fish diseases may work or may not.

The prevailing wisdom now is to frag away any RTN/STN to save the colony. Dipping in iodine is sometimes done. It’s hit or miss.

Charlie’s Frags · Jan 20, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
Well your right on corals, nothing directly for that. I suspect in the future there may be treatments focused on these diseases.

Identifying what is causing the issue will always be kinda difficult, but the after effects are relatively the same.

Pests are pests and treatment for them is pretty straight forward. Bacterial issues are another animal.

Broad spectrum antibiotics that cover gram positive and gram negative strains used for fish diseases may work or may not.

The prevailing wisdom now is to frag away any RTN/STN to save the colony. Dipping in iodine is sometimes done. It’s hit or miss.

Not the best pic because it’s so far away from my iPhone 6 but you can see the tissue necrosis at the base. That’s not glue or epoxy. I wish it was but I can guarantee you it there was healthy tissue there a week ago. Not trying to hijack the thread but I feel like it’s in the neighborhood of the OP. I’ll delete this if y’all disagree.

rugger · Jan 20, 2019

Chaswood79 said:
Not the best pic because it’s so far away from my iPhone 6 but you can see the tissue necrosis at the base. That’s not glue or epoxy. I wish it was but I can guarantee you it there was healthy tissue there a week ago. Not trying to hijack the thread but I feel like it’s in the neighborhood of the OP. I’ll delete this if y’all disagree.

I agree this could be related,especially since we both have a little cyno.

Charlie’s Frags · Jan 20, 2019

rugger said:
I agree this could be related,especially since we both have a little cyno.

HaHa!!!! It looks like cyano but there’s not any in there at the moment. That’s early coraline algae.

rugger · Jan 20, 2019

Chaswood79 said:
HaHa!!!! It looks like cyano but there’s not any in there at the moment. That’s early coraline algae.

Oops

Charlie’s Frags · Jan 20, 2019

rugger said:
Oops

No worries. It looks like cyano in the picture. I need to get a new phone.

Charlie’s Frags · Jan 20, 2019

I guess everyone’s watching the game

Kurt Grant · Jan 20, 2019

My guess 6 t5 is not enough for a 120 cheak your par 1.. 2 think Nutrients be close to 10ish where it's just a little clean and dirty at the same time corals need nit for food but I'll get the ATI with 8 t5s way over 400 par @9 to 10"

markalot · Jan 21, 2019

@rugger Steady as she goes here, don't spend more money on lights, just get things stable and if they are stable, and the tank is older, start looking for other issues like contaminants. Those acros are not dying fro low light, they are dying from instability (most likely), a pest, or a contaminant (least likely).

I also question those who say acros brown out with too much PO4. I've never seen it without something else being horribly wrong as well.

DirtMcGurt · Jan 21, 2019

I've had similar problems with my 75 gal. I'm no expert... but my PO4 and NO3 were VERY similar to yours. I think my water was too clean. I pulled all my rock and scrubbed the GHA off. Vacuumed my sand as well as I could and did a WC. I started dosing Vibrant and Brightwell's NO3. Also, I stopped using my bio-pellet reactor. Idk if it was just luck but my tank is doing much better. PO4 is about 0.08 and my NO3 stays above 20 ppm. I think I was lacking good bacteria as well as food for that good bacteria. Hope this helps. Hang in there. It took many trials before my tank bounced back.

TMB · Jan 21, 2019

markalot said:
@rugger Steady as she goes here, don't spend more money on lights, just get things stable and if they are stable, and the tank is older, start looking for other issues like contaminants. Those acros are not dying fro low light, they are dying from instability (most likely), a pest, or a contaminant (least likely).

I also question those who say acros brown out with too much PO4. I've never seen it without something else being horribly wrong as well.

I agree with @markalot , from your equipment list I would say you have at least sufficient light and flow.
I would be looking at chemistry stability, and nutrient stability.
I also think you’re chasing your tail somewhat with ny adding nitrates. The fact that you have GHA and Cyao tells me that there is plenty of N and P in the system. The problem is that the GHA pulls it out making untestable, but it’s there I promise.

I would stop adding anything to the tank to take care of “problems”, instead focus on getting the big 3 stable (Alk, Ca, & Mag). You will also want to test at the same time of day every day. Especially for Alk, reef tanks have a natural high and low point daily, enough so that testing at opposite ends af the daily swing could cause you to go in the wrong direction dosing wise.

Just out of curiosity, what is your water change schedule?