GAC issue... I think.

[Hobineros]

Evening all... so I dumped in a full BRS canister of Rox Carbon and after about a week I noticed my 2 duncans looking poorly. So I did nothing like a good reef keeper and the following day they started ejecting polyps. Since then, i did some research and figured out the GAC probably cleaned my water and perhaps i was getting to much par. So i dumped my Radions back to 40% from 50 and took a few readings. Its well within tolerance for all my corals. However i noticed my chalice is bleaching from the middle, my pavonas are receding and my leptos are as well. My torches, zoas and several other species are seemingly fine.

How can i fix this... phos is .03 and nitrate is 10ppm. Other params normal. No other changes other than i used carbon to help remove some aromas and water discoloration. Tank hasnt seen carbon in over a year. 280gallon and i used maybe 1.5 cups of rox.

Specifically - my chalice is on about 65 to 75 par and med. Flow. My leptos are getting about 100 par med flow.

Side note my pulsing xenia is wide open and pumping and i have this as my canary for water quality.

 

[Hobineros]

Forgot to add... my red Monti caps have started to turn purpleish... another clue perhaps?

 

[Lavey29]

When you say dumped in a full canister of carbon what exactly is this relating to? What size tank and how much carbon? It can remove trace elements to.

 

[Hobineros]

When you say dumped in a full canister of carbon what exactly is this relating to? What size tank and how much carbon? It can remove trace elements to.

Brs reactor thing... the rox 8.0 carbon or whatever they call it.

 

[Lavey29]

Brs reactor thing... the rox 8.0 carbon or whatever they call it.

Do you have it between sponges and not tumbling around?

 

[Hobineros]

Yes it was packed in tight... but i have since taken it out all together as I was sure it had something to do with it.

 

[Lavey29]

Yes it was packed in tight... but i have since taken it out all together as I was sure it had something to do with it.

Did you rinse it with RODI before you put it in the reactor?

 

[Justdrew]

ROX 8.0 is pretty harsh stuff. I was having issues with SPS and was beating myself silly trying to figure it out. I kept researching and I found multiple posts regarding ROX carbon. I was using the recommended 1 Tablespoon per 10 gallons. I cut it down to 1/3 the recommended dose and my issues stopped. That was the only change I made. I didn't believe it could make a difference, but it did.

 

[Hobineros]

ROX 8.0 is pretty harsh stuff. I was having issues with SPS and was beating myself silly trying to figure it out. I kept researching and I found multiple posts regarding ROX carbon. I was using the recommended 1 Tablespoon per 10 gallons. I cut it down to 1/3 the recommended dose and my issues stopped. That was the only change I made. I didn't believe it could make a difference, but it did.

Funny you say that... i never used the rox before i always used the cheaper stuff...never had a problem. Any idea why ? Supposedly its just harder and less likely to make dust / more porous. This hobby... if it isnt one thing its 10 things lol

 

[Hobineros]

Did you rinse it with RODI before you put it in the reareactor

Well tap water yes... let it drip out.

 

[Lavey29]

Well tap water yes... let it drip out.

I rinse certain things with hose water to but I always dunk it in RODI before it goes into the tank just to make sure untreated water doesn't get in my system.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’d be cautious in assuming the effect relates to the new GAC at all, but the par increase is a reasonable hypothesis.

 

[jimk60]

I run Red Sea carbon. If I run it for longer than a couple weeks my Duncan's start to close up. After not running it for a couple weeks my hammers start to close up. I have a bunch of softies so maybe that's it. Go figure