Having Issues with Coral

[Kyle Sicard]

Hello Everyone,
I'm having some issues with my coral that I cannot seem to figure out, so I'm hoping this forum can help me identify my issue. I've been keeping aquariums for about 12-13 years now and I've never had an issue with keeping LPS till recently. My current tank is a 120g DT with a 35g frag tank plumbed to the same sump. I setup the tank in January of 2016. Since January 2017 I've been having issues with a lot of my LPS and the others seem to be doing fine. I had a lot of issues with euphyllia only at first. Every time I would add hammers or frogspawn they would wither away over the course of 4-6 weeks with the exception of my gold torch colony that i've had for 2 years. About 3 weeks ago my gold torch ended up withering away over the course of a few days and now my acans are starting to die as well. I cannot figure out what my issue is and was hoping someone could help me out. I've never had issues like these with LPS over my career of keeping saltwater tanks. The corals that are doing well include softeis, such as zoas, leather corals, and my photosynthetic gorgs, and I have a nice sized lobo and blasto colony that are doing well, as well as my 3 scollymias and some pipe organs.

I just tested my parameters and they came out to be: Mg- 1400ppm, Ca- 425ppm, DKH- 8.45, No3- 25ppm, SG- 1.025, Po4- 0.03ppm, PH- 8.1

I have a LED/T5 hybrid I built over both the display and frag tanks. I get about 75 par on the sandbed and 125-225 on the rocks depending on height. 2 mp40 vortechs for flow, axium x-160 protein skimmer, I dose via a dosing pump, and I have a profilux controller.

I have a solid amount of fish but nothing that would pick at the coral, everything is reef safe.

Please let me know if anyone has any advice on the matter. All my parameters seem to be on point but the issues persist.

 

[JOE_2217]

Hello Everyone,
I'm having some issues with my coral that I cannot seem to figure out, so I'm hoping this forum can help me identify my issue. I've been keeping aquariums for about 12-13 years now and I've never had an issue with keeping LPS till recently. My current tank is a 120g DT with a 35g frag tank plumbed to the same sump. I setup the tank in January of 2016. Since January 2017 I've been having issues with a lot of my LPS and the others seem to be doing fine. I had a lot of issues with euphyllia only at first. Every time I would add hammers or frogspawn they would wither away over the course of 4-6 weeks with the exception of my gold torch colony that i've had for 2 years. About 3 weeks ago my gold torch ended up withering away over the course of a few days and now my acans are starting to die as well. I cannot figure out what my issue is and was hoping someone could help me out. I've never had issues like these with LPS over my career of keeping saltwater tanks. The corals that are doing well include softeis, such as zoas, leather corals, and my photosynthetic gorgs, and I have a nice sized lobo and blasto colony that are doing well, as well as my 3 scollymias and some pipe organs.

I just tested my parameters and they came out to be: Mg- 1400ppm, Ca- 425ppm, DKH- 8.45, No3- 25ppm, SG- 1.025, Po4- 0.03ppm, PH- 8.1

I have a LED/T5 hybrid I built over both the display and frag tanks. I get about 75 par on the sandbed and 125-225 on the rocks depending on height. 2 mp40 vortechs for flow, axium x-160 protein skimmer, I dose via a dosing pump, and I have a profilux controller.

I have a solid amount of fish but nothing that would pick at the coral, everything is reef safe.

Please let me know if anyone has any advice on the matter. All my parameters seem to be on point but the issues persist.

Have you added any new live rock lately? Are you dipping all your new corals? Maybe a new hitchhiker is causing some damage. Have you looked at the tank at night to see if you see anything moving around?

 

[Jason mack]

I would get a Triton test and see what is off Maybe with Your tracé elements Maybe .. or could be that you have heavy metals ( copper /zinc ) in Your water .. just and idea .. ive had similar problems last few months

 

[Kyle Sicard]

Have you added any new live rock lately? Are you dipping all your new corals? Maybe a new hitchhiker is causing some damage. Have you looked at the tank at night to see if you see anything moving around?

I haven't bought any new in awhile due to my issues. I do not dip regurarly when adding new coral but I do have some coral RX I could try using on my current coral to see if any nasties fall off. I do have red planaria flatworms but they are usually harmless. They aren't even visible in my DT due to my wrasses gobbling them up most likely. You can only see them in the frag tank. I took a flash light to the tank the other night and I couldn't spot any nasties or their eggs.

The way the LPS dies doesn't seem like a pest is the culprit. They tend to be just fine for 4-6 weeks then slowly start receding. I don't see any evidence of eggs or bite marks. I may dip whats left of my acans to see if anything falls off. Is there anything in particular I should be looking for when inspecting the coral at night?

I would get a Triton test and see what is off Maybe with Your tracé elements Maybe .. or could be that you have heavy metals ( copper /zinc ) in Your water .. just and idea .. ive had similar problems last few months

That may be a good idea. If I can rule out pests being the issue I'll send my water into triton.

 

[Reeferside]

You don't need triton.. but it is definitely very nice to get a report of your parameters. I would dip for every new coral.. no matter how lazy you feel (cause I'm pretty darn lazy).

Red flatworms can cover the mouth of your coral and tick them off but my educated guess would be some new pests (if your temp, salinity, etc. are all stable). Take all the coral out and dip them. Good luck I'll be following this thread to see the updates. Hoping for some good news.

 

[Tahoe61]

Check all magnets, check pumps for occlusion, check heater for damage. Calibrate all probes, replace reagents to test kits. Add or change out charcoal, cut back on the amount of GFO if you're using it.

Both the display and the frag system corals share the same symptoms?
Do you have a water change schedule?

 

[Kyle Sicard]

You don't need triton.. but it is definitely very nice to get a report of your parameters. I would dip for every new coral.. no matter how lazy you feel (cause I'm pretty darn lazy).

Red flatworms can cover the mouth of your coral and **** them off but my educated guess would be some new pests (if your temp, salinity, etc. are all stable). Take all the coral out and dip them. Good luck I'll be following this thread to see the updates. Hoping for some good news.

I plan to dip the coral tonight and will report back if I find anything.

Check all magnets, check pumps for occlusion, check heater for damage. Calibrate all probes, replace reagents to test kits. Add or change out charcoal, cut back on the amount of GFO if you're using it.

Both the display and the frag system corals share the same symptoms?
Do you have a water change schedule?

How can i check the magnets on things like my algae magnet and my Tunze ATO holders? they do not come apart. I've checked all other magnets that are able to be checked though. Also, you mentioned to check pumps for occlusion, what exactly is occlusion?

 

[Tahoe61]

Occlusion, the flow is blocked by sediment, or sand or snail shell.
The plastic sleeve sometimes tears exposing the magnets and releasing metals. A Triton work up would probably indicate if heavy metals are the issue. Just visually inspect them for erosion to the plastic. Mag floats can also fail in this manner.

 

[Kyle Sicard]

I dipped the affected corals and I only saw pods and bristle worms come off the coral. I checked the power heads and what not and I see no sign of tearing in the pumps.

I guess my next step would be Triton if no one else has any suggestions?

 

[Reeferside]

Stray voltage?

 

[Kyle Sicard]

Stray voltage?

That's a thought but I'm not sure that could be the issue, I do not feel any sort of shock when touching the water. Is there a cheap way to measure this?

Before I buy a Triton test I'm gonna try what someone said above and cut my GFO back. I'm just going to turn off the reactor for awhile and see if there is any improvement. I've never had issues with GFO in the past but I'm willing to try it.

If anyone else has any ideas please let me know as this is becoming frustrating for me. I've been keeping aquariums for a long time and have never had issues like this.

 

[Scubabeth]

Following. Like you, @Kyle Sicard, we're experienced reefers and are also having unknown issues with our LPS coral. We've lost an open brain and the heads of our frogspawn that we've had for 5 years are slowing dying off. So sad and FRUSTRATING! Sorry for your frustration, but know you're not alone! We've checked all the things you have...and no solution. Argh!

 

[Kyle Sicard]

Following. Like you, @Kyle Sicard, we're experienced reefers and are also having unknown issues with our LPS coral. We've lost an open brain and the heads of our frogspawn that we've had for 5 years are slowing dying off. So sad and FRUSTRATING! Sorry for your frustration, but know you're not alone! We've checked all the things you have...and no solution. Argh!

I understand the frustration. I'm really hoping it is something simple causing my issues, such as GFO. If cutting off the GFO reactor does not work I will be purchasing a triton lab testing. I hope we both can resolve our issues. Please report back if you find out a remedy to your situation as well.

 

[Cory]

When everything was going good, what is different from then?

 

[Kyle Sicard]

Nothing that I can think of. I've just been doing my regular routine. 20% WC once a month, swapping GFO/Carbon every month, and keeping my doser on point with my parameters.

I've installed some small parts for my controller such as a cabinet light that turns on/off depending on if doors are closed or not and a float valve in my skimmer cup.

Now that I think about it I did have magnet on my Profilux float valve holders fail but I replaced that immediately when I noticed it and has only been 2.5 weeks since that happened. I had issues prior to that.

If removing my GFO reactor doesn't yield results for whats left of my acans I'm going to order a Triton test to see if I have metals or something funky going on.

 

[Cory]

Nothing that I can think of. I've just been doing my regular routine. 20% WC once a month, swapping GFO/Carbon every month, and keeping my doser on point with my parameters.

I've installed some small parts for my controller such as a cabinet light that turns on/off depending on if doors are closed or not and a float valve in my skimmer cup.

Now that I think about it I did have magnet on my Profilux float valve holders fail but I replaced that immediately when I noticed it and has only been 2.5 weeks since that happened. I had issues prior to that.

If removing my GFO reactor doesn't yield results for whats left of my acans I'm going to order a Triton test to see if I have metals or something funky going on.

Id definitely do a triton test

 

[Kyle Sicard]

I've changed out 40 gallons over the last 2 weekends and went ahead and ordered a Triton test. I'm hoping to save my Scoly's before they wither away. They have shrunken very slowly over the last month or two. Nothing has gotten worse but nothing has gotten better. I'm hoping the Triton test reveals something that is easily fixed. Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone! I will post back when something new changes.

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

Since only euphyilla corals are being affected it sounds like a pest to me. If a water parameter was off most of the corals would react. Check everything to be sure though

 

[Kyle Sicard]

It's not just euphyilla. It started with SPS, naturally that's logical since SPS tend to be most sensitive. It moved to euphyilla, then my acans, and finally my 3 scolly's have shrunken a good bit and very very slowly receded a bit over 2 or so months. I've already dipped all the affected coral and I only saw pods and 1 or 2 bristle worms.

I hope its not a pest, I've been checking at night with a flashlight and I can't spot anything. I decided to just go ahead and purchase the Triton test to hopefully rule out some possible issue with water quality. I'm hoping there is some metals or something in the water since that would be an easy fix versus an unknown problem or an invasive pest that I've yet to spot.

I have a log of my paramters and my paramters have all been quite stable so I don't think that's the issue. I'm a long time reef keeper and am fairly confident in maintaining the main parameters so I'm looking elsewhere for my issues as I don't see any issues on that end. I did cut off my GFO reactor despite my phosphates still being detectable. Someone recommended it so I'm willing to try.

My nitrates sit around 25ppm, tested with a red sea test kit. I've never had issues at these levels before but do you guys think this could be an issue? I've known a lot of reefers over the years who run reefs between 20ppm-4oppm and they have never had issues. I understand SPS wouldn't really color up that well with those levels but I wouldn't think it would affect LPS would it?