help losing sps
- Thread starter Alan600
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I misspelled, I meant total dissolved solids.
What is your tds coming out of your faucets? Can you please tell us what your ro/di system consists of? Filters, membranes, flow restrictors, pumps and all?
The tank is mainly frags and bases dying from low flow would normally be seen on larger colonies with flow being blocked or restricted. Most frags can do pretty well in spots with pretty low flow as long as no detritus is settling in the area of the frag.
Base up rtn can be a few things. But alk would send a shock to the tank and it would recover after. The fact that it's happening only at night and every day or two kind of points to bacterial infection.
Sabellafella
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Well you have over 200.pieces of acropora thats for sure,from what ive seen stn starts base up, witch could mean a lack if flow in that zone. I assume its not alkalinity related but you said theres no PE? Get a mag glass and check for red bugs, there very very hard to see. If its an overnight ordeal, it could be one of 2 things, your ph could drop to a dangerous level(unlikely).. acro flatworms or red bugs.
I have had swings from 7.7 at night to 8.1 in the day on tanks with no issues. I would think in most cases if alk is stable pH would be fine.
On the other hand I have tried switching to using kalk at night (instead of dosing) to fight bacterial infections and it helped stop the rtn.
Wilsoni
Well-Known Member
I'd say if no pests are present, temp or alk swings could be the culprit.
Which acros are you losing specifically? I'd agree with @saltyfilmfolks on flow if it were a milli or tenuis that loves high flow. But certain smooth skin or deepwater acros can typically survive under a lot less flow without any issues.
Which acros are you losing specifically? I'd agree with @saltyfilmfolks on flow if it were a milli or tenuis that loves high flow. But certain smooth skin or deepwater acros can typically survive under a lot less flow without any issues.
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Alan600
Active Member
It's 460 tsd out the faucet. I have a spectra pure 90gpd it's on 3 to 1 ratio andi have an extra di for it . For pumps in my tank I have a mp40 and a mp10 and 3 2000gph powerheads I'm sure that's more then enough flow
For what it's worth I had let my filters go to long and was getting tds readings of around 5 in my makeup water. I was getting no polyp extension, random nightly rtn, and colors were muted and dull. Once I fixed the filters, ran carbon and did a big water change things stopped dying and turned around.
mcarroll
10K Club member
This looks like a pretty new tank. But it definitely looks like a huge crop of frags added all at once. Could still be other things, but RTN is pretty common after adding too many coral to manage all at once.
My bet is on alk swings....but any and all stresses are cumulative. How did you manage the big change to alkalinity consumption when all the frags were added?
Magnesium is a little low and PO4 is pretty high.
Have you measured your lighting to see how many lux or PAR you're getting at the water surface?
My bet is on alk swings....but any and all stresses are cumulative. How did you manage the big change to alkalinity consumption when all the frags were added?
Magnesium is a little low and PO4 is pretty high.
Have you measured your lighting to see how many lux or PAR you're getting at the water surface?
I have tds in my house water near that and I have no problems getting 0 tds. You defiantly have enough flow, that's for sure. If alk has been stable I wouldnt worry about it.
What's your pressure before the membrane? Make sure its correct, if not turn up your pressure reducing valve on your house or get a booster pump. Make sure the flow restrictor is correct, I have had them come with the wrong ones before. Also do you have a flush valve on your rodi? It defiantly needs to be flushed often to get good results.
I didn't produce good water until I got a booster pump, auto flush kit, and pressure shut off valve. This makes my di last much longer as well as filters.
I just saw you said your tank is new but all the stock is from an old system. How long ago was this change?
Alan600
Active Member
I have not measured my par . This tanks has been up for 5 months everything was thriving growing until a week ago I started to notice I was getting stn and some frags just rtn over night .
mcarroll
10K Club member
Flow numbers on the packaging can be deceiving, BTW.....so forget 9000 GPH as anything more than a basic guideline.
Consider that all the pumps in there are very very gentle and no one of them affects much of the tank. They are all "wide flow" pumps. The mp40's effective range is about 24", for example.
All that is just to say, "good flow" is not a foregone conclusion just because you put 9000 GPH worth of pumps in a tank. "It's not just the GPH – it's how the pump uses them!"
Consider putting the Vortech on the back wall and the two other pumps on either end...use timers to cycle the end pumps on and off alternately so each has the maximum effect it can have.
I suspect this would give you better flow than you have – better flow is always a good thing for your corals.
Consider that all the pumps in there are very very gentle and no one of them affects much of the tank. They are all "wide flow" pumps. The mp40's effective range is about 24", for example.
All that is just to say, "good flow" is not a foregone conclusion just because you put 9000 GPH worth of pumps in a tank. "It's not just the GPH – it's how the pump uses them!"
Consider putting the Vortech on the back wall and the two other pumps on either end...use timers to cycle the end pumps on and off alternately so each has the maximum effect it can have.
I suspect this would give you better flow than you have – better flow is always a good thing for your corals.
