Help ... my corals are gradually fading away

[Tim Olson]

8% intensity???

So I guess I'm a tad too low, eh? That's good to hear. Any suggestions on a range I should shooting for? Thanks

 

[Tim Olson]

I am googling like crazy trying to find an upper threshold, or toxic level... I just can’t find the right info... hopefully @Randy Holmes-Farley logs and and gives us all one of his famous chemistry lessons

I remember reading something from him saying Triton's target was off, but I can't find it either.

 

[Tim Olson]

I use a refractometer and the milwakee digital unit

Thanks ... That sounds like a good combination. How do calibrate your refractometer? I use Brightwell Refractometer Calibration Standard, which sets it at 35 ppt salinity or 1.0264 specific gravity. Also, I use Hanna's calibration fluid for their tester. I made my own standard for the Pinpoint checker, per Randy's formula, but I probably didn't do it right, which caused my readings to be off.

 

[motortrendz]

I zero them with rodi water and then check them with a 35ppt solution

 

[Tim Olson]

BTW ... Thank you everyone for all the insights on this issue! I've been racking my brain on how to save my corals and everything I ended up trying made it worse.

 

[Tim Olson]

I zero them with rodi water and then check them with a 35ppt solution

That's a great idea. I'll start doing that too.

 

[Crabs McJones]

So I guess I'm a tad too low, eh? That's good to hear. Any suggestions on a range I should shooting for? Thanks

Oh yes. On a 40 breeder i had two A360we's 7" off the water ramping up to about 70%
You'll probably want to be somewhere in the 40-50% range but ramp up to that slowly.

 

[Tim Olson]

Oh yes. On a 40 breeder i had two A360we's 7" off the water ramping up to about 70%
You'll probably want to be somewhere in the 40-50% range but ramp up to that slowly.

A Great Big Thank You! I'll plan on ramping intensity up 1-2% per day, if that sounds good to you.

 

[stacksoner]

I wish that there was a way to test a sample of water to determine the bacterial diversity in a system. I often wonder how many coral issues are attributed to issues that we have no means of testing for.

 

[Brew12]

A Great Big Thank You! I'll plan on ramping intensity up 1-2% per day, if that sounds good to you.

Based on this

I've had the intensity as high as 35%, but before the latest change it was 12%.

I would kick it up to at least 20% and then start raising it slowly from there. If you had it at 35% within the last 2 or 3 weeks I would take it to 30% and start ramping.

 

[Terry Mattson]

I just found some Seachem Iodide I had, which I was doing a couple of years ago, to see if would help my invertebrates. So it sounds like I should give it a try. But I do need to get a good test kit. From your thread, it sounds like the Red Sea kit?

Yes the red sea works for me.

 

[Tim Olson]

Based on this

I would kick it up to at least 20% and then start raising it slowly from there. If you had it at 35% within the last 2 or 3 weeks I would take it to 30% and start ramping.

AOK ... will do. Thanks again!

 

[Tim Olson]

Yes the red sea works for me.

Thanks ... I'll get it soon.

 

[Terry Mattson]

Here are some pics from today.

 

[Daveyy]

I have always associated pale coral color to these factors;

1. Too high par lighting / too long period
2. Did not feed too frequent

I think you must not confuse yourself between 0 nitrate and 0 nutrient, i would suggest not to dose nitrate but feed ur coral more often, it will be more beneficial (and increase the nitrate too).

 

[Daveyy]

Dosing amino with reefroids usually works for me.

 

[Tim Olson]

I have always associated pale coral color to these factors; 1. Too high par lighting / too long period 2. Did not feed too frequent I think you must not confuse yourself between 0 nitrate and 0 nutrient, i would suggest not to dose nitrate but feed ur coral more often, it will be more beneficial (and increase the nitrate too). Thank you ... I'm trying to figure out how much I should feed and how often. I currently try to feed a lot and about 4 times a day, with 1 cube Mysis, 1 cube Brine Shrimp and BRS Reef Chili.

 

[Tim Olson]

Dosing amino with reefroids usually works for me.

I've recently tried both Reef-Roids and Brightwell CoralAmino, but it didn't help much. Although, that's when things were already pretty bad. So I plan on using them again, when (hopefully) the corals are doing better. I just don't want to change too much at once.

 

[Cheche]

I will said is the 0 nitrate.. my tank had the same problem no nitrate and my corals look pale and some of them started to bleach out .. so I add some nitrate up to 10ppm and all my corals looks more healthy more colorful and more open .. I hope this help

 

[Tim Olson]

I will said is the 0 nitrate.. my tank had the same problem no nitrate and my corals look pale and some of them started to bleach out .. so I add some nitrate up to 10ppm and all my corals looks more healthy more colorful and more open .. I hope this help

I agree, so I'm trying to slowly raise Nitrates to see how they react. I did this a couple of months ago and my corals started getting worse. Although, at the same time Phosphates were also getting pretty high. So I think the significant rise in Phosphates contributed to the corals getting worse. Now I'm trying to keep Phosphates low and gradually increase Nitrates. The most significant factor, though, appears to have been low lighting. I raised the intensity 2 days ago, based on the suggestions in this thread, and I'm already seeing many of the corals improving.