Help-my sps aren’t surviving!

Jackcarp · Oct 11, 2018

Chaswood79 said:
Is the refugium/chaeto your only nutrient export? Are you using gfo, biopellets or carbon dosing?

No. I only have Chaeto in the refugium with more rock. I guess I have som Fiji mud but I don’t think that does anything for export.

Charlie’s Frags · Oct 12, 2018

Jackcarp said:
No. I only have Chaeto in the refugium with more rock. I guess I have som Fiji mud but I don’t think that does anything for export.

Good. Don’t. I killed thousands of dollars worth of sps because I was stripping the water. I think you should drop your alk and bring your nutrients up.

Jackcarp · Oct 12, 2018

Chaswood79 said:
Good. Don’t. I killed thousands of dollars worth of sps because I was stripping the water. I think you should drop your alk and bring your nutrients up.

Yeah-I also have a trophy shelf full of dead frags that I’ve tried to keep. I think lack of nutrients has been one of my biggest problems.

Epic Aquaculture · Oct 12, 2018

I concur

As other have said, if you are keeping NO3 at 10ppm and PO4 <.04PPM, then you should be running your Alk closer to 8. Reduce Alk, feed more, and get the Lux meter, or PAR meter so that you can make sure you're not frying them, or not providing enough light. Do this, and let things settle, and you should see better results.

vetteguy53081 · Oct 12, 2018

Keep the whites down and the blues Up especially when new introduction. I also keep water movement moderate.

Jackcarp · Oct 13, 2018

SawCJack00 said:
I concur

As other have said, if you are keeping NO3 at 10ppm and PO4 <.04PPM, then you should be running your Alk closer to 8. Reduce Alk, feed more, and get the Lux meter, or PAR meter so that you can make sure you're not frying them, or not providing enough light. Do this, and let things settle, and you should see better results.

Hopefully the corals will hold on long enough for the gradual adjustments.

Jackcarp · Oct 13, 2018

vetteguy53081 said:
Keep the whites down and the blues Up especially when new introduction. I also keep water movement moderate.

Thanks. I turned the intensity off and just left the blues on until I get things calmed down and maybe I can get ahold of a light meter in the meantime.

Elegance Coral · Oct 13, 2018

Do you have any pictures of the system?

Jackcarp · Oct 13, 2018

Velcro · Oct 13, 2018

niQo said:
What did you use to test PO4?

Why does this matter? I've had acropora at 0.00 (not recommended) as well as at my current 0.4 ppm. Phosphate gets blamed WAY too much for no reason.

Flippers4pups · Oct 13, 2018

There are many ways to skin a cat.

Lower N03 and lower P04, lower dkh is advisable.

Higher N03 and higher P04, higher dkh works.

Epic Aquaculture · Oct 13, 2018

Jackcarp said:

Nice looking setup!

niQo · Oct 13, 2018

Velcro said:
Why does this matter? I've had acropora at 0.00 (not recommended) as well as at my current 0.4 ppm. Phosphate gets blamed WAY too much for no reason.

What did you use to test PO4?

Just because you have had success with 0 PO4 does not mean it can't be an issue for someone else. The BRS 160 has no problems with 0 NO3, my corals start receding with 0 NO3.
The reason I was asking is because not all kits are accurate, perhaps he tested 0 but the test kit is not sensitive enough and then we could rule out PO4 as a limiting factor if it does show up on a more sensitive test kit.

Jackcarp · Oct 13, 2018

SawCJack00 said:
Nice looking setup!

Thanks! It would look nicer with some nice looking sps.

Art2249 · Oct 13, 2018

Jackcarp said:
Thanks! It would look nicer with some nice looking sps.

Definately no expert myself but I've been dosing nitrate and phospate to maintain levels. Ask that randy Farley dude he can tell you more about it. I just mix 1 tsp disodium phosphate with 3.5 cups ro water and dose 3 ml per day for 160 gallon tank. But you need tpo start small and test often to dial it in.

Travis Stewart · Oct 13, 2018

How long were these guys in the tank before dying? How did you acclimate them?

Jackcarp · Oct 13, 2018

Travis Stewart said:
How long were these guys in the tank before dying? How did you acclimate them?

I drip acclimated them for an hour or two. They have been in there about 2 weeks now. I started seeing changes about a week ago.

vetteguy53081 · Oct 13, 2018

One important thing with SPS introduction is introducing to tank under dim(mer) lights as they are going thru chemical shock already and light shock with bright lighting will not help

boxed_reef · Oct 17, 2018

Can’t really tell in the pics, but looks like you have some brownish stuff on the sand bed. Dinos maybe? Bottoming out nutrients can allow dinos to thrive. I’m dealing with this currently, and having many of the same issues with my acros.

Jackcarp · Oct 17, 2018

jhOU said:
Can’t really tell in the pics, but looks like you have some brownish stuff on the sand bed. Dinos maybe? Bottoming out nutrients can allow dinos to thrive. I’m dealing with this currently, and having many of the same issues with my acros.

You’re correct. I think I had a Dino outbreak. I have since turned off my skimmer, been feeding more and turned my lights down. In spite of efforts I think my corals are toast