Help please ! Corals fading fast

[Mike H2020]

I have some tank issues ! Last week I had tuxedo urchin die. He lasted about 8 days ; left him in for 5 more days just in case. Definitely RIP. The last week or so my montipora has been fading out. Today id say it’s toast. And now looks like 2 dead turbos and 4 margarita snails. Other corals (zoas doing great) aren’t looking so hot. High nitrate levels (20+) PH 8.2 ,Alk 5.71? (Not 100% sure on test method )

clown fish , goby, hermits all seem ok

need some advise ! Thanks

 

[brandon429]

first step is drop light intensity.

When to lower light intensity as a reef tank CPR move

Team, you need to know that being able to revert back to cloudy day/low lighting is the #1 thing you do as tank CPR before any other action. Water charges come after Preventing light sunburn is #1 temperature insults cold and hot. chemical burns, overdoses. events where you think ammonia...

www.reef2reef.com

search for the cause after that initial move.

alk is far less of a burn w no bright light, and the chance your stated alk would agree with any other test is 2% going off alk comparison posts. its going to take you a while to pinpoint it.

 

[saltybees]

Should be finding out what your alk is, probably the main issue. Also with leaving the urchin in the tank after it died you might have allowed for ammonia to creep, should test that.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Check alk First thing, then salinity and then lighting. Then if all is good assuming good, check nitrate and phosphate.
Any change in water flow last 72 hours?
What test kits are you using ?

 

[Dkmoo]

That looks like a very new tank Id start doing water changes to try to bring the water params back in line. ALK too low if thats accurate

Imo tank too young and unstable for things like urchin and SPS so you probably want to wait a year before adding them again.

Light also looks not blue enough for SPS or corals on general. Also appear to have placement issues in terms light intensity - ie. Looks like you have monti and zoa in the same level? At those levels either the monti is not getting enough or zoa getting too much.

The rest of your corals look bleached. Could either be too high light, or not the right spectrum, or other environmental stressors (ie, no3, or alk)

First get the alk and no3 under control, then do some research on what kind of light is appropriate for your current and future corals, and finally rent a par meter to verify intensity

Make changes slowly, change only one thing at a time for a couple of months before doing the next change. Ie, do more frequent water changes for a month and see where that gets you, then see if you need to change light and slowly adjust the light over the next x number of months.

 

[Mike H2020]

first step is drop light intensity.

When to lower light intensity as a reef tank CPR move

Team, you need to know that being able to revert back to cloudy day/low lighting is the #1 thing you do as tank CPR before any other action. Water charges come after Preventing light sunburn is #1 temperature insults cold and hot. chemical burns, overdoses. events where you think ammonia...

www.reef2reef.com

search for the cause after that initial move.

alk is far less of a burn w no bright light, and the chance your stated alk would agree with any other test is 2% going off alk comparison posts. its going to take you a while to pinpoint it.

I have bio cube I didn’t think light intensity was an issue.

That looks like a very new tank Id start doing water changes to try to bring the water params back in line. ALK too low if thats accurate

Imo tank too young and unstable for things like urchin and SPS so you probably want to wait a year before adding them again.

Light also looks not blue enough for SPS or corals on general. Also appear to have placement issues in terms light intensity - ie. Looks like you have monti and zoa in the same level? At those levels either the monti is not getting enough or zoa getting too much.

The rest of your corals look bleached. Could either be too high light, or not the right spectrum, or other environmental stressors (ie, no3, or alk)

First get the alk and no3 under control, then do some research on what kind of light is appropriate for your current and future corals, and finally rent a par meter to verify intensity

Make changes slowly, change only one thing at a time for a couple of months before doing the next change. Ie, do more frequent water changes for a month and see where that gets you, then see if you need to change light and slowly adjust the light over the next x number of months.

new tank since January; bio cube 32 with stock lights that are on from 7am to 5 pm ; then the blue led till 9 pm. Weekly 2.5 gal water change , monthly 5 gal water change. Ima re test alk

 

[Mike H2020]

Check alk First thing, then salinity and then lighting. Then if all is good assuming good, check nitrate and phosphate.
Any change in water flow last 72 hours?
What test kits are you using ?

Salinity is ok ; no flow changes , nada. Lighting in bio cube not super adjustable. They run 7am -5pm full light ; then only blues till 9

 

[vetteguy53081]

Salinity is ok ; no flow changes , nada. Lighting in bio cube not super adjustable. They run 7am -5pm full light ; then only blues till 9

The lighting as you mentioned type light may be a contributor. When you say salinity is ok, meaning what value?
When is last time you calibrated salinity tester >
What test kits are you using ?
Are you using additional pumps on the biocube?

 

[Mike H2020]

The lighting as you mentioned type light may be a contributor. When you say salinity is ok, meaning what value?
When is last time you calibrated salinity tester >
What test kits are you using ?
Are you using additional pumps on the biocube?

I have a coralife hydrometer which seems like it always reads high. 38 ppm

I calibrated (today with ro water ) refractometer and it’s been a solid 30 ppm for last month

Red Sea kits give me 3.04 alk

one mini wave maker for circulation

 

[Dkmoo]

I have a coralife hydrometer which seems like it always reads high. 38 ppm

I calibrated (today with ro water ) refractometer and it’s been a solid 30 ppm for last month

Red Sea kits give me 3.04 alk

one mini wave maker for circulation

Is that alk in dkh or meql? Way too low if dkh. Meql then normal.

 

[brandon429]

in the thread mentioned, we said going lower than your current limits was safer than running without, and we provided links. if that ever applies to your situation, it'd require a need for creativity since the lights are usually all-on for those setups. if your alk was spiked, lowering lights offsets the burn we've been studying that a while now in thread patterns.

folks who were interested in using the safest approach while factoring test kit accuracy put strips of electrical tape across the lid and it lowers light passage, then they're removed and ramped back.

this specifically stops bleaching loss and it factored in your thread title if not the actual job... lowering the corals in the scape might pull it off too, this way is from the top.

only one coral looks whitening, the rest tbd. what one coral does isn't much of a pattern but the thread seemed like it was on the verge.

if it ever gets that way you have a new option. I would have thought an alk issue would affect more than one coral

 

[Mike H2020]

Is that alk in dkh or meql? Way too low if dkh. Meql then normal.

Meql

 

[ReefHomieJon]

s

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a coralife hydrometer which seems like it always reads high. 38 ppm

I calibrated (today with ro water ) refractometer and it’s been a solid 30 ppm for last month

Red Sea kits give me 3.04 alk

one mini wave maker for circulation

Ouch - You want 35PPM and as suspected - alk or salinity issue
Recommended:

ph 8.1-8.3
temp 77-79
salinity 1.025
nitrate < .04
Phosphate < .04
Ammonia < .03
alk 8-9
mag 1300
CA 440

 

[Dkmoo]

The 8-9 alk we recommend above is in dKH, this converts roughly to 3 meql which seem to be your preferred unit of measurement. So your current reading should be good enough.

 

[Mike H2020]

Ouch - You want 35PPM and as suspected - alk or salinity issue
Recommended:

ph 8.1-8.3
temp 77-79
salinity 1.025
nitrate < .04
Phosphate < .04
Ammonia < .03
alk 8-9
mag 1300
CA 440
Ok went and grabbed new hydrometer. It’s between 1.022 1,023

 

[Mike H2020]

Ouch - You want 35PPM and as suspected - alk or salinity issue
Recommended:

ph 8.1-8.3
temp 77-79
salinity 1.025
nitrate < .04
Phosphate < .04
Ammonia < .03
alk 8-9
mag 1300
CA 440

pH is 8.4
Temp 77.3
Salinity 1.023
Nitrate 20
Phosphate unknown
Ammonia <.03
Alk 8
Mag unknown. Should I be testing
Ca unknown should I be testing

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

Your salinity is low. You probably had a swing. Even when things seem stable a swing may have occurred. I’d get your salinity up. Maybe not all at once but I’d get it up.

 

[vetteguy53081]

pH is 8.4
Temp 77.3
Salinity 1.023
Nitrate 20
Phosphate unknown
Ammonia <.03
Alk 8
Mag unknown. Should I be testing
Ca unknown should I be testing

With coral yes and your salt again needs to be brought up. These coral do not do well in hyposalinity. 1.023 is too low.
Mag and CA need to be monitored especially with any stony coral. Nitrate is up there and phos plays a role.
Personally, you are not quite prepared for a coral tank without the proper test kits and monitoring of tank.
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet to mix and add to your tank water ?

As huge suggestion: Take a good water sample to a Trusted LFS that does Not use API test kits and have them check all your parameters to see what they come with and to compare with yours.

 

[Mike H2020]

I just got new hydrometer and it’s definitely 1.022-1.023. Been like that since day 1 ( January )

Your salinity is low. You probably had a swing. Even when things seem stable a swing may have occurred. I’d get your salinity up. Maybe not all at once but I’d get it up.

Is there that much of a difference between 1.023 and .025 that would cause such drastic changes?