Help SPS dying for the past 9 months

[morpheas]

On the phosphate front I got a Hanna Checker ULR and feed PhytoFeast when needed to boost. Has worked on my 30 gallon to control that number.

On the pH, 7.7 is low and it can be elevated (a CO2 scrubber for instance) but I wouldn't think it to be the sole reason of the problem. Nutrients are very important, especially for coloration. Have you seen any growth/encrusting? If so then pH would take a back seat in my mind (doesn't hurt to elevate though). On the subject, just want to make sure you're confident about your calibration solutions as your numbers are as good as your calibration.

I am not sure what @twilliard means about bacterial, maybe he can guide us, but on the nutrient side, the phosphate is definitely low.

 

[smh254]

After thinking about it The tank did very well for a long time with the same pH. I'm gonna work on getting my phosphates up a little and see if that helps.

 

[ilovetank]

I 100% guarantee that you have an unbalanced bacteria population. I had the same symptoms you are having and I tested until my head spun all my numbers were good. I'm guessing you have messed around with vodka/vinegar dosing at some point and your population got way out of whack. This is going to sound crazy but the only thing that helped me was to dose the tank with chemiclean and stop the carbon dosing. I haven't had a coral die since.

 

[dragon99]

I'll qualify my advice with , I'm far from an expert

Trace elements are non-existent on your Triton results. Have you ever considered dosing them? RedSea Colors, KZ coral system, Triton, etc.
Do you do water changes? Maybe the corals do better after a WC that replaces some of the traces.

I think the advice about looking into PO4 and bacterial issues is also worth investigating.

 

[smh254]

Never dosed vodka/vinegar. I'm getting very interested in this bacteria idea. I do a 15g water change a month. I'm going to start doing 5g a week.

 

[mikereefer]

ill take some frags oftf yttoutr hands and keep em alive for you if u afraid t hey are dying.

 

[mikereefer]

[email protected] send me an email.

 

[mikereefer]

id say you have super low nitrates. i woutld def dose po4 . says po4 is 0....id raise your alk some as well... around 9/10 mag is fine, clacium is fine. id say def need some po4 in the tank. or get some more fish for that super populatted sps tank.... u have way to many sps for that low nutrient system. do u dose amino acids as well? i woutld start.. like i said if u wanna save some im here .. id save he shortcake for sure and the pc.

I have a 40b 20g sump/fuge. For flow 1 mp10 and 2 rw4. My sump first section overflow with filter sock, cad lights skimmer, heater and probes. Second section chato, mangrove,sand and rock. Third section. Jebao DC 6000, float switches, and this is where I dose BRS 2part. Tank is 28 months old.
Now for my problem. For the past nine months my SPS have been slowly dying. It's driving me crazy that I can't figure it out.

. Here some pic from a year ago of some of the same corals.

I've had multiple triton test done over the past year with nothing major showing up. Here's my most recent test. The SPS in my tank looked really bad when I sent this test off. I thought something was going to show up.

ALK 7.4 to 7.7 dkh. I dose 16ml CA 14ml ALK daily. Flourish nitrogen when no3 get low potassium and magnesium when it gets low.
Got home today and SPS look worse than ever so I went through and did all my test and everything came back good ALK 135ppm Hanna 7.7 Salifert
Ca 440 salifert
Mag 1320 sal
No3 4 RS 3 nyos
Po4 0 Hanna
Potassium 390
This problem comes and goes and I don't know why. Things will be doing fine for a month and then go downhill for two weeks and then are fine for another month or two and then it happens again. Now it's slowly just going downhill full time. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mikereefer]

i would also grab a bottle of algagen's live xoozanthale

 

[ilovetank]

Not sure how well the water changes will work. If all else fails try the chemiclean dose and follow the directions. It definitely wouldn't hurt and it might work. It did for me. I don't know why. It just did.

 

[smh254]

Not sure how well the water changes will work. If all else fails try the chemiclean dose and follow the directions. It definitely wouldn't hurt and it might work. It did for me. I don't know why. It just did.

I do have cyano in the tank so I might give that a shot.

 

[Knapp870]

My advice would be to quit stripping so much, don't dose chemiclean, pull out the chemipure and sit back to let it stabilize. I agree with the theory that you are running wayyy too clean of a system and the coral aren't liking it. Even back off on the water changes for a bit and just feed it normally and see what happens. You are doing HUGE water changes, scrubbing the water with chemipure, mangroves and macro and doing so much I think the system is just too sterile.

 

[WVReefJunkie]

Does some of your sps do better than others with relation to your movement of water? Also are you dosing the tank all at once, does the sps that are closer to your return nozzles seem more affected than others? Do you have any par readings for your sps coral?

 

[smh254]

Im not going to do anything until I get po4 up. Is no more filter sock, skimmer and feeding more to much to start with? I did order some neophos to help?

 

[Knapp870]

I would keep the skimmer as extra oxygenation will help keep pH up in my opinion but removing sock and chemipure will help along with feeding more as long as what you are feeding has phos

 

[smh254]

Does some of your sps do better than others with relation to your movement of water? Also are you dosing the tank all at once, does the sps that are closer to your return nozzles seem more affected than others? Do you have any par readings for your sps coral?

It doesn't seem to matter where my SPS are placed in the tank. I does alk 2 mL seven times a day and CA 2 mL eight times a day. Par is good LFS has par meter.

 

[smh254]

I would keep the skimmer as extra oxygenation will help keep pH up in my opinion but removing sock and chemipure will help along with feeding more as long as what you are feeding has phos

Skimmer is back online.

 

[Rick.45cal]

All of those variables are viable options. Changing too much at once is never a good thing. Feed a little more (don't go crazy). Lose the filter socks and see where that gets you. Maybe the NeoPhos will be there by the time you notice any changes. Then you can make daily additions to bring your level up to .02ppm PO4 (which your tank will likely consume before you test again in 24 hours). Eventually (hopefully) things will balance out, and you won't have to add it all the time. I'm just speaking from my personal experience of having to dose PO4. Your mileage may vary.

 

[smh254]

Thanks everyone for all your help. I'm gonna run with what I'm doing now and hopefully things will start to clear up.

 

[morpheas]

Just one comment, on the chemiclean. It can definitely hurt if not used properly and sometimes even with proper use people have nuked their tank. It's a risky move that you should definitely make only if you have convinced yourself that the risk is worth it.