Help!!!!!!!!!

[WVUreefer]

ok..for almost 2 yrs I have had little problems with my sps..had a nice collection of montis, acros, and milles..then in the last three months all hell broke looseand my sps have been dropping like flies..now my red planet has bit the dust and I am out of ideas of how to stop this..since Christmas I have been performing weekly water changes, weekly PO4 changes, any other maintenance issues that arise..I use distilled water for top off and mixing..I use Red Sea coral pro salt..I dose 3 part alk, calc, and mag..my PH is 8.2, my alk floats around 9, and mag around 1400..PO4 is not detectable on my tests..also in the last 3 months I have had a serious issue with red slime..never had an issue with red slime before..but here recently it has really began to diminish..basically my sps begin to bleach at the base and tips and shortly after they are gone..what is going on ..I am not knew to the game..I have been in the hobby for 12yrs..the tank I currently have has been up and running for 3 yrs..any ideas would be great..

 

[SteezySPS]

any changes you made to the tank around then? introduce new corals that looked suspect?

 

[SteezySPS]

by any chance are you using kent carbon? saw another reefer lose everything using it and they issued a recall

 

[WVUreefer]

no haven't adding anthing..I did have an issue whete I had to tear out rock work to fix a pump issue..that was in early fall though..

 

[WVUreefer]

I thry not to use to much carbon because of HLLE..but when I do I always run chemi-pure

 

[WVUreefer]

I run PO4 media in a reactor..I have a NAC6 skimmer..4 1050 evo pumps..a 1000gph return pump..all on a 65g..

 

[WVUreefer]

inhabitants..1 Carpenter's flasher wrasse..1 Melanarus wrasse..1 mandarin dragonet..1 Caribbean pygmy angel

 

[-Logzor]

Confirm that your temp and salinity are running in the correct range, this past year my temp probe and refractometer went bad without me noticing.

 

[SteezySPS]

the red slime appears to be a consequence of whatevers going on. i would start there and see what causes that and make a check list. Im not very knowledgeable about red slime. sorry to hear

 

[SteezySPS]

can a sudden drop or change in salinity and temp cause a continual degradation of corals even after it was corrected after a few days or a day for that matter?

Confirm that your temp and salinity are running in the correct range, this past year my temp probe and refractometer went bad without me noticing.

 

[mallorieGgator]

inhabitants..1 Carpenter's flasher wrasse..1 Melanarus wrasse..1 mandarin dragonet..1 Caribbean pygmy angel

Maybe your problem?? I know the pygmy angels will eat clams but I do think they will also eat SPS.

 

[-Logzor]

can a sudden drop or change in salinity and temp cause a continual degradation of corals even after it was corrected after a few days or a day for that matter?

I think our corals can handle fairly sudden changes, so long as they correct quickly. Think about shipping corals / dipping them, they can handle harsh environments for a short time then recover almost immediately.

In my case I was running low temperature and high salinity for months, causing extremely slow but steady STN.

 

[Mike&Terry]

I would agree with correcting the red slime issue. There are many factors that contribute to it: flow, photoperiod, nitrates to name a few. Red slime will kill whatever it covers and may be contributing to the STN you are experiencing. Alk and pH swings can also cause problems.

Red Sea Coral Pro saltmix comes in at an alkalinity of 11.8-12.2. You may be temporarily spiking your Alk (probably pH too) when you do your water changes - just something to think about.

 

[WVUreefer]

pygmy angel has only been in tank a short time..I think the salt mix is a good start..as well as the temp/sal aspect..although that has really remained almost constant..

 

[WVUreefer]

red slime appeared out of no where..wondering if ventilation has a part.living in Morgantown, WV, so in winter moths the apartment stays pretty shut up..maybe lack of fresh air circulating playing a part?

 

[SteezySPS]

if you didn't add anything to upset the balance or introduce pathogens and stuck with your routine maintenance then its probably something you're adding during maintenance such as the salt mix. heard many instances of bad batches causing this. check everything exposed to water for any cracks such as rusted magnets, coins, etc. and try to remember which coral it started from and see why that coral may have started to run first

 

[SteezySPS]

sorry i have to turn off spellchecker

 

[SteezySPS]

red slime appeared out of no where..wondering if ventilation has a part.living in Morgantown, WV, so in winter moths the apartment stays pretty shut up..maybe lack of fresh air circulating playing a part?

but you never had those problems the previous winters right?

 

[WVUreefer]

well I ran fans under the cabinet..this winter I didn't..thatcactually is a major changed in my routine..

 

[Mike&Terry]

Fresh air would certainly raise the level of oxygen in the tank which aids in the export of CO2. The more CO2, the lower the pH. Has your pH changed? A pH of 8.2 is well within tolerance.

tbh, corals can handle lower or higher pH and alk as long as the parameters stay stable over time. They don't do so well with major spikes or drops, especially newer frags or corals.

Some other things to consider:
- How long do you wait after mixing your salt before adding to your tank? Most manufacturers say you can add immediately, but it is really best to add an airstone to the mixing vat and wait 24 to 36 hours.
- Are you dosing (calcium, alk, mag) manually or using a dosing pump? If manually, are you dosing at the same time every day?
- How often do you test your params? You may need to check more frequently to see if you are experiencing large fluctuations you may not be aware of.