I need SPS Help!

BantyRooster97 · Nov 6, 2018

So in the last 2 years I've tried to build the best reef tank I can afford. But no matter what I do, I can't seem to keep SPS alive... need advice.

So here is what I have in my reef tank, I started early 2017.
105g tank w/ 40g breeder as a sump containing chaeto, red grac & calurpa - all healthy
Started with new sand & 5+ year old live rock, covered in Coraline & it grows like crazy in the tank
2 MP40Qd pumps for circulation on reef crest
1 Lifereef Skimmer, skims nice & dark
1 Vectra return pump (replaced a Jebao with this about 2 months ago)
3 Rapid LED lights - I added an Aquatic Life T5 fixture in May of this year
Spectrapure ATO
Masterflex pump w/Geo Calcium Reactor & dual stage regulator - Reborn Large media
Apex running it all.

Until about 8 months ago all was well & I had no problem growing SPS. Then I made a stupid mistake and added some old crushed coral to my tank (from an old tank). This old coral was holding a ton of PO4. It took a few months to get all the crushed coral & PO4 out, but for the last 4 1/2 months my PO4 has been steady at .03 or less.

During that time, I lost many many SPS corals and frags. Nems, Torch coral & zoas all were fine.

Since everything sees to be back to normal, I decided to add back some SPS. A month ago, I purchased numerous frags from the Fraghouse Live Sale. Over the course of the last month all by 2 have slowly declined. I lost 1 and the others all started to STN.

Worried something was wrong I got a Triton test (see attached) and all looks fine.

What gives??? Need help!!!

Params:
Salinty - 1.026
ALK - 7.9
Mag - 1400
CAL - 440
PO4 - .03
NO3 - 2

On a side note, I have a small biocube 32 that gets nothing but water changes. All but 2 of the new frags were moved over to this tank and are surviving. This tank is simple, no frills & was meant as a nem tank. It has a Rapid LED conversion, runs low par, almost no flow & like I mentioned just water changes. The ALK params are the same in both tanks, same salt mix. I have several other SPS I moved over to that tank that are growing like weeds. HELP!

saltyfilmfolks · Nov 6, 2018

What’s your par?
Do you mean acros or all sps?

Fwiw. Po4 won’t kill sps

BantyRooster97 · Nov 6, 2018

PO4 does kill monti's, I watched it happen. Thriving until PO4 went up... that was the only change in the tank. (before adding T5)

All SPS.

PAR varied throughout the tank & was from 82 in the bottom of the tank in the corner to 515 way up high, directly under my LEDs... before I added the T5s, then it went from 119 to 647. That was with my LED at 75%. The average for the tank was 295 before & is 412 now.

BantyRooster97 · Nov 6, 2018

On a side note, when my PO4 spiked, I reduced it fairly quickly which also was probably a problem for the tank 7 -8 months ago.

At the same time I started losing montis, I also started losing candy cane coral, frogspawn, and 3 different types of pocillopora. That's when I tested PO4 for the first time in well over a year & found the elevated levels.

All of which I removed, stuck in my little biocube & are all thriving.

HB AL · Nov 6, 2018

All sps or just acros

jda · Nov 6, 2018

I am not one to believe that rusty magnets are all kinds of trouble in a reef tank (sometimes, but not always)... that being said, have you checked the MP40s? There are some folks that have reported trouble with them.

Do you use the same rock in both tanks? Some folks have had unexplainable problems with certain batches of terrestrial (dry) rock where stuff just never took off. Others have no problems at all. Triton test does not test for anything that can be a problem, yet aragonite can bind and trap all kinds of nasty elements, minerals and organics to be release years later. This is a long shot, but after years of struggling, a few locals got all new rock and their tanks are no back on track. (edit) ...never mind... missed that you started with 5+ year old live rock... sorry.

saltyfilmfolks · Nov 6, 2018

I dunno. I’d Po4 was the prob I’d have a lot of dead coral.
So would this guy.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-home-tank.296635/#post-3626579
He has managed to get it down to under 1.5 though from 3.0.

I think there’s somthing else going on.

saltyfilmfolks · Nov 6, 2018

When you added the crushed coral, was it dry , or did you cycle it in a bucket first.

How are the sps dying?
RTN stn ? Or visibly losing flesh? Like pieces hanging off.

Can we assume you don’t share water between tanks?

BantyRooster97 · Nov 6, 2018

No shared water, mostly acros now. The tips seem to turn white then I slowly lose flesh. Most times it is just gone, but on certain acros the flesh kind of falls off.

I got most of the crushed coral out, but when I added it, it was dry and had been sitting in a bucket for years in my garage. I cleaned it in water & tossed it in.

As for the rust theory, wouldn't that be caught with the triton test?

I have some of the same base rock in both tanks.... none of the crushed coral in the BioCube.

I am totally lost!

BantyRooster97 · Nov 6, 2018

I'm almost to the point where I scrap all the rock & sand and start over.

saltyfilmfolks · Nov 6, 2018

BantyRooster97 said:
No shared water, mostly acros now. The tips seem to turn white then I slowly lose flesh. Most times it is just gone, but on certain acros the flesh kind of falls off.

I got most of the crushed coral out, but when I added it, it was dry and had been sitting in a bucket for years in my garage. I cleaned it in water & tossed it in.

As for the rust theory, wouldn't that be caught with the triton test?

I have some of the same base rock in both tanks.... none of the crushed coral in the BioCube.

I am totally lost!

Sand was a bad idea. Sorry , I’ve had those too. Mare cake in than Po4.

Rust would show yes , also in other elements Besides iron.

Sounds at first like alk burn (high alk low nutrients) but you have higher nutrients (maybe not high enough to balance ??)

Other options , bacterial infection.
Flow light alk nutrients not at the sweet spot.
Ph too high? And alk swing from dosing ?

Umm.....

#reefsquad
#spsexperts