Just can't keep sps anymore

[RedneckReefer68]

id suggest dosing nitrates daily and or feeding more. you are starving these corals with a 0 ppm nitrate and 0 po4. turn off the skimmer and fuge if you have one till your dosing starts to show improvement.

dose the nitrates then test 10 minutes later, there are plenty of calculators out there to figure out how much.

Please see above..I have been dosing keeping it pretty steady at 10

 

[erky]

Please see above..I have been dosing keeping it pretty steady at 10

sorry i misread that post, thought it said 0 still

 

[29bonsaireef]

Do you have any photos of your current setup? Also, do you see good coralline growth in your tank?

 

[RedneckReefer68]

Do you have any photos of your current setup? Also, do you see good coralline growth in your tank?

I noticed one little spot of Coraline growing on the front glass in the corner. It showed up after I added a zoa frag with it on the plug.

 

[Dana Riddle]

Did you have success with SPS before and while using those two powerheads? One clue to insufficient water motion/food particles is seeing SPS initially expanding polyps and then, over a course of a few weeks/months, failing to extend them (they're conserving energy if flow or particulate foods aren't there.)

 

[RedneckReefer68]

Did you have success with SPS before and while using those two powerheads? One clue to insufficient water motion/food particles is seeing SPS initially expanding polyps and then, over a course of a few weeks/months, failing to extend them (they're conserving energy if flow or particulate foods aren't there.)

I've never had success in the tank above, but those powerheads are close to 2000gph together and ran about 3/4 power. this tank was BB as I prefer it but after no success I decided to add sand to see if I could improve anything. While running BB pumps ran wide open.

 

[29bonsaireef]

You said this tank has been running since 2015? It looks really clean/sterile. I always like to see coralline sprouting around the tank before I add sps. You might be lacking in light with just the 2 t5 bulbs also. My guess is that from starting your tank bb and dry rock you never got good biodiversity or bacteria populations, IMO these are what keep good stable amounts of nutrients for sps. I would add some LR rubble, if you know any locals or your lfs that run a sump/fuge with LR that is the best for seeding.

 

[Blz14me1]

I totally agree with the dry rock situation. Hang tight and in approx 6-12 months you will be able to support sps again. I had exactly the same problems. Alternatively swap out 1/2 of your dry rock with live

 

[Blz14me1]

Whoops tried to dbl post sorry

 

[Cperkins]

Everyone always says there parameters are fine. Zero no3 and po4 is not fine. More importantly it is about the ratio of no3 to po4. Read up on the redfield ratio. You want your nitrate around 2 and phosphate around .02/ when nitrates hover around zero expect algae and limited coral growth.

 

[Elegance Coral]

Can you post a pic of the tank you have up and running now???

 

[RedneckReefer68]

Everyone always says there parameters are fine. Zero no3 and po4 is not fine. More importantly it is about the ratio of no3 to po4. Read up on the redfield ratio. You want your nitrate around 2 and phosphate around .02/ when nitrates hover around zero expect algae and limited coral growth.

[emoji23] where did I say my nitrate and phosphate was fine? I actually said I had trouble keeping them detectable.

 

[themcnertney]

Try to put your hands in your tank as little (or not at all) as possible. I remember a while back @Tahoe61 did a challenge for herself to not put her hand in her tank and if I recall she went a few months. With having a small tank, I really believe stuff on your hands and arms (ie lotion) plays a roll in parameters.

 

[ajm83]

[emoji23] where did I say my nitrate and phosphate was fine? I actually said I had trouble keeping them detectable.

I had this issue, I kept dosing phosphate and nitrate every day until it stayed at 5ppm and 0.04 without intervention. My SPS growth rate went through the roof (2ml/day alk to 8ml) and STN stopped. Colour came back too.

The best thing I bought was a Hanna ULR phosphorous checker. Make this job so much easier.



If this doesn't fix it, you may want to get an ICP test done. Previously I had very similar symptoms with high levels of zinc. I couldn't find anything corroding but I changed all my equipment and it seems to have gone away.

 

[RedneckReefer68]

Update....

Drove 2.5 hrs Saturday to pick up some cured figi rock from a store. Brought it home in time of water to minimize die off. I'm not positive what the dry rocks was doing or not doing for my tank but things have already changed for the better.

A forest fire Digi as of last Thursday that was going downhill fast

Same Coral after noticing improvement and moved a little higher on bottom rock

Nothing changed but added new live rock and turning skimmer back on 2 nights ago

 

[RedneckReefer68]

That last pic was taken last night

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Thanks for posting. Your anecdote supports what many people are coming to believe: for whatever reason, dry rock is missing something that SPS need to truly flourish. Whether it's nutrients (too little or too much) or not having enough biodiversity, lots of reefers appear to have problems with SPS in new tanks that are established with dry rock only. That's not to say all reefers do, but many do.

I read somewhere that one of the big names in reefkeeping (I think it was either Sanjay Joshi or Mike Paletta) set up a new tank with dry rock and couldn't keep SPS successfully in it for at least a year, if not more. Unfortunately, I don't remember where I read that or who this was, but it seems to confirm what we're all finding.

 

[XNavyDiver]

You said this tank has been running since 2015? It looks really clean/sterile. I always like to see coralline sprouting around the tank before I add sps. You might be lacking in light with just the 2 t5 bulbs also. My guess is that from starting your tank bb and dry rock you never got good biodiversity or bacteria populations, IMO these are what keep good stable amounts of nutrients for sps. I would add some LR rubble, if you know any locals or your lfs that run a sump/fuge with LR that is the best for seeding.

This is good advise. I added GARF Grunge two times. It adds a lot of critters and biodiversity. Helps speed up the maturity process in dry rock tanks.

 

[RedneckReefer68]

Thanks for posting. Your anecdote supports what many people are coming to believe: for whatever reason, dry rock is missing something that SPS need to truly flourish. Whether it's nutrients (too little or too much) or not having enough biodiversity, lots of reefers appear to have problems with SPS in new tanks that are established with dry rock only. That's not to say all reefers do, but many do.

I read somewhere that one of the big names in reefkeeping (I think it was either Sanjay Joshi or Mike Paletta) set up a new tank with dry rock and couldn't keep SPS successfully in it for at least a year, if not more. Unfortunately, I don't remember where I read that or who this was, but it seems to confirm what we're all finding.

Yes the video of Paletta taking about his new tank is where the light bulb went off in my head. He talked about the same things I was experiencing. Then I went to googling and found other people posting about it. When I found reefbums blog, I was sure that was my problem

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Yes the video of Paletta taking about his new tank is where the light bulb went off in my head. He talked about the same things I was experiencing. Then I went to googling and found other people posting about it. When I found reefbums blog, I was sure that was my problem

Thanks for clarifying. I'll look up the video so I can give a more accurate account of his anecdotal experience.