Loosing sps

[luis]

Hi guys my name is Luis I being doing saltwater for more than 20 years also corals LPS and SPS I took a break couple years ago and came back now I have a 80 gallons tank that is being running for about 2 years now well now I have some issues with my sps I'm loosing a lot of sps they start with the tips turning white then algae grows on them then they die this is what I have for equipment and parameters any advise would be appreciated.

80 gallon rimless.
2 xr15 gen 6 blue
2 orphek led bar blue sky 36 inches.
2 nero 5 wabe mode
30 gallon sump
Protein skimmer

Parameters.
Alk 8.2
Calcium 470
Magnesium 1350
Phosphates 0.11
Nitrates 19.6
Salinity 25
Temperature 78

Lights I run only blues uv and violet. No white no red.
8 hours
Par is reading at 300 to 320 where some of the sps are my torches are doing fine no issues at all.

What do you guys think what my problem is.

 

[jmoneyyy703]

Could be flow and slightly high phosphate. Nitrates fine. 8 hours of light could also be increased depending on ramp.

 

[luis]

Why do you think is flow?

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Hi guys my name is Luis I being doing saltwater for more than 20 years also corals LPS and SPS I took a break couple years ago and came back now I have a 80 gallons tank that is being running for about 2 years now well now I have some issues with my sps I'm loosing a lot of sps they start with the tips turning white then algae grows on them then they die this is what I have for equipment and parameters any advise would be appreciated.

80 gallon rimless.
2 xr15 gen 6 blue
2 orphek led bar blue sky 36 inches.
2 nero 5 wabe mode
30 gallon sump
Protein skimmer

Parameters.
Alk 8.2
Calcium 470
Magnesium 1350
Phosphates 0.11
Nitrates 19.6
Salinity 25
Temperature 78

Lights I run only blues uv and violet. No white no red.
8 hours
Par is reading at 300 to 320 where some of the sps are my torches are doing fine no issues at all.

What do you guys think what my problem is.

Your parameters look good. Have you sent in an ICP test? Check for stray voltage, and or rusting magnets. An ICP test will let you know if there are any toxic metals or other pollutants in the water.

 

[luis]

Your parameters look good. Have you sent in an ICP test? Check for stray voltage, and or rusting magnets. An ICP test will let you know if there are any toxic metals or other pollutants in the water.

I'm actually sending my water to test tomorrow hopefully I get my results soon

 

[mtraylor]

White tips on sps to algae scenario can sometimes be alk issues and or lighting. So if you have had a big alk swing..... that can cause that even though they are good now. Like if they went down to low 7 high 6's.

The first thing I noticed is your salinity. Its really low. Allot of reefers like 33 to 34 range. Not sure if many people run their coral tanks that low. I would get that up to 31 to 34 range andd see if that helps.

If you are getting that from a probe. I wouldn't trust that all by itself. I would also test the salinity manually

 

[Dburr1014]

PO4 is not high, imo, is fine.
Why run lights only 8 hours? Do you know par? Nvrmind, par is 300. So why only 8 hours?

What are you running for flow?

I assume sg is 1.025?

 

[luis]

PO4 is not high, imo, is fine.
Why run lights only 8 hours? Do you know par? Nvrmind, par is 300. So why only 8 hours?

What are you running for flow?

I assume sg is 1.025?

Yes that is correct 1.025
Flow 2 nero 5 on pulsing mode
I usually run 10 hours of light but because of my sps dying I lower it to 8 hours

 

[Dburr1014]

Only 2 Nero 5?
100%?
Doesn't seem like enough flow.
They need high flow.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Yea those are good pumps but not enough for an 80 gallon. Though I would expect for most corals to just grow funny with that amount of flow and should not die unless they get to large colony size.
Let’s see some pictures of what the death looks like and what the corals look like currently. Advice on posts with no pics can’t really be anything but a bunch of guessing. Burnt tips usually isn’t followed by death. Either way keep any dying parts of coral out of the tank. As soon as you see flesh peeling off cut that part of the coral off.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yea those are good pumps but not enough for an 80 gallon. Though I would expect for most corals to just grow funny with that amount of flow and should not die unless they get to large colony size.
Let’s see some pictures of what the death looks like and what the corals look like currently. Advice on posts with no pics can’t really be anything but a bunch of guessing. Burnt tips usually isn’t followed by death. Either way keep any dying parts of coral out of the tank. As soon as you see flesh peeling off cut that part of the coral off.

Give them at least 12 hours of light.
XR 15 lights can be strong and deliver more than you are seeing without PAR meter. Other causes listed below are items to consider as any causes:

- Alkalinity spike
- Temperature spike
- Salinity spike
- Low dissolved oxygen
- Poor water quality related with phosphate levels up to 5 ppm
- Change in water flow
- Additions of sand
- Changes in brand of salt
- Bad test kits giving faulty results
- Low Levels of minor elements such as Iodine, Potassium, Strontium
- Light intensity issue
- Addition of new corals
- Pesticides
- Airborne Contaminants or sprays

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Hi guys my name is Luis I being doing saltwater for more than 20 years also corals LPS and SPS I took a break couple years ago and came back now I have a 80 gallons tank that is being running for about 2 years now well now I have some issues with my sps I'm loosing a lot of sps they start with the tips turning white then algae grows on them then they die this is what I have for equipment and parameters any advise would be appreciated.

80 gallon rimless.
2 xr15 gen 6 blue
2 orphek led bar blue sky 36 inches.
2 nero 5 wabe mode
30 gallon sump
Protein skimmer

Parameters.
Alk 8.2
Calcium 470
Magnesium 1350
Phosphates 0.11
Nitrates 19.6
Salinity 25
Temperature 78

Lights I run only blues uv and violet. No white no red.
8 hours
Par is reading at 300 to 320 where some of the sps are my torches are doing fine no issues at all.

What do you guys think what my problem is.

What are you dosing?

Can you post a full tank shot?

 

[sculpin01]

Hi guys my name is Luis I being doing saltwater for more than 20 years also corals LPS and SPS I took a break couple years ago and came back now I have a 80 gallons tank that is being running for about 2 years now well now I have some issues with my sps I'm loosing a lot of sps they start with the tips turning white then algae grows on them then they die this is what I have for equipment and parameters any advise would be appreciated.

80 gallon rimless.
2 xr15 gen 6 blue
2 orphek led bar blue sky 36 inches.
2 nero 5 wabe mode
30 gallon sump
Protein skimmer

Parameters.
Alk 8.2
Calcium 470
Magnesium 1350
Phosphates 0.11
Nitrates 19.6
Salinity 25
Temperature 78

Lights I run only blues uv and violet. No white no red.
8 hours
Par is reading at 300 to 320 where some of the sps are my torches are doing fine no issues at all.

What do you guys think what my problem is.

I would seriously consider sending off an Aquabiomics microbial eDNA test. This is how some of the SCTLD bacteria (Shimia and others) tend to present. Did you start with Florida live rock by chance?

 

[Briansreef]

I would seriously consider sending off an Aquabiomics microbial eDNA test. This is how some of the SCTLD bacteria (Shimia and others) tend to present. Did you start with Florida live rock by chance?

Hi guys my name is Luis I being doing saltwater for more than 20 years also corals LPS and SPS I took a break couple years ago and came back now I have a 80 gallons tank that is being running for about 2 years now well now I have some issues with my sps I'm loosing a lot of sps they start with the tips turning white then algae grows on them then they die this is what I have for equipment and parameters any advise would be appreciated.

80 gallon rimless.
2 xr15 gen 6 blue
2 orphek led bar blue sky 36 inches.
2 nero 5 wabe mode
30 gallon sump
Protein skimmer

Parameters.
Alk 8.2
Calcium 470
Magnesium 1350
Phosphates 0.11
Nitrates 19.6
Salinity 25
Temperature 78

Lights I run only blues uv and violet. No white no red.
8 hours
Par is reading at 300 to 320 where some of the sps are my torches are doing fine no issues at all.

What do you guys think what my problem is.

Just throwing out there a possible PH drop. I don’t see PH readings listed. We replaced windows and our roof and PH took a nose dive to 7.2 7.3 sps started dying lps hung on a little better. I lost a good number of things while trying to figure it out.

 

[luis]

This is how they start and is not new grow I send my water to be tested hopefully I get the results soon .
I have tested my water with different brand of test and I'm getting very close results.

Ph is at 8.2

 

[NewCaliCaptives]

photos under white light will be the helpful kind, having similar issues with a tubbs stellata so following.

 

[Pod_01]

Couple of things:
1) Double check salinity and other parameters. If they are good and corals are not doing well consider ICP test. Corals don’t lie and something is off and you might be missing some trace elements.
2) I am not fan of all blue lights. Consider running Radeon AB schedule for 1/2 the time and blue for the other half.
3) Corals do need to eat so consider to spot feed them once a week with quality SPS coral food.

Good luck

 

[luis]

I also just remember that couple weeks ago I switch my 2 part dosing I was using ESV bionic and I switched to brightwell reef code a and b I don't know if that had anything to do with it.
What do you guys think.

 

[Dburr1014]

We have only seen these blue pics of the problems.
Can't see much of anything in them.
Please post pics. White light, full tank, problem algae, corals effected.
That's at least 3 photos in white light otherwise we can all guess for the next 3 weeks until you lose it all.

 

[luis]

This is with white lights