Lost a frag, maybe 2 so far

[11f150]

I lost a frag yesterday and I checked my tank this morning and looks like another one could be going. Most recent adjustment I made was to my ALK. I was just using my trident to test alk but I decided to get out my Hannah checker to compare it too. My ALK was around 9.0-9.1. Too high for my liking so I let it fall off naturally to 8.4. Could that swing cause a frag to die? It’s a fairly new system, 4 months, so I’m not extremely worried since I’m not going to have perfect stability especially starting out with dry rock. Saying all that I will say most of the other frags are growing and looking good. Here’s my parameters as of yesterday:

pH 8.1-8.2
Nitrate 2.6ppm
Phos .06
Salinity 1.025
Alk 8.4

 

[ScottB]

I lost a frag yesterday and I checked my tank this morning and looks like another one could be going. Most recent adjustment I made was to my ALK. I was just using my trident to test alk but I decided to get out my Hannah checker to compare it too. My ALK was around 9.0-9.1. Too high for my liking so I let it fall off naturally to 8.4. Could that swing cause a frag to die? It’s a fairly new system, 4 months, so I’m not extremely worried since I’m not going to have perfect stability especially starting out with dry rock. Saying all that I will say most of the other frags are growing and looking good. Here’s my parameters as of yesterday:

pH 8.1-8.2
Nitrate 2.6ppm
Phos .06
Salinity 1.025
Alk 8.4

A little bump in ALK doesn't help, but I don't place a lot of concern on ALK swings. I lose that much every diurnal cycle. Further, I once butt-dialed a liter of ALK in overnight and lost no acropora. (Usual dose about 140ml.)

Share your acclimation/dip process. Maybe we can offer some process tips there, maybe not.

This is really about biome stability. We cannot all be Roberto Denadai with his acropora insta-tank miracles. SPS need a whole lot more than just suitable water parameters. The biome is a constantly shifting battleground of bacteria and surface competing microbes. Stuff we MAY be able to see but aren't generally able to measure. Got coralline? Sponges?

The popular dead rock starts add months to this process. I won't discourage you from continuing to add SPS, but I wouldn't go splurge on Homewrecker or A. Speciosa just yet. Happy reefing!

 

[Mark Novack]

Good parameters.

 

[11f150]

A little bump in ALK doesn't help, but I don't place a lot of concern on ALK swings. I lose that much every diurnal cycle. Further, I once butt-dialed a liter of ALK in overnight and lost no acropora. (Usual dose about 140ml.)

Share your acclimation/dip process. Maybe we can offer some process tips there, maybe not.

This is really about biome stability. We cannot all be Roberto Denadai with his acropora insta-tank miracles. SPS need a whole lot more than just suitable water parameters. The biome is a constantly shifting battleground of bacteria and surface competing microbes. Stuff we MAY be able to see but aren't generally able to measure. Got coralline? Sponges?

The popular dead rock starts add months to this process. I won't discourage you from continuing to add SPS, but I wouldn't go splurge on Homewrecker or A. Speciosa just yet. Happy reefing!

Thanks for the reply Scott. So when I get frags I first float them in my sump to match the temperature of my water. I then get some tank water in a bowl and add coral rx pro to it. The frags go directly in the bowl from the bag they shipped in. While they are sitting in the bowl I remove the frag plug they came on. When 10 minutes is up I glue them on a new frag plug and put them in a different bowl with tank water. After that they go in my tank.

I am battling some cyano right now but I’m sure it’s from just having a new tank. Every few days I will get my turkey baster out and blow the frags and top of the rocks off. I’m bare bottom so I will also scrape the bottom once a week. Before I scrape I put filter socks on my return pipes in my sump to collect most of the cyano. My theory is to hurt the cyano population and let the other BB keep forming and hopefully it goes away in time.

Honestly the coral I have now are almost test frags in my head, since I know things could go sideways with a new tank quickly. As for coralline I do not see any yet. I did add 3 bottles of purple helix but I believe it said it can take 10 weeks to form, just guessing it’s probably been 5-6 weeks since I added it.

 

[ScottB]

Thanks for the reply Scott. So when I get frags I first float them in my sump to match the temperature of my water. I then get some tank water in a bowl and add coral rx pro to it. The frags go directly in the bowl from the bag they shipped in. While they are sitting in the bowl I remove the frag plug they came on. When 10 minutes is up I glue them on a new frag plug and put them in a different bowl with tank water. After that they go in my tank.

I am battling some cyano right now but I’m sure it’s from just having a new tank. Every few days I will get my turkey baster out and blow the frags and top of the rocks off. I’m bare bottom so I will also scrape the bottom once a week. Before I scrape I put filter socks on my return pipes in my sump to collect most of the cyano. My theory is to hurt the cyano population and let the other BB keep forming and hopefully it goes away in time.

Honestly the coral I have now are almost test frags in my head, since I know things could go sideways with a new tank quickly. As for coralline I do not see any yet. I did add 3 bottles of purple helix but I believe it said it can take 10 weeks to form, just guessing it’s probably been 5-6 weeks since I added it.

That is a reasonable dip/acclimation process. I am fortunate to have a quasi QT tank (really, it is just an LPS tank). If the frags are shipped, I temp acclimate and then let them rest under soft soft T5 lights for a couple days before dipping, letting them destress for a bit.

I use Coral RX for everything other than acropora. I use potassium chloride for acros. It is almost as gentle as Bayer, but considerably easier to use. It is VERY good for killing aefw. I don't use it for anything else though. Had some monti react poorly to it.

Cyano is a super common surface competitor especially early on or when nutrients are kind moving around. Over time, it should give way to some combo of other bacteria film, film algae, coralline, diatoms etc.

 

[Mark Novack]

Have you tried letting it burn itself out? Instead of blowing it off and getting it into every pore and crack, let it grow and absord what it wants. I am on day 38 since filling my tank. Day 19 was the completion of the N cycle and it got really brown and furry around then and I did nothing. About day 31 I awoke to a pristine tank, even the PVC and Tunze pumps were polished clean. I used Prodibio bacterial ampules and their bacterial nutrient (decay product) ampules and Caribsea 1-2mm live sand properly rinsed of the cream and mud.

Disclaimer: I started with 2 weeks of 1.015 salinity. This causes the nitrifying bacterias to dominate while providing a lousy parameter for cyanobacterias and algaes. It was explained that this would help the next stages pass better when the salinity was raised to normal and it did exactly that. Think of it as layering the bacterial cycle in order of priority. Its the first time I have tried it and, although this is most likely my last start-up, I would not change a thing if I started another. Its the best cycle result I have ever had.