Low nutrients, brown/dying SPS

[Charlie’s Frags]

Beautiful tank and corals! I'm curious, how many fish do you have in your 50 gallon?

1-18 yr old clown
2-orchrestriped cardinals
1-banghai cardinal
1-starry blenny
1-6 line wrasse
1-orchid dottyback
1-bristletooth tang
1- fox face
1-stop light cardinal
2- dragon face pipefish
2-blue accessors (new)
1-Royal gramma basslet (new)
3-chalk bass (new)
I also have 8-10 turbo snails and 25 or more hermit crabs and a 15 year old short spined urchin to keep the coralline in check

 

[bar|none]

I need more fish

 

[LARedstickreefer]

1-18 yr old clown
2-orchrestriped cardinals
1-banghai cardinal
1-starry blenny
1-6 line wrasse
1-orchid dottyback
1-bristletooth tang
1- fox face
1-stop light cardinal
2- dragon face pipefish
2-blue accessors (new)
1-Royal gramma basslet (new)
3-chalk bass (new)
I also have 8-10 turbo snails and 25 or more hermit crabs and a 15 year old short spined urchin to keep the coralline in check

Good gosh Man! 18 fish in a 50g?!

That’s OG territory right there!

And here I went to great lengths to debate whether I could fit a 7th fish into my 43g (34g display) tank.

Anyone got a Liveaquaria coupon code?

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Sps prefer to get their nitrogen from ammonia/ammonium not no3 or po4. So the more fish poop the better. Hobbyists that are worried about higher no3/po4 than nature (which has an infinite supply of live zooplankton and bacteria) freak out and strip the water or reduce the nitrogen. This starves and stresses them to the point that they shut down and start looking brown and dried out.

 

[SeaDweller]

Good gosh Man! 18 fish in a 50g?!

That’s OG territory right there!

And here I went to great lengths to debate whether I could fit a 7th fish into my 43g (34g display) tank.

Anyone got a Liveaquaria coupon code?

That's why none of his tenuis look like your Cherrybomb XD

 

[LARedstickreefer]

Sps prefer to get their nitrogen from ammonia/ammonium not no3 or po4. So the more fish poop the better. Hobbyists that are worried about higher no3/po4 than nature (which has an infinite supply of live zooplankton and bacteria) freak out and strip the water or reduce the nitrogen. This starves and stresses them to the point that they shut down and start looking brown and dried out.

I wonder which converts food into ammonia the fastest? Fish or just letting the food rot?

 

[LARedstickreefer]

That's why none of his tenuis look like your Cherrybomb XD

My Cherrybomb is still adjusting...

 

[primoleo]

Without going into to much detail on Triton of which I’m fully aware, the Triton lab alkalinity recommendation is 8dKh not 7. The Hanna has a +/- error of 0.3 either way. So you could be 6.7 or 7.3 either way, on the low side.

TRITON Method

Standard Meta Beschreibung

www.triton-lab.de

Magnesium has an effect on the interaction of the other elements and is a vital part of the water chemistry and can and will affect coral health. I’ve been there myself

KH: wrong. For the Core7 they recommend 7 dKH not 8.
Mg: Yes, I agree and I will fix it.

 

[primoleo]

Browning means stressed and or starved from a lack or light, fish poop or both. Now your lighting sounds more than perfect so you need more fish poop. How many fish and how much are you feeding? My 50 gallon sps tank gets about 3 cubes of frozen a cap zooplankton and 5 mls of bio enhance per day. You’re probably over stripping your water. Do you have a skimmer?

Of course I have a skimmer. As you said, I'm probably overstepping my water.
My tank is half size yours. I will feed more.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Sps prefer to get their nitrogen from ammonia/ammonium not no3 or po4. So the more fish poop the better. Hobbyists that are worried about higher no3/po4 than nature (which has an infinite supply of live zooplankton and bacteria) freak out and strip the water or reduce the nitrogen. This starves and stresses them to the point that they shut down and start looking brown and dried out.

+1... Limited organic compounds in pristine new system is often the cause of poor coral health. IMO, it's not the inorganic nutrient numbers that matter as much as the available "food" where coral health is concerned. However, be careful trying to raise the inorganic or organic levels in a new tank. That'll only lead to other problems. Establishing a mature reef tank is a slow process.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Of course I have a skimmer. As you said, I'm probably overstepping my water.
My tank is half size yours. I will feed more.

You’re skimmer is probably what is over stripping the water. You should try turning it off for awhile to give your corals some food. I didn’t use 1 for 6 months and only turned it back on because my no3 was getting close to 50. They’re not mandatory for sps.

 

[primoleo]

Sps prefer to get their nitrogen from ammonia/ammonium not no3 or po4.

This is untrue. They can uptake inorganic nitrogen both as ammonium or as NO3.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

Mine is about 23 gallon, no sump, skimmer, or refugium.
I did the same my digitata grew like mad and looked colourful then slowly starved themselves and bottomed out phosphates, got cyano then dino. All the digi RTN'd now 4 months in and having been dosing phosphates for the last month and a half they are regrowing from the few polyps that survived. I went from this

to

And now finally regrowth of the once dead coral

Fingers crossed they grow well again

 

[primoleo]

You’re skimmer is probably what is over stripping the water. You should try turning it off for awhile to give your corals some food. I didn’t use 1 for 6 months and only turned it back on because my no3 was getting close to 50. They’re not mandatory for sps.

I wouldn't turn it off. It's essential for pH and water oxygenation. I can take the cup out, it's not a bad idea.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I wouldn't turn it off. It's essential for pH and water oxygenation. I can take the cup out, it's not a bad idea.

I don’t have a skimmer on my 29 gallon biocube Sps frag tank and I have zero problems. I have not tested ph in more than 2 years on either one.

I actually haven’t tested anything on that tank in months.

 

[Kendrick Kemp]

what is you ph.
also run triton but dkh is 8.5 because ph will drop very low if alk not kept at 8 or above.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

I wouldn't turn it off. It's essential for pH and water oxygenation. I can take the cup out, it's not a bad idea.

I wouldn't say its necessary for oxygenation I have the surface agitation and have a ph 8

 

[primoleo]

what is you ph.
also run triton but dkh is 8.5 because ph will drop very low if alk not kept at 8 or above.

My pH is 8.2-8.3 all the time

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I wouldn't say its necessary for oxygenation I have the surface agitation and have a ph 8

Agreed. Reefraft USA doesn’t use skimmers, wwc doesn’t use a skimmer on their 300 gallon mixed reef, and reefersdirect didn’t use a skimmer on their sps farm system. I grew acros 10 years ago in my 29 gallon biocube and now again with it as a frag tank without a skimmer and all the acro pics I posted are in my display where the skimmer only runs for 12 hours a day at the most. If my po4 drops below 0.10 I turn it off for a couple days.

 

[ScottB]

Browning means stressed and or starved from a lack or light, fish poop or both. Now your lighting sounds more than perfect so you need more fish poop. How many fish and how much are you feeding? My 50 gallon sps tank gets about 3 cubes of frozen a cap zooplankton and 5 mls of bio enhance per day. You’re probably over stripping your water. Do you have a skimmer?

Super colors there; they look awesome. But I digress. Lets get back to the brown frags.