LPS dying / Water perameters in check

Wesley42079 · Jul 31, 2012

HELP!!!!!! Within the last week I ha e had a single head Blasto and Ricordea die on me.

Here are my water perameters:

Ca 420
Alk 8.0
Mag 1320
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
pH 8.2
Phosphate 0
SG 1.026

I am running gfo and carbon. My skimmer runs 24/7 and pulls out wet skimmate. The photoperiod. (ATI 6x39w) starts at 12pm and turns off at 10pm.

I only have 2 clown fishes, 1 royal gamma, 1 algae blenny and variohs cuc.

All my zoas and palys are doing fine, except for the 2 lps I had in my tank.

I don't know what else to do, but do a 10 gallon water change. My peramaters look fine though.

Reefing8EZ · Jul 31, 2012

Sorry to hear, are these recent additions to the tank?

KJAG · Jul 31, 2012

2 pieces of LPS? So they're fairly new? I'd start by shading them , with a lugols dip first if they're receding rapidly

m and m · Jul 31, 2012

Could your salinity swong at all recently? Change salts, going by those parameters everything should be fine cal/mag are a tad low from ideal but 100% fine in those ranges.

seamonkey84 · Jul 31, 2012

I have a hard time keeping ricordea and LPS in my main tank because it's too clean (its mostly sps in a 10 gallon)and lights are really strong. If your not keeping sps, you don't need keep nitrates at 0 as most soft corals and LPS prefer having some fertilizer. My acans, blasto and ricordea didn't grow at all, they got smaller and smaller over months befor I set up another tank with less flow and fewer water changes. Lower your salinity, as 1.026 is the highest you'd want it to be and any evaporation would bring u too high. I keep my tanks at 1.024

_Alex_ · Jul 31, 2012

I lost some Lps after I started running gfo to take care of gha. Once algae was gone and took gfo off Lps I had left looked a lot better. Also if your running a 0 on nitrates your Lps will need to be fed directly because not as much in water column for them to feed on.

MarineDepot · Jul 31, 2012

I agree with Seamonkey84 and _Alex_. Try adding more liquid foods and amino acids to your aquarium. Also, adjust your skimmer for a drier skimmate.

Dan

Wesley42079 · Jul 31, 2012

Thank you everybody for your input.

From one of the previous posts, should I remove the gfo? I figured I woukd keep it in to keep my phosphates in check.

Concerning food, I do have a bottle of coral amino from Brightwell that I can dose.

And yes, the blasto and ricordea are brand new additions. I added the blasto on Friday and day after day the red polyps started to receed until it was all gone in 3 days. My ricordea died died within 24 hrs. I added it on Sunday around 6pm and by Monday around 5pm, it was falling off the rock. By 6pm, it withered and died.

My 40 breeder has been up and running for 2 months now, so I don't understand what is going on.

All my zoas and palys are fully extended and doing fine, its just my lps that are having a hard time living.

m and m · Jul 31, 2012

m and m said:
Could your salinity swong at all recently? Change salts, going by those parameters everything should be fine cal/mag are a tad low from ideal but 100% fine in those ranges.

...

Reefing8EZ · Jul 31, 2012

Could be too much light. 6x39 ATI is very strong!
I run a 6x39 TEK Elite over my 40 and it's a lot of light. Too much for most LPS.. But all my sps love it!
And as far as GFO, if your phosphate is not really that high there's no need for it.. Phosphate doesn't have to be 0.

ritter6788 · Jul 31, 2012

What brand of carbon? There was a recall on Kent carbon recently.

Wesley42079 · Jul 31, 2012

m and m said:
...

I buy my premade saltwater from my LFS.

I'll have to check my records to see if there were any SG swings.

Wesley42079 · Jul 31, 2012

ritter6788 said:
What brand of carbon? There was a recall on Kent carbon recently.

I use Chemi-pure Elite. I just added it into my Fluval 305 2 weeks ago.

Wesley42079 · Jul 31, 2012

Yes, I was warned that using ATI's blast alot of PAR. But won't my blasto and ricordea just bleach instead of melt?

Very odd.

Reefing8EZ said:
Could be too much light. 6x39 ATI is very strong!
I run a 6x39 TEK Elite over my 40 and it's a lot of light. Too much for most LPS.. But all my sps love it!
And as far as GFO, if your phosphate is not really that high there's no need for it.. Phosphate doesn't have to be 0.

m and m · Jul 31, 2012

Wesley42079 said:
Yes, I was warned that using ATI's blast alot of PAR. But won't my blasto and ricordea just bleach instead of melt?

Very odd.

They where on the sand bed right not like 5 inches away right? How long did the LFS have the corals before you bought them any idea?

Wesley42079 · Jul 31, 2012

m and m said:
They where on the sand bed right not like 5 inches away right? How long did the LFS have the corals before you bought them any idea?

M and M, yes the Blasto and Ricordea were on the sandbed.

My ATI's are 12 inches from the water line, which means the corals were roughly 28" from the light fixture.

The LFS had the blasto's for over 1 month and the ricordea was owned from a local reefer for months.

Wesley42079 · Jul 31, 2012

I just came from another reef forum and read that a local reefer's girlfriend poured "magnesium in like that and a green fuzzy mushroom caught the brunt of it, and decided to split in two down the middle because of the damage caused..."

Come to think about it, I have been trying all week to raise my Mag (previously 1050), Ca (previously 380) and Alk (swings from 8.0 to 9.0).

I am running a sumpless 40 Breeder, and when I dose the supplements, I pour them right in front of my mp10 so it can distribute it throughout the tank. The thing is, my blasto and ricordea were near the mp10.

Is it possible that the supplements could have burned the corals which then could lead it to dying?

What is the best way to add supplements to a sumpless aquarium?

m and m · Jul 31, 2012

If your numbers are solid I would say thats the cause, Watch next time you pour it in it doesnt mix and you can see it go into the tank, Im willing to bet it got nuked by a big hit of mag.

I put it in a empty water bottal and add tank water shake it very well and threw out the day add it little by little.

_Alex_ · Jul 31, 2012

m and m said:
If your numbers are solid I would say thats the cause, Watch next time you pour it in it doesnt mix and you can see it go into the tank, Im willing to bet it got nuked by a big hit of mag.

I put it in a empty water bottal and add tank water shake it very well and threw out the day add it little by little.

+1 most likely got blasted by additive... i would do like stated and mix with tank water, and then add slowly..

Wesley42079 · Jul 31, 2012

Thanks everybody for your input.

I guess I was spoiled when I had my BioCube 29 gallon AIO. Anytime I needed to add supplements, I would just pour it in the back chamber.

Now that I don't have a back chamber, I'll remember to mix the supplements with tank water and then slowly add it in throughout the day.