Mysterious STN

[Andrew Bouwhuis]

Hello Everyone-

Thanks for looking. I am looking for some help and much of my internet searching and face to face discussions at my LFS hasn't helped. Because of this I am reaching out to you fine, dedicated people on R2R.

I have been in the hobby for about 3-4 years and have a 60 gallon cube with a 35 gallon sump. I have a 24 inch fixture running 4 T5 bulbs with an old Current Maine LED strip to give me some shimmer. I am using filter socks for mechanical filtration and a refugium with a Kessil H80 Tuan Flora (although I haven't run it with Chaeto in it for a while). I have carbon and GFO in media bags in the sump and am currently using HW Marinemix salt. As of a few days ago when I tested everything these are my numbers:

All taken on the 30th
Salinity = 1.025 sg (refractometer)
PH = 8.37 (neptune probe)
Temp = 79.7 (neptune Probe)
Alk = 8.7 dkH (hanna) - *this was stable at around 10.3 but I forgot to fill the jug and it dipped. The reading on the 23rd was 10.6 dkH
Clac = 500 (Red Sea)
Nitrate = 1 ppm (salifert)
Phosphate = .04 (hanna phosphorus ULR)
Ammonia = 0 (tetra testing strips)
Magnesium = I have never dosed this nor tested for it and its never been an issue. I doubt thats killing my coral, maybe?

On Dec 12th I purchased a LeatherJacket File Fish to remove a small (4-5 nems) outbreak of Aptasia. It did its job well enough although he seemed to be a vivacious eater and I started to notice him pick at my large (20 Head Duncan coral). Actually I didnt see him pick at the coral that much but did notice that it went from being very full to totally withrdawn. I moved the coral to the sump and about 2 weeks later sold the fish and moved the duncan back.

After selling the filefish and moving the duncan back into the main tank I also noticed that my euphyllia, candy can and muchroom were also very withdrawn. I assumed that maybe the fish was bothering them also. They seem to be dying off and I am not sure why.

On the 5th of Jan I hooked up my DOS and started to do a daily water change of 1 gallon every night until the 18th when I ran a manual water change of 15 gallons in one day. I then did nightly water changes of a gallon from the 19th to the 27th when I stopped out fearing that maybe something with the nightly water changes were causing the issues. My LFS owner and long standing expert (been keeping tanks since the 70's) recommended changing by bulbs (ATI coral plus, 2 blue plus, and an actinic) which were a year old. I then purchased and replaced those bulbs with 4 ZooMeds 2x Coral Sun (actinic 420) and 2x Coral Blue (460nm) on Jan 31st.

My other corals (6 smaller Zoa colony's, 2 Favia, a Ricordia, BTA and Rock nem) all seem to be doing fine. The fish (2x Chromis, 2x Clowns, 1x Bi-color Blenny) seem healthy although maybe a bit more skidish since the removal of the FileFish. I really dont want to loose my corals and am at a total loss as to what to do and I am sure with the wealth of knowledge out there someone may have some helpful advice.

Thanks for readying and sorry about how wordy I can get. Please ask any more questions that I need to answer to help clarify things.

Andrew

 

[MnFish1]

1. A picture (or a couple) would be nice.
2. do you happen to run carbon (activated) - sometimes when coral are 'damaged' - they can release various toxins - that then cause problems with surrounding corals
3. You've changed a lot of things (the Duncan going into the sump - changing the light for that), the alkalinity drop and rise (though don't know the timing of the change if it was over days - thats not likely an issue).
4. Have you been sure to make sure your water change water was properly mixed - etc?
5. The light changes may cause a higher PAR - as may have the water changes (less organics) - which have led to the corals decreasing.
6. Have you calibrated your Neptune pH meter - and your refractometer (does the refractometer match the Neptune)?
7. Could there be a coral parasite/disease introduced with the filefish/water, something else? or could the stress of the movement/changes have led to a disease process that had been dormant

I'm sure there will be multiple suggestions - and I hope your corals will start to perk up. The good news is- many times they do. I would suggest you use the questions and try to figure out the timing of what happened first - and what happened to the tank just before that (i.e. if everything was fine until you added the filefish - consider that more likely - but also try to think back as to what else could have happened)

 

[Jekyl]

Not knowing magnesium is definitely a concern

 

[Andrew Bouwhuis]

Thanks so much for the help MnFish1. Here are the answers to your question:
1- Sorry about not including pictures. I wasn't sure if that would have been too much for an initial post. See below.
2- I do run carbon in a media bag in the sump. BRS Premium ROX 0.8 to be exact.
3- The Alk did drop by 2dkH in 7 days. It was 10.6 on the 23rd of Jan and 8.7 on the 30th of Jan. Although this happened after the Duncan was retracted. Alk was tested every week and was around 10.3 dkH consistently when the Duncan started to withdraw.
4- I believe the water in my reserve tank is OK. Its just RO/DI water and HW Marinemix mix. I mix it with a powerhead and it has a heater and a lid (its in a plastic garbage bin). I tested the Salinity and its 1.025 but thats all. Can saltwater go bad from the onset? Regardless, I have stopped auto water changes on the 27th of Jan because of this unknown and have seen no change. When I need to do a water change I will test all peramiters first.
5- The lights were changed well after the STN and I only changed them in hopes they would help. I hope they are.
6- I have not calibrated the PH although will do test that. The Refractometer is calibrated before each test.
7- I was hoping that nothing was introduced with the filefish but doing some research last night I found that there is something called brown jelly disease. I am looking into dips and will increase the flow as some say thats a way to combat this BJD.

In regards to flow I was shocked that I forgot to mention that. I am running 2x Sicce Voyager 3 Stream Pumps (1200 GPH). They are on the back of the glass and pointing forward (see pictures). Do you think I need more flow to try and combat the suspected BJD?

Jekyl- I will go get a test kit and get the Mg reading. That last piece of the puzzle for you I guess

Thanks again.

Old picture (I only happen to have one of the Euphyllia)

These are the pictures of things now.