Nano tank not doing well.

[Dennis McGrath]

I've got a Fluval 13.5 gallon AIO tank that we've had for about 5 months. Everything has looked fine for a while, but in the past week or so, the acros have not looked well, not much polyp extension. Water levels seem fine (calcium seems much higher than normal according to my API tests. Is there anyone in the Grand Prairie Texas area that is more of an expert than I am that I can pay as a consultant to maybe tell me what's going on and steer me in the right direction?

One thing I just thought of is I just started making my own RODI water in the past few weeks (SpectraPure 5-stage 90), any possibility that would be an issue?

 

[Travis Stewart]

ATO on it yea?

 

[Dennis McGrath]

No ATO, just manual topping off.

 

[Travis Stewart]

In a small tank, even the slightest change in salinity is very hard on coral. I would recommend getting an auto top off. I had a nano and would rate an ATO in the top 3 most important piece set of equipment for a nano.

 

[tiggs]

Having been strictly in the nano realm for the last 7-8 years, I can confidently say that the first things I'd look for are temp fluctuations, SG fluctuations (ATO is pretty much mandatory in our smaller water volumes, IMO), and ALK fluctuations (if keeping SPS). In many cases, maintaining a nano is a balancing act, since many of them have full hoods, so the summer months are rough on them. With that being said, removing said hood and going topless usually solves the temp fluctuations, but causes more evap and increases the need for an ATO.

Lastly, maintaining calcium and alk is different on a nano than a full size tank. Folks that either don't keep SPS or only easier SPS can rely on water changes a good amount of the time, but that changes when acros come into play. The tricky part is that most nanos don't have dosing systems hooked up to them, so doing the half cap/capful of 2 part daily or every other day can cause the alk swing to be too much for sensitive SPS. Even with a doser, you're usually dosing micro amounts or diluted 2 part several times per day. For me personally, I dose 0.4ml every 8 hours with a dosing pump and it keeps my alk swings to within 0.3 per day.

Now I can't say if any of these things could be what's affecting your tank, but these are the typical culprits when nano SPS tanks start running into trouble. The smaller water volume can be really tricky, especially in the summer months.

 

[Ranjib]

Can you enlist your setup details, like equipment, chores , additives etc. Since you are aiming for SPS, you need a host of things to be in proper shape,
I'll start with this
- ATO - Dont do manual top off. Use an ATO (recommending smart ATO micro)
- Flow - What powerhead you have other than the return pump. Acros needs tons of flow. An MP10 or couple of hydor or jebao should do
- Light - Dont go with stock lighting, anything from the reputable brands will work (Kessil, AI , radeon etc)
- Regular water change or refugium ?
- Whats you alk, and ph ?

 

[Dennis McGrath]

Can you enlist your setup details, like equipment, chores , additives etc. Since you are aiming for SPS, you need a host of things to be in proper shape,
I'll start with this
- ATO - Dont do manual top off. Use an ATO (recommending smart ATO micro)
- Flow - What powerhead you have other than the return pump. Acros needs tons of flow. An MP10 or couple of hydor or jebao should do
- Light - Dont go with stock lighting, anything from the reputable brands will work (Kessil, AI , radeon etc)
- Regular water change or refugium ?
- Whats you alk, and ph ?

I've got the stock pump with dual output as well as a Hydor powerhead, I've got stock lighting, regular 20% water changes every 2 weeks and also use Purigen.
PH =8 and DKH=9

 

[tiggs]

For many corals, stock lighting would be fine, but acros are another story. I think a good starting point would be to get an ATO (Smart ATO and Tunze both make a great product) and upgrade lights. Flow might be worth looking into as well, since acros like a lot of random flow and depending on the orientation of your powerheads, they may not be getting it from all angles.

On the nutrient side of things, how are your nitrates and phosphates. Again, many corals wouldn't be as finicky, but acros are very much so. Prior to RO/DI, what type of water were you using? Since you starting making RO/DI, have you taken TDS readings of the finished product? Sorry for all the questions, but sometimes you need to dump out all the pieces to complete the puzzle.

 

[Dennis McGrath]

For many corals, stock lighting would be fine, but acros are another story. I think a good starting point would be to get an ATO (Smart ATO and Tunze both make a great product) and upgrade lights. Flow might be worth looking into as well, since acros like a lot of random flow and depending on the orientation of your powerheads, they may not be getting it from all angles.

On the nutrient side of things, how are your nitrates and phosphates. Again, many corals wouldn't be as finicky, but acros are very much so. Prior to RO/DI, what type of water were you using? Since you starting making RO/DI, have you taken TDS readings of the finished product? Sorry for all the questions, but sometimes you need to dump out all the pieces to complete the puzzle.

My RODI unit has a dual TDS meter on it. The output is reading 0 TDS. Is there something that could still be getting through the RODI unit possibly?

 

[Katrina71]

I started with an 8 gallon. I also suggest a smart ato, and had great success with 20% weekly water changes. I had a few sps, several lps, and a bunch of softies.

 

[tiggs]

My RODI unit has a dual TDS meter on it. The output is reading 0 TDS. Is there something that could still be getting through the RODI unit possibly?

In most cases, it's not likely. There's always the chance of a pollutant, but that's not super common either. Did you just add the acros recently or have you had them for a while? Many times, the effects of parameter fluctuation doesn't show right away. For example, if you had an ALK spike, many times you wouldn't see the damage for a few days. Same with SG and temp, although ALK is typically the culprit with acros.

Acro-level stability in a nano isn't an easy task, since everything has to remain insanely consistent and it's a lot easier to have fluctuations in 10 gallons of actual water than it is in 100+, especially with manually dosing and topping off. Aside from that, keeping an acro-dominant mixed nano reef is even more challenging, since you have to pay close attention to zoning in regards to lighting and flow. For example, my acro zone gets between 260-280 PAR, but my sand bed is getting under 100. Structuring things like that in 12 inches of depth is a lot harder than just blasting a deeper tank with as much lighting as you can throw at it and relying on the extra depth to chop the intensity down by the time it gets to the bottom.

 

[Dennis McGrath]

In most cases, it's not likely. There's always the chance of a pollutant, but that's not super common either. Did you just add the acros recently or have you had them for a while? Many times, the effects of parameter fluctuation doesn't show right away. For example, if you had an ALK spike, many times you wouldn't see the damage for a few days. Same with SG and temp, although ALK is typically the culprit with acros.

Acro-level stability in a nano isn't an easy task, since everything has to remain insanely consistent and it's a lot easier to have fluctuations in 10 gallons of actual water than it is in 100+, especially with manually dosing and topping off. Aside from that, keeping an acro-dominant mixed nano reef is even more challenging, since you have to pay close attention to zoning in regards to lighting and flow. For example, my acro zone gets between 260-280 PAR, but my sand bed is getting under 100. Structuring things like that in 12 inches of depth is a lot harder than just blasting a deeper tank with as much lighting as you can throw at it and relying on the extra depth to chop the intensity down by the time it gets to the bottom.

most of the acros have been there for over 3 months, there's a few I added 3 weeks ago also.

 

[OriginalUserName]

Worst case can you do a gravity fed hamster water bottle style ATO.

 

[hart24601]

I would also vote on the ATO. When having issues with a nano do more w/c!

I had a pico reef jar and there are quite a few out there that have acros and sps that do 100% weekly W/C. It's surprising what coral can become acclimated to as the only dosing is the w/c so the alk drop and then shoots up with a w/c, but they can handle it. However salinity changes are tough.

Will help to post some pics, there might be some issues we can tell from a picture.

 

[Dennis McGrath]

Before:

After:

 

[RichtheReefer21]

ATO and lighting... If you want sps and acros... you need to invest in lights or you will never succeed in growing acro/sps. I had to face this truth as well... 180 par wasn't cutting it, I lost polyp extension, browned out...

2 weeks after being under a Hydra 26HD all the colors have returned, browning is almost completely gone, and polyps looks like a graveyard full of zombie hands reaching out for flesh.

Lighting is by far the most expensive, and by far, the most necessary.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Get a second opinion or comparison from your LFS to assure you're getting an accurate reading with salinity.
Also are you feeding the acro as with a tank that small may not be producing enough nutrients for specimen

 

[Dennis McGrath]

Ge
T a second opinion or comparison from your LFS to assure you're getting an accurate reading with salinity.
Also are you feeding the afro as with a tank that small may not be producing enough nutrients for specimen

Yes, I'm feeding Reef Roids every 2 days and Phyto once a week.

 

[tankstudy]

From your pictures, it looks like a lot of your corals are struggling including your LPS. The palys are also lipping.

I'd recommend running a full panel of tests or having a LFS run these.

-Ammonia <----If your using API for this one. Run one yourself and have your LFS/someone else run one.
-Nitrite
-Nitrate
-Alkalinity <---You stated 9 DKH but what test kit are you using for this or who did this and what are they using?
-Calcium
-Magnesium
-Salinity

You stated that you added some stuff recently, how much stuff did you exactly add at that time 3 weeks ago? Based off that white epoxy on the frags, it looks like many of them were added possibly around the same time frame but a number would be very helpful. Also, did you dip this stuff, if so what dip did you use?

Yes, I'm feeding Reef Roids every 2 days and Phyto once a week.

Did you increase the amount feed with the new stuff you added? For example, instead of 1 spoon every 2 days, its now 2 spoons.

 

[Dennis McGrath]

From your pictures, it looks like a lot of your corals are struggling including your LPS. The palys are also lipping.

I'd recommend running a full panel of tests or having a LFS run these.

-Ammonia <----If your using API for this one. Run one yourself and have your LFS/someone else run one.
-Nitrite
-Nitrate
-Alkalinity <---You stated 9 DKH but what test kit are you using for this or who did this and what are they using?
-Calcium
-Magnesium
-Salinity

You stated that you added some stuff recently, how much stuff did you exactly add at that time 3 weeks ago? Based off that white epoxy on the frags, it looks like many of them were added possibly around the same time frame but a number would be very helpful. Also, did you dip this stuff, if so what dip did you use?



Did you increase the amount feed with the new stuff you added? For example, instead of 1 spoon every 2 days, its now 2 spoons.

I'll have it tested at the LFS to see if something is askew.
I use API testing for everything, including alkalinity.
I always dip frags first before placing them in the tank. The last bunch I put in there were 7 frags at once, which those seem not as bad and most of them except for one is on a separate frag rack in that tank. The dip I used is the Seachem Reef Dip.
I increased the amount of food slightly back about a week ago, after everything started to look unhappy. I only increased by about 25% though.