Need SPS help. ICP results included

[jmp21677]

I've really struggled to keep sps. Tank is a mix of LPS and Zoas. They all do great. Clams as well. What am I doing wrong? Dosing new ATI 2 part diluted

Tank
50 gallon waterbox cube

Lighting
G4 xr30 pro w/ 4 24" t5 supplement pat 375 at top of tank. 125 bottom

Pumps
3x mp10qd

Skimmer
Nyos 120

Here are my icp results

 

[Luisreefmexico]

Hello

Well i can see Tin an Aluminum.

i had or have the same problem, 2 months ago i could not keep sps so i did my icp with triton, they told me that i have tin and aluminum and that probably i have a steel in the water or some equipment with exposed wire... i really never found a equipment or any other aluminum or tin source in my tank only and maybe the bio blocks, i use marine pure blocks and brightwell aquatics blocks and i read that sometimes they release aluminium
do you use it?

Well my solution was do 5 water changes of 20%, after that the sps started to not die, so i started with a plan to do water changes every 2 weeks of 10% ... but with covid emergency i could not do it but my sps are fine and finally i start to see growing up it.

i you find your metal source share it with me if not maybe with this solution you can keep your sps.

 

[jmp21677]

I replaced the wet side of one mp10 and my heater. I've looked for other sources but never found anything. I do not use pure blocks

 

[Whasmack]

+1 on the Tin. Aluminum is not really of concern. You can use Triton Detox or TLF Metasorb. I did this to remove some Tin in my system.

Can you describe the SPS death? Do you have any clear pictures? How quickly do they die?

 

[Whasmack]

How often are you doing water changes?

 

[ajhudson15]

ive had aluminum in my tank for years. small amount nad have kept sps very happy. I would run the polyfilter pad that's made for pulling out metals. worked well for mine when I did it. someone else may chime in but 375 par at the top is kinda low for sps in my opinion. I roast mine in the 400 range at the lowest

 

[Luisreefmexico]

+1 on the Tin. Aluminum is not really of concern. You can use Triton Detox or TLF Metasorb. I did this to remove some Tin in my system.

Can you describe the SPS death? Do you have any clear pictures? How quickly do they die?

Does the Detox eliminate the tin?

 

[Whasmack]

Does the Detox eliminate the tin?

Oops - sorry. That was misleading. No it doesn't. Here's a thread where Triton responds to that question.

Triton Detox Review

Just wanted to share my first experience using Detox by Triton. I had bought a bottle a long while ago just in case of emergency and had not had to use it. Well, the other day one of my clients noticed many of her hard corals, montipora, cyphastraea, leptoseris - mostly thin tissued stony corals...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Luisreefmexico]

Oops - sorry. That was misleading. No it doesn't. Here's a thread where Triton responds to that question.

Triton Detox Review

Just wanted to share my first experience using Detox by Triton. I had bought a bottle a long while ago just in case of emergency and had not had to use it. Well, the other day one of my clients noticed many of her hard corals, montipora, cyphastraea, leptoseris - mostly thin tissued stony corals...

www.reef2reef.com

Oh thanks.

 

[jmp21677]

Doing water changes every other week. Sps death varies. I bought a small pack two weeks ago thinking I had figured out my problem. Green birdnest dies in 4 days. Phoenix monti is fading in color. Wwc yellow tip is doing well so far. Par is 400 middle top of tank. I am running AB+ on the radion at 45%

 

[jmp21677]

Pic of how coral die

 

[Whasmack]

Is it slow or fast? In a day or 3, or slowly over a week, month, etc.

 

[Whasmack]

Are you dosing any sort of amino acid supplement?

 

[jmp21677]

Is it slow or fast? In a day or 3, or slowly over a week, month, etc.

It's usually within a few days once it starts. I do have a sunset monti that was just about gone and had been the same now for 4-5 months. It's not growing again yet but still has polyp extension. Only aminos I use is the redsea ab+. Open to suggestions on that side. The piece shown above has only been in my tank two weeks or so

 

[x2uranium]

How old is your tank? As long as your bio load isn’t too high which it doesn’t look like. You have enough live rock. Good water changes long enough with stability as far as everything else will net good coral growth. If something is off. As long as your putting in known good water source with good parameters it should clear up. When anything starts to look off for me I test dkh only and salinity (I use ca rx haven’t checked calcium in 1.5 years ) if they are in check I proceed to do big wc’s it will get back on track. And it usually doesn’t get back with in at least a few weeks. If you go too fast with other stuff to tweak you can ending up smoking your tank completely. Make sure your make up water is ON POINT.

 

[Whasmack]

At this point, it does seem like something is up with water - in particular that Tin reading.
Make sure you don’t have and exploding magnets or screws in the tank, and increase the volume of water changes.
You can use a poly filter or some method of removal - but they usually strip out other good heavy metals as well.

 

[dwest]

Agree that I would want want to know how old your tank is. I wish I believed ICP tests more than I do.

 

[Perry]

How about nutrients? Could this be a starved coral issue, seems to be common.

 

[Crustaceon]

I’m thinking alk swings.

 

[jmp21677]

Alk is super stable! First thing I really focused on. The diluted ATI 2 part is actually keeping alk very steady. Been testing daily for last two weeks and haven't seen it move more than .2 up or down from day to day. My PH moves when my lights are off but nothing out of the ordinary. Going to get a small fuge going for that. I have the poly filter on order to try it out. I've gone through all mp10s and magnets are good. I did replace a broken wet side. I have a nyos skimmer but have never known their magnets to swell.