Ready to throw in the towel

[Reefer Deez]

I feel your pain and it is frustrating! I can't keep a torch to save my life right now and can't seem to figure it out. But just like others have suggested I have to slow down and not put any more money into corals until I can keeo the ones I got alive. Your not in this alone we are all here to help each other!

 

[Kial]

Lights would not cause a loss of fish. If it was up a year or so, I would wonder if anything has changed recently. Perhaps I would start with your water source (is it RO/DI for example). Just trying to eliminate all variables. Perhaps an ICP or Triton water test would be useful?

My rodi is fairly new, comes out at 1 TDS

 

[Kial]

I feel your pain and it is frustrating! I can't keep a torch to save my life right now and can't seem to figure it out. But just like others have suggested I have to slow down and not put any more money into corals until I can keeo the ones I got alive. Your not in this alone we are all here to help each other!

It was all going so well and now it's all going down hill [emoji17]

 

[Reefer Deez]

I know that's how it feels but trust me you are not alone and if you stick with it we can all figure this out togather. I have lost about 2 thousand dollars of coral with the ones I lost today or the one that is going down hill right now as we speak. But that said I didn't listen to my own advise, I would just buy more coral and watch it die a few months later. So now I'm on a seek and discover mission to figure this out so stick with us and someone will figure out what is going on and things will be better! We need to stay positive

 

[NY_Caveman]

Right, it could be needle in a haystack which is why I think a lab water test may be useful. If there was a spike in a metal from a pump, rust or something that fell into the tank you may not find it easily.

 

[Kial]

I know that's how it feels but trust me you are not alone and if you stick with it we can all figure this out togather. I have lost about 2 thousand dollars of coral with the ones I lost today or the one that is going down hill right now as we speak. But that said I didn't listen to my own advise, I would just buy more coral and watch it die a few months later. So now I'm on a seek and discover mission to figure this out so stick with us and someone will figure out what is going on and things will be better! We need to stay positive

2k worth of coral! I think the tank would of been sold ages ago if that was me haha! I think on total I've lost 5 pieces. Few Zoas acans a trachy and losing a favia.
Trying to stay positive

 

[Kial]

Right, it could be needle in a haystack which is why I think a lab water test may be useful. If there was a spike in a metal from a pump, rust or something that fell into the tank you may not find it easily.

How would I go about testing the water for that?

 

[NY_Caveman]

It is about $40-50. You send them your water sample (they provide a kit) and they do a full ICP lab test on several parameters including metals. ATI and Triton are some to search for and many of the online vendors carry the kits.

FWIW, I am setting up a tank now and plan on doing an ATI test for a baseline reading. I am choosing the ATI test because they test the RO/DI water as well. I must say have not used either test before and cannot vouch for their validity. I have read a few cases here where problems were found that related to metals or even metals in the sand used in one case. These issues would have been difficult to diagnose without the tests, but the reefers knew something had to be wrong. Again, this just helps eliminate possibilities, so I offer it as an option.

EDIT: I mistyped. Corrected. They are all ICP tests. The companies are ATI and Triton.

 

[skim]

It can be a viscous circle. Corals start to fade and die Nitrites and Ammonia rises more Corals die, can't change water fast enough. Fish become stressed get sick even die. From what you have post I can only pick out say three things to look at seriously. a.) Lighting 95 Watt strip is not going to do it, softies or not. I highly recommend looking into some better lighting, even in their on site it states for Fresh or Marine and have a drawing of circled of Fresh and Marine Fish no Corals. Those lights are just for your enjoyment to see the fish and any artificial Corals or Plants that you may add, which they nicely have advertised right below the Tanks. b.) In tank Flow meaning if you shut off return pump how much water would be flowing in the display, you say 3 power heads but no info on their out put ratings. Corals depend greatly on flow to feed them and to stripe away and detritus and mucus. It's not the speed so much as the mass/volume of water. Do you feed the Corals at all? Acropower is great because of the Amino Acids.
c.) You mentioned 1 ppm out from RO/DI if that is so how long has this been for could it be around when you started to have problems, one of the first things that DI resign starts to release is Ammonia when resign is exhausted and it does not show on TDS meter, so in reality you could be adding double, triple or more into your make up water. Change the resign and change it before the color has totally change if you use that type, about when it still shows about 1/4 left. I just added this video for you as I found it very interesting.
Good luck and don't give up, you are almost there.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Lights would not cause a loss of fish. If it was up a year or so, I would wonder if anything has changed recently. Perhaps I would start with your water source (is it RO/DI for example). Just trying to eliminate all variables. Perhaps an ICP or Triton water test would be useful?

Agreed, I was looking at the coral aspect of it. It sounds like there may be a couple things going on

 

[iDeath]

Tank is causing headaches! All corals started off great and majority of them just go down hill all the time.
I had two lots of acans, placed in the same spot and one lot are doing great and the others have died.
Corals get dipped before being placed in the tank also and keep the recommended parameters. Only corals that seem to do well is torches.

10% weekly water changes

Lost a royal dotty back few weeks ago and now lost a firetail goby today with no signs of illness the day before.

Other fish now in the tank are 2 clowns, sleeper goby and blue tang.

[emoji58]

Any advice on what to do?

Be patient. The hobby isn't easy. I've lost thousands of dollars in livestock over the years. It pains me but that is life. Sometimes it's great and sometimes it sucks... You are no quitter though!

 

[Rakie]

It sounds like there may be a couple things going on

That's often the case with newer people -- and that's why it can be a challenge to help them.

 

[Kial]

It is about $40-50. You send them your water sample (they provide a kit) and they do a full ICP lab test on several parameters including metals. ATI and Triton are some to search for and many of the online vendors carry the kits.

FWIW, I am setting up a tank now and plan on doing an ATI test for a baseline reading. I am choosing the ATI test because they test the RO/DI water as well. I must say have not used either test before and cannot vouch for their validity. I have read a few cases here where problems were found that related to metals or even metals in the sand used in one case. These issues would have been difficult to diagnose without the tests, but the reefers knew something had to be wrong. Again, this just helps eliminate possibilities, so I offer it as an option.

EDIT: I mistyped. Corrected. They are all ICP tests. The companies are ATI and Triton.

I'll have a look into it, I'm in Australia so I'm geussing this is an American company that do this?

 

[Kial]

It can be a viscous circle. Corals start to fade and die Nitrites and Ammonia rises more Corals die, can't change water fast enough. Fish become stressed get sick even die. From what you have post I can only pick out say three things to look at seriously. a.) Lighting 95 Watt strip is not going to do it, softies or not. I highly recommend looking into some better lighting, even in their on site it states for Fresh or Marine and have a drawing of circled of Fresh and Marine Fish no Corals. Those lights are just for your enjoyment to see the fish and any artificial Corals or Plants that you may add, which they nicely have advertised right below the Tanks. b.) In tank Flow meaning if you shut off return pump how much water would be flowing in the display, you say 3 power heads but no info on their out put ratings. Corals depend greatly on flow to feed them and to stripe away and detritus and mucus. It's not the speed so much as the mass/volume of water. Do you feed the Corals at all? Acropower is great because of the Amino Acids.
c.) You mentioned 1 ppm out from RO/DI if that is so how long has this been for could it be around when you started to have problems, one of the first things that DI resign starts to release is Ammonia when resign is exhausted and it does not show on TDS meter, so in reality you could be adding double, triple or more into your make up water. Change the resign and change it before the color has totally change if you use that type, about when it still shows about 1/4 left. I just added this video for you as I found it very interesting.
Good luck and don't give up, you are almost there.

Sorry I cant think of the full name of the pumps but I've had to turn them down as my torches were getting thrown around wherever I placed them so I think there is enough flow.
I've taken all dead coral out as soon as I accepting them as dead and checked ammonia today and its zero.

Rodi has been like it for a while now, occasionally goes up to 2 and then back to 1.
Thanks for the information. Hopefully it can be sorted!

 

[jtl]

PO4 is high but that is not going to kill anything, just will grow nuisance algae. As others have said you will not grow corals with the lights you have and you don't have to send a fortune to get better lights. The dying fish may or may not be related to dying corals. I have had fish die on occasion for no explainable reason. I would replace the lights and not add anything until you see improvement in whatever corals you have left and just make sure the fish are eating good and not scratching. I lost 2 fish once to flukes, they looked fine but in retrospect I did notice one scratching against the glass on occasion. By the time I figure out the problem and put them into a fresh water dip to confirm they had flukes it was too late. I treated the tank with Prazipro and never had the problem again. Good Luck.

 

[niQo]

This hobby can be such a pain!

I'm in a similar place as you. My tank has been set up just a few days shy of a year. My corals did better when the tank transfer was complete than they do now. I've been losing corals way more than I did in my 12 gallon nano. All parameters are within range. But I've been having nutrient issues. Either too much PO4 or no NO3. Just bought a nice fairy wrasse and was able to feed it within an hour of releasing it into the tank. Unfortunately than my Dottyback got sight of it and chased it relentlessly. Now I haven't seen it since Sunday and it's most likely dead or on the way there. Sometimes I wonder why I keep doing this, but I got my eyes on the prize: A thriving reef and it will take some pain and frustration to accomplish it!

Good luck!

 

[jtl]

I have tried to be very careful with adding fish that may not get along. I too have fought the NO3 vs PO4 battle but I think I am gaining. For a long time I could not figure out why my corals were not coloring up, in fact they would lose color from when I got them. I never thought about nutrients because in my previous tanks I did not even test for them and my corals including sps did great. I think I have been keep this tank too clean.

 

[jtl]

I have tried to be very careful with adding fish that may not get along. I too have fought the NO3 vs PO4 battle but I think I am gaining. For a long time I could not figure out why my corals were not coloring up, in fact they would lose color from when I got them. I never thought about nutrients because in my previous tanks I did not even test for them and my corals including sps did great. I think I have been keep this tank too clean.

 

[TangTank]

I'll have a look into it, I'm in Australia so I'm geussing this is an American company that do this?

Hi Kial - I'm in Brisbane.

In Australia, Cairns Marine has the license for Triton. You can order a test kit on their website if you choose to go that route.
Do you use NSW or make up your own with salt? I've heard stories here of NSW supply not being quite as good quality as it should be, at times.

Michael

 

[vetteguy53081]

NEVER let coral kick you in the butt and research..research..research BEFORE you purchase. Take things slow also. Always temptation and impulse but take it slow- Worth the wait.

Please mention also your water flow/flow method, type of lighting and lighting schedule and if you feed/dose corals.