Reasons why your coral might be dying...

[brutuscz]

It was from an article I read years ago. But, I had some really thriving frogspawn and hammers for years. I added 2 small sinularia...and no big deal. As the sinularia got bigger...the euphyllia started to do poorly. Eventually, I lost them all. After removing the sinularia to a different tank, euphyllia do great once again. I have hammers, frogspawn and torch's. I feel that if I added the sinularia back, the same would happen. They are known to be heavy duty chemical producers. So, it does stand to reason some species may not be compatible.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211383512000676

It is mentioned here
http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/marine-invert/sinularia-flexibilis.htm

 

[Bruce Burnett]

Metals leeching:
Using metal bandclamps, even though stainless generally don't have a stainless screw and can lead to rust/iron leaching into tank. Also, using any brass or copper fittings can cause said metals to leech. It can also be as simple as an exposed magnet in a frag rack or powerhead mount.

I have read many places where people have rusting hose clamps and magnets but never a problem me included. Copper from fittings is a different story and should never be used around saltwater tanks.

 

[Bruce Burnett]

3. Chemistry - Making quick reactions to change. Far too many will make sudden changes to chemistry when something is off.

I think this is the biggest problem.

 

[Bruce Burnett]

Salinity: Sometimes many forget the obvious. Salinity is the amount of Salt in are water. Between water changes and Top offs sometimes salinty will begin to change. If not checked occasionally it can raise or lower.

Don't forget the water pulled by the skimmer also can change salinity.

 

[blennieluvr]

Either not knowing or just simply ignoring corals needs. For instance, buying a pretty sun coral not knowing that you will need to or taking the time to get it to eat and/or continuing to keep the feeding regime up because it is "doing great".

 

[reefguyty]

It was from an article I read years ago. But, I had some really thriving frogspawn and hammers for years. I added 2 small sinularia...and no big deal. As the sinularia got bigger...the euphyllia started to do poorly. Eventually, I lost them all. After removing the sinularia to a different tank, euphyllia do great once again. I have hammers, frogspawn and torch's. I feel that if I added the sinularia back, the same would happen. They are known to be heavy duty chemical producers. So, it does stand to reason some species may not be compatible.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211383512000676

It is mentioned here
http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/marine-invert/sinularia-flexibilis.htm

Very good to know! Thanks for the links.

 

[Servo]

Poor Source Water: Your local municipality may change their source water during times of drought or other reasons. At times, NH4 will bleed right through most R/O systems and go directly into your tank. I was slowly losing SPS and I had no idea what was going on, only to discover that the big water changes were exacerbating the problem. They system was about 7-8 years old at that time, I the last thing I figured I had was an ammonia spike. I have a Seneye now, so, I can let a bit of my LRS take ahold.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Great list so far, guys!

 

[Bdog4u2]

Not gluing them down and they land on the one coral they shouldn't or land somewhere you won't find til you tear it down and you have a frag plug graveyard

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Can't wait to put this list together!

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Poor Source Water: Your local municipality may change their source water during times of drought or other reasons. At times, NH4 will bleed right through most R/O systems and go directly into your tank. I was slowly losing SPS and I had no idea what was going on, only to discover that the big water changes were exacerbating the problem. They system was about 7-8 years old at that time, I the last thing I figured I had was an ammonia spike. I have a Seneye now, so, I can let a bit of my LRS take ahold.

THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! I just discovered this yesterday , after losing a ton of sps to burnt tips rtn and stn out of nowhere , and without any changes to my system. I switched my RO to chloramine carbon blocks and replaced my di. I did a large w/c with new water, and all corals look great. Literally , night and day. Before that w/c would cause even more mess.