Reef Crashing

[ron garnett]

Have a 240 gal reef that's been set up for approx. two years. Supported by 60 gal single chamber sump, 1 Iwaki pump and 1 Gen X pump for recycling. Lighting is 4 400 w 14K metal halides (brand, Pulsrite).
Fish are fine but corals dying. Some corals have died within days of being introduced into the tank. Do I need to totally break down tank and start from scratch or is there hope?

 

[-Logzor]

Could you list your tank parameters?

 

[kuyatwo]

If se bulb check the outer glass shell see if it is cracked.

If de if at any time did you take the glass shield off and still have bulbs on?

Did you change your bulbs recently?

Is it certain corals dying sps lps softies?

Also test your top off water for ammonia about this time of year municipalities bump up chloramines in the water.


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[Captain Nemo]

need tank parameters, po4, nitrates, nitrites, alk, cal, mag, salinity, stocklist. thanks!

 

[bige]

Following. All the right questions have been asked.

 

[ron garnett]

Will test water parameters. Soft corals have shrunken and will not open. Bulbs are no more than 4 months old. Dark crust on top of substrate. Using RO water and topping off with lime water.

 

[wish]

How are you introduced the corals into the tank ?
We will also need to know your water as mention above.

 

[ron garnett]

My water parameters are as follows: Cal. 340, Alk. 3.0 meq/, ph 8.2, Phosphates 0, Temp. 80 degrees F. Don't have kit to test magnesium or strontium. I introduce corals after about 1 hr to 1.5 hrs floating time. I place them on substrate for about a week before placing them where I want them.

 

[Hyprviperx]

cal seems low

 

[fish&corals]

+1 on cal being low .. should be between 450 and 480 IMO

 

[kuyatwo]

Test for ammonia also


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[skinz78]

How bout where is your magnesium levels at?

 

[trashguy007]

Went through the same problem 2 weeks ago.

Everything was good. The temp was at 82 on the high side. I like it at 76-78.

I looked at my red sea hydrometer reading at 26. I checked it with a refractometer and it was at "20" my salinity.

I just threw that red sea hydrometer away and sticking to the new refractometer.

i lost 5 acans, one of them was the Dragonskin. Funny how none of my chalice was affected by it.

Now the tank is stable.

 

[Hyprviperx]

Skinz78, no mag test kit, i was wondering the same

 

[ron garnett]

I've decided to do a complete water change, 50 gals at a time, and purchase a magnesium test kit. I won't introduce anything else into the tank until I know it's stable. I'll let you know how things go. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[boselybulldog]

Running any reactors? I found I was running to much carbon and toasted a few LPS, yet the SPS were fine! NEVER use those hydrometer's? I got burned on that and used a refractometer only to find out I was way out of whack. I don't think CAL being at 340 is going to cause the issues your having, so don't stress about just that. You must be introducing something in there that isn't right. Go back and think about what you have changed recently. I didn't think about the carbon till someone pointed it out, long after I should have figured it out myself. Good luck.

 

[pickupman66]

Dark crust on top of substrate.

What are your Nitrates testing at? also, did you retest with a Refractometer? the alkalinity is in line, Temp and PH are ok too so long as they are not swinging all over the place rapidly. from my experience, you have more issues than testing for mag or Strontium.

 

[ron garnett]

Not running any reactors. Top off with kalkwasser water when needed. Haven't been doing regular water changes. That could be the culprit.

 

[crzytrace]

are you just floating the bags and dropping them straight in? or are you drip acclimating them?

 

[ron garnett]

Floating bags and placing corals on substrate after acclimation.