Reef in decline.

[JMM744]

300 gallon system with a 180 fish only and a 120 lightly stocked with sps. Everything as doing well till about a month ago when I noticed my sticks were slowing down growth and my coraline seems to be getting white. I have an urchine that eats it off the glass pretty efficiently but whole areas were fading and small areas were sheeting off. I have fought cyno for the past year off and on but have a nitrate destroyer running now and am seeing a bit of nitrate reduction. Tank has two mp10’s for back of tank flow on 120 and 2 gyre 350’s across the tank and 2 3k gyres on the back so plenty of flow.
I am now seeing all sps at no growth and one small colony is getting cyno on the new tips and it’s killing them. Numbers as of tonight are
Alk...7.2
Calc...over 500
Mag...1400
Phos. .18
Nitrates...20 plus with red sea.
I shut off the Calc doser for several days trying to get it down with no success. I noticed my alk has dropped from an average of 8.2 to 7.2 tonight. I will check the doser tomorrow and recheck but am looking for suggestions for where to go from here. I have done 50 gallon water changes a couple times in the past month. Skimmer is pulling gunk but not at the rate it was so figure water is cleaner. I did dose prazipro twice for flukes but nothing else. I add coral power once a week if I think about it. I will order a water test this week. Any suggestions?
Thanks , Jim

 

[Punchanello]

Do you do regular water changes (apart from in the last couple of months)?

I've been in a similar situation despite all my parameters looking good, slowish decline of everything over a period of time. I'm firmly of the view that stuff builds up and concentrates in our systems over time that we can't or don't test for until it reaches a tipping point and we see these slow declines. At that point the damage has been done and water changes won't suddenly turn things around although they may help.

 

[JMM744]

No I don’t do water changes at all. Never have. My 70 which is a growing machine for acros has never had changes in 5 years so I never considered what you are suggesting. This system is 3 yrs. old. Thanks for bringing it up.

 

[Punchanello]

No I don’t do water changes at all. Never have. My 70 which is a growing machine for acros has never had changes in 5 years so I never considered what you are suggesting. This system is 3 yrs. old. Thanks for bringing it up.

I know that plenty of reefers don't do water changes and do fine. I personally have failed twice either deciding not to do water changes or getting slack on water changes. I wouldn't call it contamination but slow concentration and then one day you reach tipping point.

 

[MikeYasin]

Any changes to your lighting or intensity? I’ve experienced high lighting burning tips and subsequent algae growth on the tips, plus it affecting the coralline on higher rocks.

 

[JMM744]

Nothing light related but thanks for the thought.

 

[Auquanut]

Are you supplementing trace elements at all?

 

[Skibum]

300 gallon system with a 180 fish only and a 120 lightly stocked with sps. Everything as doing well till about a month ago when I noticed my sticks were slowing down growth and my coraline seems to be getting white. I have an urchine that eats it off the glass pretty efficiently but whole areas were fading and small areas were sheeting off. I have fought cyno for the past year off and on but have a nitrate destroyer running now and am seeing a bit of nitrate reduction. Tank has two mp10’s for back of tank flow on 120 and 2 gyre 350’s across the tank and 2 3k gyres on the back so plenty of flow.
I am now seeing all sps at no growth and one small colony is getting cyno on the new tips and it’s killing them. Numbers as of tonight are
Alk...7.2
Calc...over 500
Mag...1400
Phos. .18
Nitrates...20 plus with red sea.
I shut off the Calc doser for several days trying to get it down with no success. I noticed my alk has dropped from an average of 8.2 to 7.2 tonight. I will check the doser tomorrow and recheck but am looking for suggestions for where to go from here. I have done 50 gallon water changes a couple times in the past month. Skimmer is pulling gunk but not at the rate it was so figure water is cleaner. I did dose prazipro twice for flukes but nothing else. I add coral power once a week if I think about it. I will order a water test this week. Any suggestions?
Thanks , Jim

Pests? AEFW?

 

[JMetaxas]

IMO, any time you see an unidentified decline in a reef aquarium, you should do an ICP test.

 

[JMM744]

Icp test is ordered. I dose coral power weekly. No pests, thankfully.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

When’s is the last time you cleaned the sump? Also check for stray voltage and a corroded piece of equipment. Also is it possible your ph is a bit lower than usual?

 

[JMM744]

I need to calibrate my ph probe honestly. No idea about the voltage or any corrosion. Sump is a hundred gallon stock tank full of live rock. I would need to get a big container to clean it out.
Thanks, Jim