Slow SPS stn

Arron209 · Mar 1, 2017

I've been experiencing some super slow stn from the base up in a lot of my sps for the past 5 months. Been trying to keep everything as stable as possible and test everything weekly. I test alk everyday and it's rock solid. I finally sent out a triton test and got my results today. Any help would be appreciated and thanks in advance!

Arron209 · Mar 1, 2017

Oh and here are some of my current test results from my own testing.
NO3: 4ppm
Alk: 7.8dkh
K: 400ppm
PO4: .01
Cal: 450ppm
Mg: 1350
Ph stays between 8.1 and 8.3
Temp is 78-79

andrew james · Mar 1, 2017

What are you dosing for trace elements and aminos? Without knowing anything about your tank when I get stn. I go back to the basics add only alk, ca, mg and real foods like mysis. Thats it. It seems like half the issues i see lately are from all the extra crap people add that they dont need. I could be totally off base since there are really a million things it could be but looking at that triton thats my guess.

Arron209 · Mar 1, 2017

andrew james said:
What are you dosing for trace elements and aminos? Without knowing anything about your tank when I get stn. I go back to the basics add only alk, ca, mg and real foods like mysis. Thats it. It seems like half the issues i see lately are from all the extra crap people add that they dont need. I could be totally off base since there are really a million things it could be but looking at that triton thats my guess.

Thanks for the input. I'm only adding ca and alk into my tank. Also feeding LRS reef frenzy only.

andrew james · Mar 1, 2017

Well jeez I was way off then.

swnoob · Mar 1, 2017

Can't help regarding your Triton results but I noticed you're in California. There's been a lot of talk on other socal forums of chloramines. Have you tested for them?

Did you have an alk spike at any time? I've noticed that i won't see damage from an alk spike til months later.

Checked for rusty magnets?

I went through something similar and i never found the problem. I stopped dosing everything but cal, alk and mag. Did 10% water changes daily for a few weeks to try and get rid of any imbalance in my tank. I made sure my RODI filters were new and TDS always read 0.

Haven't lost anything since.

Arron209 · Mar 1, 2017

I took out my powerheads and return pump and disassembled then to check for rust, but I didn't see anything. I haven't checked for chloramines but my TDS is 0.

Arron209 · Mar 1, 2017

Also my alk hasn't shifted by more than a couple tenths of a point per day.

Sabellafella · Mar 1, 2017

Arron209 said:
I took out my powerheads and return pump and disassembled then to check for rust, but I didn't see anything. I haven't checked for chloramines but my TDS is 0.

May be one of those ordeals you cant seem to put a finger on. But first lets see some photos. Could be shading, could be parasitic copepods, could be fighting.

Are the affected sps growing? While this is going on?

swnoob · Mar 1, 2017

Arron209 said:
I took out my powerheads and return pump and disassembled then to check for rust, but I didn't see anything. I haven't checked for chloramines but my TDS is 0.

Keep in mind that your tds will read 0 even though chloramines are present. Wouldn't hurt to buy a test kit just for piece of mind. You can also add Prime to your top off water and to water changes and see if that solves your problem.

swnoob · Mar 1, 2017

What are you using to measure phosphates? .01 is very low. Do you have any nuisance algae? What about coral color? Maybe nutrients are too low?

With nutrients that low my tank didn't like alk above 7.

Arron209 · Mar 1, 2017

Sabellafella said:
May be one of those ordeals you cant seem to put a finger on. But first lets see some photos. Could be shading, could be parasitic copepods, could be fighting.

Are the affected sps growing? While this is going on?

I'll try to take some pics after work. They're growing and stning from the base up at the same time.

swnoob said:
Keep in mind that your tds will read 0 even though chloramines are present. Wouldn't hurt to buy a test kit just for piece of mind. You can also add Prime to your top off water and to water changes and see if that solves your problem.

Thanks for the advice. I'll be picking up both soon.

Arron209 · Mar 1, 2017

swnoob said:
What are you using to measure phosphates? .01 is very low. Do you have any nuisance algae? What about coral color? Maybe nutrients are too low?

With nutrients that low my tank didn't like alk above 7.

I'm using a Hanna ULR phosphorus checker. Colors look pretty good to me. The only algae I have is some bubble algae here and there.

Sabellafella · Mar 1, 2017

Arron209 said:
I'll try to take some pics after work. They're growing and stning from the base up at the same time.

Thanks for the advice. I'll be picking up both soon.

Ok so what ive experienced when their growing while stning, usually is shading or detritus building up. But the appearance of the "damaged area" can speak 1000 words. It could be a sort of host pest problem, or flatworms as well. But if its growing, its still healthy. The stn problem may not mean its a bad thing. Whenever your ready for the pictures

Sabellafella · Mar 1, 2017

You may also be better off just fragging the colony into fresh skin and remounting it

Arron209 · Mar 1, 2017

Sabellafella said:
Ok so what ive experienced when their growing while stning, usually is shading or detritus building up. But the appearance of the "damaged area" can speak 1000 words. It could be a sort of host pest problem, or flatworms as well. But if its growing, its still healthy. The stn problem may not mean its a bad thing. Whenever your ready for the pictures

Definitely will take them tonight. The areas that are stning aren't shaded and I've dipped for pests in Bayer and nothing has come off

Arron209 · Mar 2, 2017

Here are the photos as promised:

swnoob · Mar 2, 2017

Arron209 said:
Here are the photos as promised:

My corals looked the same. A very healthy looking coral stn'ing from the base. No visible bugs or bite marks. I tried fragging to the good tissue and mounting again but only a couple survived.

I would try bumping up your nutrients a bit or lowering your alk to 7. I try to keep my phosphates at a minimum of .04 and nitrates at 10. It worked for me but only you know how your tank reacts at those levels.

Sabellafella · Mar 2, 2017

Arron209 said:
Here are the photos as promised:

Yikes, thats rtn. If there the only 2 corals that are suffering in a gorgeous packed tank, they might just be upset over something. Id frag into skin immediately

Sabellafella · Mar 2, 2017

Also i just seen that tin (sn) came up on your triton test. From what ive seen in members, tin makes sps very unhappy. Id run some type of polymer, just to get that unwanted metal.