SPS and montis lost all color

hometown9 · Sep 13, 2019

Softies and everything else seem to be OK, but hard corals (SPS, monti) just brown out within 2 weeks of putting them in. My nitrates were high (60) for awhile but I've brought them under control (10). Lights are mostly blue at this point, no white, red or green (AI HD26). Any ideas? It's been about 3 months of this. So frustrated.

CA: 460
Mg: 1500
Alk: 9
NO3: 10
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ph: 8
Sal: 1.026

Reefer40b · Sep 13, 2019

How steady is your Alk and How fast did you drop those nitrates?

vetteguy53081 · Sep 13, 2019

Change of some nature caused this.
What change? Possibilities are :

Light
Flow
Salinity
nitrates
ALK - always a big one
foreign matter in air such as paint or aerosols

Billldg · Sep 13, 2019

Good question from @Reefer40b , how quick did you drop your nitrates? I battled Bryopsis for a while and after using reef flux to kill the Bryopsis twice, my nitrates were well over 50 ppm. I have been slowly lowering them over the past 3 or so weeks and now have them between 10 and 20 ppm, still lowering them to below 10 ppm but will let my reinstalled refugium take over for the rest. Also, you said that your lights r mostly blue, when I first started down the sps road my tank was also mostly blue and that caused the sps to brown out in my tank.

Nicholas Dushynsky · Sep 13, 2019

What are your phosphates?

Nicholas Dushynsky · Sep 13, 2019

I'd say your mag is slightly high also 1300-1400 is fine. My old toadstool didnt like high mag, it went to over 1550 and started dying.

hometown9 · Sep 13, 2019

Reefer40b said:
How steady is your Alk and How fast did you drop those nitrates?

Colors went downhill awhile ago (3+ months), well before I brought the nitrates down. Have been reducing those for about a month. Alk and calc steady,very little fluctuation. In fact I don't dose because they're high already. Using tropic Marin mix. Is the Mag a problem? That's off the charts. I know it's causing the cloudy water.

HB AL · Sep 13, 2019

Maybe they are not receiving enough light for the Acros and montis to stay colored up like when you first put them in.

hometown9 · Sep 14, 2019

Possibly. I moved from a 25 to a 50 (Fusion Lagoon in both cases). I kept the same single AI HD 26 and cranked up the settings to 100% for the blues/violets, 30% whites, 10% reds/blues, and 30% UV. That's when i noticed the browning so turned them back down to the below. Trying everything at this point.

trustmeimalawyer · Sep 14, 2019

Those also look like wild colonies which tend to brown out easily and don’t adjust too well.

How long has the tank been set up?

hometown9 · Sep 14, 2019

Was a 25 gallon that was doing great until about 4 months ago, when I moved to a 50. That's when things went downhill. Nothing really changed other than a few pieces of additional dry rock.

Nasir · Sep 14, 2019

Tank looks cloudy.

Nicholas Dushynsky · Sep 15, 2019

Phosphates?

motortrendz · Sep 15, 2019

Tank definitly looks off.. looks cloudy, are you sure your test kits are reading properly? Expiration date?
Is mag at 1500 or could it be above? I know my test Max's out at 1500..
I run my lights at 70% blue spectrums and 8% white no red or green. I have the hydra ai 52s and 26s so I dont think it's a lighting issue. (My tank is 26 tall)

You didn't post a PO4 number... but I have a feeling something is in your water killing your more sensitive corals.
Do you run carbon? I'd be running a fresh batch at a higher dose to remove any contaminants.

Do you dose? What and how much?

How old is the tank?
Has anything died recently?
Check for rust on pumps, powerheads or stray voltage... (dont think this is your problem but always good to look)